Mavic 3 WILL NOT support Waypoint or Mapping missions

[TLT]

All,

I am a ASPRS Cert Photogrammetrist and Mapping Scientist and also Remote Sensing Manager for a survey firm that uses a fleet of Phantom 4 Pros as our tools. Had high hopes the Mavic 3 Pro would be the golden ticket to replace the P4Pros for aerial mapping and was deeply disappointed to get confirmation directly from a DJI rep who is on the M3Pro team that, in his words "The GSPro would not be supporting the M3, the M3 is not Mobile SDK compatible and it does not support waypoint mission". I immediately panicked, and asked for confirmation again that the drone will not support mission planning and aerial mapping and got this 2nd reply "Yeah… Since the M3 is a consumer product, our new consumer would very unlikely to be supported with SDK." to which I told them they are making a HUGE MISTAKE and got this 3rd reply "Yes, our team had discussion internally and the M3 is confirmed would not support waypoint mission."

So despite hearing rumblings from DroneU and others that this may support mission planning and mapping I got 3 hard "no" responses from a rep who says he's on the team of developers there for it.... I'm currently in the painful process of trying to return our unit past it's 15 day return window because it currently is only useful as a paperweight for our survey company.

If anyone has heard a conflicting story I'd love to hear it.

 

[brett8883]

All,

I am a ASPRS Cert Photogrammetrist and Mapping Scientist and also Remote Sensing Manager for a survey firm that uses a fleet of Phantom 4 Pros as our tools. Had high hopes the Mavic 3 Pro would be the golden ticket to replace the P4Pros for aerial mapping and was deeply disappointed to get confirmation directly from a DJI rep who is on the M3Pro team that, in his words "The GSPro would not be supporting the M3, the M3 is not Mobile SDK compatible and it does not support waypoint mission". I immediately panicked, and asked for confirmation again that the drone will not support mission planning and aerial mapping and got this 2nd reply "Yeah… Since the M3 is a consumer product, our new consumer would very unlikely to be supported with SDK." to which I told them they are making a HUGE MISTAKE and got this 3rd reply "Yes, our team had discussion internally and the M3 is confirmed would not support waypoint mission."

So despite hearing rumblings from DroneU and others that this may support mission planning and mapping I got 3 hard "no" responses from a rep who says he's on the team of developers there for it.... I'm currently in the painful process of trying to return our unit past it's 15 day return window because it currently is only useful as a paperweight for our survey company.

If anyone has heard a conflicting story I'd love to hear it.

It’s not mobile SDk compatible today but it will be in the future. He’s right that there is no way to do mapping today and might not be for several months but eventually you’ll be able to when the SDk comes out. It’s the same deal with the Air 2 and despite it taking a long time you can now do mapping missions with that drone. You will likely have to use a different mapping program than GS Pro though

 

[microlinux]

It’s not mobile SDk compatible today but it will be in the future.

It sounds more like a marketing decision. I get the sense that DJI is trying to make a clearer line between consumer and professional products. They want people to hand over professional amounts of dollars for access to professional features.

 

[brett8883]

It sounds more like a marketing decision. I get the sense that DJI is trying to make a clearer line between consumer and professional products. They want people to hand over professional amounts of dollars for access to professional features.

I get that but I think it’s poorly executed. When a new upgraded model comes out it should be at least as good as and have at least all the features of the previous model. DJI doesn’t do that. To get the upgraded product you have to be willing to give up features and functionality and this is nothing new for DJI. I’d gladly give up the $5,000 for the Mavic 3 Cine if I didn’t have to give anything up anything by “up”grading.

DJI should look to Apple on this thing. Every Apple device basically runs the same software so the only real differences between a $1000 computer and a $15000 is the hardware and you never give up features by upgrading to the latest model. As far as I know Apple doesn’t have any problem making money with that formula.

 

[Suren]

All,

I am a ASPRS Cert Photogrammetrist and Mapping Scientist and also Remote Sensing Manager for a survey firm that uses a fleet of Phantom 4 Pros as our tools. Had high hopes the Mavic 3 Pro would be the golden ticket to replace the P4Pros for aerial mapping and was deeply disappointed to get confirmation directly from a DJI rep who is on the M3Pro team that, in his words "The GSPro would not be supporting the M3, the M3 is not Mobile SDK compatible and it does not support waypoint mission". I immediately panicked, and asked for confirmation again that the drone will not support mission planning and aerial mapping and got this 2nd reply "Yeah… Since the M3 is a consumer product, our new consumer would very unlikely to be supported with SDK." to which I told them they are making a HUGE MISTAKE and got this 3rd reply "Yes, our team had discussion internally and the M3 is confirmed would not support waypoint mission."

So despite hearing rumblings from DroneU and others that this may support mission planning and mapping I got 3 hard "no" responses from a rep who says he's on the team of developers there for it.... I'm currently in the painful process of trying to return our unit past it's 15 day return window because it currently is only useful as a paperweight for our survey company.

If anyone has heard a conflicting story I'd love to hear it.

Dji released the SDK for the mini 2 and Air2S, the Mavic 3 is their flagship drone so they will eventually release it for that as well

 

[Suren]

It sounds more like a marketing decision. I get the sense that DJI is trying to make a clearer line between consumer and professional products. They want people to hand over professional amounts of dollars for access to professional features.

At the cost of this drone, it is not for just hobbyists, it was initially advertised as a prosumer drone

 

[TLT]

It’s not mobile SDk compatible today but it will be in the future. He’s right that there is no way to do mapping today and might not be for several months but eventually you’ll be able to when the SDk comes out. It’s the same deal with the Air 2 and despite it taking a long time you can now do mapping missions with that drone. You will likely have to use a different mapping program than GS Pro though

What program do you use for mapping missions with the Air2s?

 

[ianwood]

Title is misleading. A rep saying the M3 won't be supported in GSPro doesn't mean it won't get SDK support and waypoints / mapping via other apps.

 

[spamgnome]

It’s not mobile SDk compatible today but it will be in the future. He’s right that there is no way to do mapping today and might not be for several months but eventually you’ll be able to when the SDk comes out. It’s the same deal with the Air 2 and despite it taking a long time you can now do mapping missions with that drone. You will likely have to use a different mapping program than GS Pro though

What is your source? An SDK does NOT necessarily mean waypoints, and it certainly doesn't mean a global shutter.

 

[PHZ]

It sounds more like a marketing decision. I get the sense that DJI is trying to make a clearer line between consumer and professional products. They want people to hand over professional amounts of dollars for access to professional features.

And I suppose DJI can do that if they like. Other manufacturers will be happy to fill the vacuum left by DJI. Nature (and consumers), hate a vacuum.
Check out Autels’ new products. I believe DJI may have some serious competition emerging.

 

[TonyPHX]

We will most certainly get an SDK, or else this will be the last DJI product for many I suspect.

 

[PHZ]

We will most certainly get an SDK, or else this will be the last DJI product for many I suspect.

Particularly since I read this morning that the Inspire 2 will be discontinued soon. The M3 needs to be able to pick up mapping and litchi.

 

[microlinux]

I get that but I think it’s poorly executed. When a new upgraded model comes out it should be at least as good as and have at least all the features of the previous model. DJI doesn’t do that. To get the upgraded product you have to be willing to give up features and functionality and this is nothing new for DJI. I’d gladly give up the $5,000 for the Mavic 3 Cine if I didn’t have to give anything up anything by “up”grading.

For sure, but here they never really made the distinction to begin with so now there may be a jarring transition. It's still a young market that's evolving. Though, honestly, it's all speculation. Who knows what their actual plan is or how accurate the things are that people are hearing. I sure hope I'm wrong and we eventually see waypoints.

 

[microlinux]

And I suppose DJI can do that if they like. Other manufacturers will be happy to fill the vacuum left by DJI. Nature (and consumers), hate a vacuum.

Sadly, pretty much. The problem is that DJI has a pretty monumental lead and it's incredibly expensive in terms of money and expertise to match what they've done. Look at GoPro, that was an abject disaster. Proficiency tends to increase incrementally, it takes investment in the long game that few have the stomach for.

Check out Autels’ new products. I believe DJI may have some serious competition emerging.

I really hope Autel can spur some actual competition this round, but I'm not overly optimistic. People have been saying this for years.

 

[brett8883]

What program do you use for mapping missions with the Air2s?

You can do mapping missions with the Air 2 with Drone Deploy and Drone Link. They are both iOS apps and my understanding is the Air2s still doesn’t have an iOS SDk so once that gets sorted there’s no reason you wouldn’t be able to use the Air 2s as well.

 

[Suren]

And I suppose DJI can do that if they like. Other manufacturers will be happy to fill the vacuum left by DJI. Nature (and consumers), hate a vacuum.
Check out Autels’ new products. I believe DJI may have some serious competition emerging.

Autels new products are good but not without their own flaws. Also their Lite and Nano will not bet getting Waypoints as well.

 

[brett8883]

What is your source? An SDK does NOT necessarily mean waypoints, and it certainly doesn't mean a global shutter.

Unless the Mavic 3 will be the first ever DJI drone with no SDk there will be an SDk. But it could take awhile.

The SDk allows the control app to control drone movements via virtual joysticks, it also gives the control app real time gps and height data so with that ability and information the control app can act as the navigational computer and fly the drone to the waypoints. This has already been demonstrated to work just fine.

I specifically said it wasn’t a global shutter.

 

[PHZ]

Autels new products are good but not without their own flaws. Also their Lite and Nano will not bet getting Waypoints as well.

I am loving my Mavic 2 Pro more every day!

 

[brett8883]

For sure, but here they never really made the distinction to begin with so now there may be a jarring transition. It's still a young market that's evolving. Though, honestly, it's all speculation. Who knows what their actual plan is or how accurate the things are that people are hearing. I sure hope I'm wrong and we eventually see waypoints.

Yea but it seems like DJI has market segmentation confusion across their line. If they want someone with a Mavic 2 Pro that does mapping to upgrade what are they suppose to upgrade to?

The M300 is a whole different kind of drone. Forget cost for a second, the thing is massive and heavy. Somebody interested in a Mavic 3 for mapping isn’t going to go out and get a M300. I understand there is a M2EA which is geared toward mapping but the RGB camera on it isn’t even as good as the standard M2P and doesn’t have a mechanical shutter like the P4PV2. It doesn’t also doesn’t have any of the non-camera features of the M3 like the increased flight time and 360 OA sensors.

As a M2Pro owner I’d like to give DJI my money but they have made it really hard to do so.

 

[RocketBrew]

DroneDeploy's Flight
Pix4D Capture
Measure's Ground Control
Maps Made Easy's Map Pilot Pro
Litchi
etc.

What program do you use for mapping missions with the Air2s?