MacGyver'd autonomous flight

[thispilothere]

I'm wondering if I could put my controller and a very light phone with Maven installed in one of those cargo holders under my MA2 and program a truly autonomous flight. There's a shot I'm trying to get but I can't maintain a signal. If the drone is carrying the controller, it won't lose the signal and I can just program it to return home afterward. The controller might be too heavy though. Anything think this would work?

Yes, I know about the regulations I'd be violating.

 

[slup]

A MA2 weighs in on 570g

The controller weighs 396g
An average phone perhaps 150g
And the cargo holder ... 100g?

The payload in total sums up to around 650g

According to various dubious tests on WWW it's claimed that a MA2 can barely lift-off like 830g ...

I say forget it ... your idea isn't just to lift-off & hover, you want to fly a mission which will require much, much more of the MA2 considering getting up to a heading speed, break, turn & fight outside factors like wind. If you would get it going it will be a absolute punishment for the motors & the ESC's, it will most probably come crashing down sooner than you think.

 

[umanbean]

Why not just use Litchi? With it, you can program a mission that goes well outside the range of the RC.

A $25 investment seems better than risking the loss of drone/ controller/phone

 

[BigAl07]

Just a few reasons why I suggest you not attempt this:

a) Safety... how can you maintain NAS safety if you have ZERO control over the aircraft? What if something goes wrong, you have an issue, or an aircraft/person/animal come into your flying area unexpectedly? The Tx is hard mounted to the aircraft . . . .
b) Flight Time - IF it were to take off, flight time would be seriously compromised.
c) Aircraft Performance - With such a load on the aircraft it's going to potentially max out the performance curve of the motors. Aircraft could become very unstable mid-flight and the Flight Controller could initiate a Shut-Down (Fail Safe) mid-air.
d) The added weight is going to put additional strain on the propulsion system. Your motors are going to get a lot hotter than normal and your battery may also get hotter. Also since the motors are going to be working harder, I could see where it may induce Motor Over Load scenario. Depending on how the FC is programmed to handle it, it could induce some type of fault/limp mode which could be catastrophic under these conditions.
e) SAFETY!!!

This aircraft has a very narrow "payload capability". It's designed to carry the factory camera and do so VERY well. The Flight Controller is tweaked for a very narrow allowable fluctuations in flight/control characteristics and adding any significant payload could very well put the aircraft into an out of control situation resulting in crash or off site landing.

We experienced this when testing the lift/carry capabilities of an H520 for Emergency Services. If the payload was under 5lbs (It's a large 5 rotor design) it could handle it very well but with shorter flights. Once we surpassed the 5lb mark (IIRC it was 5lbs but don't bank on that #) the aircraft became a beast to fly. Everything was so sluggish and at times the FC would over compensate for a turn/wobble etc and an oscillation would be introduced that required us to release the payload to regain control of the aircraft. The "oscillation" was progressing and most likely would have created a crash incident if we hadn't of released the payload midflight.

 

[thispilothere]

Why not just use Litchi? With it, you can program a mission that goes well outside the range of the RC.

A $25 investment seems better than risking the loss of drone/ controller/phone

Litchi doesn't just use the virtual joystick system? It actually uploads the waypoints to the drone and allows it to fly on it's own?

 

[umanbean]

Litchi doesn't just use the virtual joystick system? It actually uploads the waypoints to the drone and allows it to fly on it's own?

Yes.... the mission is loaded into the drone and it flies 'on its own'... autonomously, as it were.

I don't know what the 'virtual joystick system' is.

But wth Litchi you plan your missions on a satellite map, either on the flight device or your home computer, then save it. When you're ready to fly the mission just load it into your flight device and go.

Look into it here:
www.flylitchi.com

Edited: Oops, think I might have led you down the wrong path my friend... not sure if Litchi is compatible with the Air 2 yet?

 

[Tufargon]

Yes.... the mission is loaded into the drone and it flies 'on its own'... autonomously, as it were.

I don't know what the 'virtual joystick system' is.

But wth Litchi you plan your missions on a satellite map, either on the flight device or your home computer, then save it. When you're ready to fly the mission just load it into your flight device and go.

Look into it here:
www.flylitchi.com

Edited: Oops, think I might have led you down the wrong path my friend... not sure if Litchi is compatible with the Air 2 yet?

It does in beta for android with the MA2 and it's virtual sticks. The mission is stored on your device and not the drone. If you lose contact with the drone during the mission it will not continue the mission. It will RTH.

 

[thispilothere]

It does in beta for android with the MA2 and it's virtual sticks. The mission is stored on your device and not the drone. If you lose contact with the drone during the mission it will not continue the mission. It will RTH.

That's what I thought too.

 

[dave canada]

Why not just use Litchi? With it, you can program a mission that goes well outside the range of the RC.

A $25 investment seems better than risking the loss of drone/ controller/phone

i am amazed still with spark, mavic pro and inspire 1 with litchi missions been doing this coming up on seven years lay out the mission on hub and the drone does everything you ask and if somehow you negelected something it usually informs me . or it ask if it can come home thats wild! over the mountains down to the valley floors lost signal , it dosen,t need me it comes home with all the footage, 24.00 well worth it

 

[Tufargon]

i am amazed still with spark, mavic pro and inspire 1 with litchi missions been doing this coming up on seven years lay out the mission on hub and the drone does everything you ask and if somehow you negelected something it usually informs me . or it ask if it can come home thats wild! over the mountains down to the valley floors lost signal , it dosen,t need me it comes home with all the footage, 24.00 well worth it

The OP has a MA2 so it's not the same. All 3rd party apps like Litchi, Dronelink and Maven use virtual sticks for the MA2 and if you lose connection it will not finish the mission. It will RTH.

 

[Mitch76]

Yes.... the mission is loaded into the drone and it flies 'on its own'... autonomously, as it were.

I don't know what the 'virtual joystick system' is.

But wth Litchi you plan your missions on a satellite map, either on the flight device or your home computer, then save it. When you're ready to fly the mission just load it into your flight device and go.

Look into it here:
www.flylitchi.com

Edited: Oops, think I might have led you down the wrong path my friend... not sure if Litchi is compatible with the Air 2 yet?

Litchi can't load the mission in the air2

 

[umanbean]

Litchi can't load the mission in the air2

Thanks!

That was explained to me in post #7

 

[Drone_Pilot]

Why not just use Litchi? With it, you can program a mission that goes well outside the range of the RC.

A $25 investment seems better than risking the loss of drone/ controller/phone

The issue with litchi is if you are out of range it will continue the mission but it will not set/execute the Camara commands given on the app or the hub.

 

[Tufargon]

The issue with litchi is if you are out of range it will continue the mission but it will not set/execute the Camara commands given on the app or the hub.

See post #7. The mission will not continue with the MA2 because the mission is not stored to the drone. The MA2 doesn't support waypoints so the flight information is sent to the drone from the tablet/phone and if it loses connection it can't send that information so It will abort and RTH.

Edit: All third party software will also react the same with the MA2.

 

[Drone_Pilot]

See post #7. The mission will not continue with the MA2 because the mission is not stored to the drone. It wi

See post #7. The mission will not continue with the MA2 because the mission is not stored to the drone. The MA2 doesn't support waypoints so the flight information is sent to the drone from the tablet/phone and if it loses connection it can't send that information so It will abort and RTH.

Edit: All third party software will also react the same with the MA2.

 

[Tufargon]

You seem to be missing the point. That guy is talking about Litchi with waypoint supported DJI drones. The Mavic Air 2 does not support waypoint missions (nor does the mini, mini 2 and likely the A2S won't either). That's why they use virtual sticks for the Air 2 and the Mini. It's a hardware limitation. With virtual sticks the mission is stored on the tablet/phone and sends the stick movements to the drone so if you lose connection it loses all data of the mission so it RTH. You're passing out incorrect information.