Litchi now supports Mavic Mini

[OldBlueHeron]

So is the consciences is your best bet for waypoints on Mini is go with Dronlink?

I’d say it’s the only app that currently works with waypoints so.... probably. I’m gonna see if Litchi figures it out because I have the luxury to.

 

[maelstrom]

You could also try RedWaypoint (if you have an Android device) which claims to support waypoints on the Mini. I have no experience with it as I use Apple products.

 

[T_BOLT]

You could also try RedWaypoint (if you have an Android device) which claims to support waypoints on the Mini. I have no experience with it as I use Apple products.

On Google Play the reviews are very questionable for RedWaypoint. Dronlink and Litchi seems the ones everyone rave about but for me I'm new to the drone scene and from reading, although Dronelink is very good, the learning curve is steep and I am not sure if I want to spend more time setting up a mission on Dronelink than it would take flying it. Seems it would take from the enjoyment of flying to more like work.

I may just wait and hope Litchi get waypoints for the mini figured out.

 

[OneQuickSix]

It won't work. Litchi confirmed on their Facebook page that waypoints and orbits will not work because there is no SDK method to send those commands to the Mini, and a DJI developer confirmed that's because there is no code in the Mini firmware to handle them.

Do you happen to know if this would also be true for the Mavic Air 2?

 

[RogerDH]

Do you happen to know if this would also be true for the Mavic Air 2?

Judging by the way they handled the Mini, I don't think anyone outside DJI will know that until the SDK is released. Last I heard, that was supposed to be by the end of the year.

 

[OneQuickSix]

Judging by the way they handled the Mini, I don't think anyone outside DJI will know that until the SDK is released. Last I heard, that was supposed to be by the end of the year.

Thanks. Although I am a little hopeful in that I read the Air 2's hardware/firmware definitely should support storage and decoding (or was it unmasking?) of waypoints.

I do know that a LOT of people, including myself, were shocked when I bought the Air 2 that you could not do waypoints/pre-planned routes. And of course are incredibly disappointed. Love the drone otherwise, save for a few smaller issues.

 

[RogerDH]

Thanks. Although I am a little hopeful in that I read the Air 2's hardware/firmware definitely should support storage and decoding (or was it unmasking?) of waypoints.

I do know that a LOT of people, including myself, were shocked when I bought the Air 2 that you could not do waypoints/pre-planned routes. And of course are incredibly disappointed. Love the drone otherwise, save for a few smaller issues.

I know; I couldn't believe it when I bought a Mini and found it didn't support waypoints. If I had known that, I wouldn't have bought it. Since the earliest days, GPS drones have typically supported both return to home and waypoints because they are both based on the same autonomous navigation function. As a Geico commercial might say, "It's what you do if you're a GPS drone." Leaving waypoints out of the Mini and now the Air 2 was strictly a marketing decision, and one that left a bad taste in my mouth for DJI. Some people here seem to think it was a reasonable strategy to promote sales of their more expensive drones, but everyone I've heard express that opinion was someone who already owned a more expensive DJI drone.

 

[icecoldgin]

Even the cheaper sub-$100 chinese made drones have waypoints. I can't figure why DJI wouldn't put this in their more expensive drones

 

[GerdS]

For private use (and that's what both Minis are intended for), waypoints are almost useless. There are only rare situations where they might make sense, e.g. monitoring the progress of a construction site from always same positions.
I am flying multicopters for 12 years now and most of them have supported waypoints, but except for testing their functionality I never have used them.
Actually autonomous flights are forbidden in many countries and so I can understand that DJI has omitted that funtionality for safety reasons.
However, there are third-party apps which are supporting waypoints even for the Mavic Mini. They are just not calculated onboard as is for bigger Mavics, but the necessary steering commands are calculated at the mobile device and then transmitted as virtual joystick commands. In a rare situation such as the example stated these applications would be good enough to fulfill your expectations.

 

[RogerDH]

For private use (and that's what both Minis are intended for), waypoints are almost useless. There are only rare situations where they might make sense, e.g. monitoring the progress of a construction site from always same positions.
I am flying multicopters for 12 years now and most of them have supported waypoints, but except for testing their functionality I never have used them.
Actually autonomous flights are forbidden in many countries and so I can understand that DJI has omitted that funtionality for safety reasons.
However, there are third-party apps which are supporting waypoints even for the Mavic Mini. They are just not calculated onboard as is for bigger Mavics, but the necessary steering commands are calculated at the mobile device and then transmitted as virtual joystick commands. In a rare situation such as the example stated these applications would be good enough to fulfill your expectations.

Yeah, I've definitely heard from a lot of experienced pilots that say they don't see any value to waypoints, and my opinion is that they probably don't understand how they can be used to make better videos, or that's just not something they're interested in (which is fine, of course).

 

[Bussty]

Yeah, I've definitely heard from a lot of experienced pilots that say they don't see any value to waypoints, and my opinion is that they probably don't understand how they can be used to make better videos, or that's just not something they're interested in (which is fine, of course).

I think experienced pilots can probably fly drones smoothly and perfectly without the need for Waypoints but pilots not so experienced or as good on the controls (like me!) see waypoints as a way to effortless capture smooth preplanned video with the drone. It's like I would have to practice and awful lot to be able to fly an orbit around an object smoothly or I could just use the automated orbit mode or something like Litchi. Horses for courses I think...

 

[RogerDH]

I think experienced pilots can probably fly drones smoothly and perfectly without the need for Waypoints but pilots not so experienced or as good on the controls (like me!) see waypoints as a way to effortless capture smooth preplanned video with the drone. It's like I would have to practice and awful lot to be able to fly an orbit around an object smoothly or I could just use the automated orbit mode or something like Litchi. Horses for courses I think...

Yes, and another advantage is that if you almost got the shot you wanted, but not quite, you can do a quick edit and rerun. But flying the Mini in an urban/suburban area, I've also found that with Dronelink missions, I can be much more careful about what I'm flying over to get the shot I want. Having lost a few toy drones to wind or flying out of range, I'm still shy about flying the Mini over an area where it might cause damage, or even over areas where it would be hard to recover if it went down with one of those unexpected landings.

 

[Bussty]

Yes, and another advantage is that if you almost got the shot you wanted, but not quite, you can do a quick edit and rerun. But flying the Mini in an urban/suburban area, I've also found that with Dronelink missions, I can be much more careful about what I'm flying over to get the shot I want. Having lost a few toy drones to wind or flying out of range, I'm still shy about flying the Mini over an area where it might cause damage, or even over areas where it would be hard to recover if it went down with one of those unexpected landings.

Yes that ability to rerun is pretty epic and one thing I'm pretty sure would be impossible to do by manual control. Allowing you to do a run but have it change seamlessly from winter / spring / summer / autumn, those videos are pretty cool. And yes the ability to tweak to perfection is awesome!

 

[VenomXts]

Waypoints for Long hyperlapses that are moving... just saying they are super helpful

 

[Mats W]

Can anyone confirm waypoints functionality?

 

[Mats W]

Can anyone confirm waypoints functionality?

must I be a paying member to access Testflight?

 

[Mats W]

Just got mine as well. This is a beta though.

how do u gett it?

 

[LakeWorthB]

Any updates on if Litchi will implement waypoints using virtual sticks, or are they waiting for waypoint access in SDK. If it is the latter, then it may never happen.

 

[GerdS]

I guess the Litchi devs will postpone the waypoint implementation as long as they don't have information about the next SDK version compatible with Mini 2. In case the Mini 2 will already support waypoints onboard as the bigger Mavics do, we might never see waypoint support for Mavic Mini.

 

[maelstrom]

In case the Mini 2 will already support waypoints onboard as the bigger Mavics do, we might never see waypoint support for Mavic Mini.

The latest SDK which supports the MA2 doesn’t natively provide it with a waypoint capability. With that in mind, it’s highly unlikely that they will be natively supported for the Mini 2 - why would they add features to the Mini 2 which are not available for a more expensive drone?