Making a way point in flight

[JDT3+2]

Is there a way to make a waypoint while in flight using a Mavic Mini.
I am a boat captain and I often have to use a drone to find deeper water.
I would like to send up my drone out during low tide to see the deeper channels.
If i could send out the drone to scout and make waypoints that once o bring it back i could the plot these waypoints on my vessels chart plotters.
any help appreciated.

 

[FlyoverDRN]

For waypoints, you would need to add an App to the phone connected to your radio control.
It can then be easily done, but my question is, would the water be clear enough to be worth it? Channels have usually strong currents, and this brings much silk. The 30 minutes lag between tides shouldn't be enough to clear the water. But if it is, that should be an easy mission to accomplish.
First, Watch out for take off and landing, due to boat moving and winds, RTH will be an issue as well if your boat is on the move.
So your boat should be still while plotting your mission AND during the entire flying mission.
Other than that, it should be pretty cool. Can't wait to see the video.

 

[JDT3+2]

First of all thanks for a quick reply.

I have several mapping programs on my iphone and ipad including Google maps and Nacionics. can either of these be used with a mini?

You are correct about the water clarity. That's why low tides are so good to plan you trips back up in shallow creeds they revel the deepest areas. The two photos below my explain what I am trying to say a little better. At water level, sandbars and shallow areas can't be seen but with a drone at low tide areas of passage can be seen. By being able to drop a few way points in a tight area can allow east and safe passage.

 

[Repaid1]

First of all thanks for a quick reply.

I have several mapping programs on my iphone and ipad including Google maps and Nacionics. can either of these be used with a mini?

Not for what your wanting to do, DJI dropped google maps earlier this year, longer on iOS. You basically need a waypoint app for your mini (There are a couple of threads on them). Once you set your mission you can re-fly it as needed. I am unsure of their capability on a Mini, but for a more featured product/aircraft I know we can use the programmable buttons to set waypoints and POI on the fly. I believe at present only one app for a Mini is avaialble for Apple products so you kinda stuck with that. Dronelink | Automated | DJI | Parrot | 3D Flight Planning | United States

Not to be a bummer, but if your flying these missions for any type of gain for a business venture it would be more than likely to require a Part 107 certificate as it is no longer recreational rules. That is if your so inclined to follow regs

 

[PimV]

When you take a picture with the camera of the drone, the geographical coordinates of the drone’s location are registered in the meta-data of that picture. If you do that with the gimbal vertical down you also have a view of the sea (bed) at that location.