Mini 3 photos

[Coskier]

Where the 249g label is on the underside,the two landing pads are on both sides of the label.
Could the bottom of the batteries have the built in small landing pads molded into the battery casing.
Or is this part of the molded casing.Looks pretty strange.

Definitely looks like the landing pads are built into the battery, like the FPV is.

 

[VenomXts]

I am more interested in the ability to take a picture straight up... something I have wanted for a long time and might play into a few other things as well.

 

[basyok]

OK. It already looks amazing, and I've been considering a mini 2 for a while to complement my Air 2 - this looks like it might even replace my Air 2.

Besides what's already apparent about the drone, my wishlist:

1. Straight up shots to make perfect 360 photos. I love the 360's that my Air 2 makes, and the way it fills in the zenith looks great, but sometimes I want to re-stitch manually for higher resolution 360's and when the clouds are more interesting, I have a really hard time filling in the zenith without it looking weird. Especially for those "interesting clouds" days, it would be awesome to be able to get full 360's

2. Huge longshot. But, if they're gonna dub it "pro" maybe onboard waypoints will come back (I still miss my Spark, and would probably have kept it if it had better gimbal stabilization and a better camera)

 

[EpicFlight]

I am more interested in the ability to take a picture straight up... something I have wanted for a long time and might play into a few other things as well.

Don't start using drones for your up-skirting antics We're having a hard enough time with public paranoia looking down on them from 300 feet up.

 

[EpicFlight]

2. Huge longshot. But, if they're gonna dub it "pro" maybe onboard waypoints will come back (I still miss my Spark, and would probably have kept it if it had better gimbal stabilization and a better camera)

No actual information on this, but it sure looks like DJI has decided they seriously underestimated the market value of autonomous waypoints, and that the minimum price to play is gonna be $10k from now on.

Take that you customers making money doing mapping, surveying, et al. with our cheap consumer products. No more! We want a piece of the action!

 

[test2000Anafi]

No actual information on this, but it sure looks like DJI has decided they seriously underestimated the market value of autonomous waypoints, and that the minimum price to play is gonna be $10k from now on.

Take that you customers making money doing mapping, surveying, et al. with our cheap consumer products. No more! We want a piece of the action!

Would you agree with this activated for consumers but only up to 300M / realistic VLOS range?

They want to keep the feature out of the reckless noob pilots hands and only for professionals. Raising the price is a simple way to do that

 

[Paulo Silva]

Greetings from Portugal !
I'm probably into it, I'm a big DJI fan relatet to the Mini, my major concern right now is regarding to the balance price/quality because quality is something that I DID NOT see on this Mini 3, in all photos and in all angles when you zoom in the different parts doesn't seem to fit together flawlesness, there are always gaps or they simply don't get aligned...As a Buyer ( Mini and Mini 2 ) I will need to think twince in spendind such an ammount of money for a "cheap look like" drone... Hope they really present a final product that meet not only the expectation but go even beyond and make all € count and worthwile !!!

 

[EpicFlight]

They want to keep the feature out of the reckless noob pilots hands and only for professionals. Raising the price is a simple way to do that

I don't think so. One, I doubt with great confidence that accidents during autonomous missions with noob pilots are statistically measurable, it is so rare. Noob pilots didn't suddenly become dangerously reckless in 2022.

Two, pretty devious of them to spend the not-inconsiderable engineering resources to include this feature for many years in their consumer drones, if they thought it was dangerous. They don't. DJI has been gradually removing this feature for several years, climbing the value ladder in the product portfolio. The lack of support in the MP3 completes the retargeting of the market.

 

[test2000Anafi]

I don't think so. One, I doubt with great confidence that accidents during autonomous missions with noob pilots are statistically measurable, it is so rare. Noob pilots didn't suddenly become dangerously reckless in 2022.

Two, pretty devious of them to spend the not-inconsiderable engineering resources to include this feature for many years in their consumer drones, if they thought it was dangerous. They don't.

In Europe this is forbidden, autonomous flights

European Plan for Aviation Safety 2022 - 2026 | EASA

Highlights of this 11th edition of the European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS) are:

www.easa.europa.eu

 

[EpicFlight]

If you think I'm gonna bother reading through that...

 

[test2000Anafi]

yeah Sorry I tried quoting the part but I guess you dont care anyway

 

[EpicFlight]

Of course I  care, but since it doesn't affect me, not enough to read through that novella so you can prove a claim.

 

[test2000Anafi]

Sorry I don’t have to prove anything. if You took your A1/A3 test then you would have known anyway

 

[RogerDH]

In Europe this is forbidden, autonomous flights

European Plan for Aviation Safety 2022 - 2026 | EASA

Highlights of this 11th edition of the European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS) are:

www.easa.europa.eu

Well, I've just spent about 15 minutes trying to verify this claim, and it appears the EASA makes a distinction between "autonomous" and "automatic."

An autonomous drone is able to conduct a safe flight without the intervention of a pilot. It does so with the help of artificial intelligence, enabling it to cope with all kinds of unforeseen and unpredictable emergency situations.

This is different from automatic operations, where the drone flies pre-determined routes defined by the drone operator before starting the flight. For this type of drone, it is essential for the remote pilot to take control of the drone to intervene in unforeseen events for which the drone has not been programmed.

While automatic drones are allowed in all categories, autonomous drones are not allowed in the ’open’ category.

So, "automatic" waypoint missions, e.g. Litchi and Dronelink, are legal.

 

[test2000Anafi]

Well, I've just spent about 15 minutes trying to verify this claim, and it appears the EASA makes a distinction between "autonomous" and "automatic."



So, "automatic" waypoint missions, e.g. Litchi and Dronelink, are legal.

Does drone link or litchi continue the mission if it is beyond the remote connection?

 

[EpicFlight]

Sorry I don’t have to prove anything. if You took your A1/A3 test then you would have known anyway

Have you taken your FAA Part 107 test yet? Why not?

Here's how you comport yourself here, in a succinct example:

• Make a bold claim
• Others are skeptical, ask you to back up your claim
• Post a ridiculous tranch of documents backing your claim, or just stand by your assertion
• When challenged on your approach, pull a bait and switch say you don't have to prove anything

Do you understand how this damages your credibility? If you don't care, then why post? That sort of posting behavior is generally viewed as trolling.

 

[EpicFlight]

Well, I've just spent about 15 minutes trying to verify this claim, and it appears the EASA makes a distinction between "autonomous" and "automatic."



So, "automatic" waypoint missions, e.g. Litchi and Dronelink, are legal.

So it seems @test2000Anafi, was full of it, and is BSing us about passing the A1/A3 test. Surely such an important distinction would be understood by someone who has qualified themselves in this way

 

[RogerDH]

Does drone link or litchi continue the mission if it is beyond the remote connection?

Not on the Mini series (or any other model that uses "virtual stick" instead of uploading waypoints for onboard execution), because the drone doesn't know anything about missions. If you lose connection, they will just do the same thing they would do if you were flying manually, i.e. whatever you have set up DJI Fly, because the drone doesn't know the difference.

For drones that support onboard execution of uploaded missions, continuing is apparently an option supported in the firmware, so Litchi and Dronelink offer it. However, it's clearly illegal anywhere that you are required to maintain control at all times to avoid other aircraft.

 

[EpicFlight]

To be 100% complete and accurate, the newer drones after the M2P that support the Hyperlapse feature include autonomous waypoints that do not use Virtual Stick mode for flight.

Other than the speed limitation of Hyperlapse, the rest of the flight behavior is classic DJI autonomous (uploaded to aircraft, flight plan executed by the on-board Flight Controller) waypoints.

Also, in the EU I'd look further into how the aircraft operation is interpreted with on-board waypoints if the mission is configured to perform an RTH on lost connection (one of the settings in Litchi). This is no different than ordinary flight.

As long as you are connected, you can intervene if necessary, regardless of the control mode (autonomous, or Virtual Stick).

In a strict interpretation, Failsafe RTH violates the autonomous restriction, but it's probably excepted in the regs as an emergency safety feature, and therefore allowed. Guessing, having not read the regs, but pretty confident in that guess 'cause... EU DJI drone pilots. Flying.

 

[test2000Anafi]

Not on the Mini series (or any other model that uses "virtual stick" instead of uploading waypoints for onboard execution), because the drone doesn't know anything about missions. If you lose connection, they will just do the same thing they would do if you were flying manually, i.e. whatever you have set up DJI Fly, because the drone doesn't know the difference.

For drones that support onboard execution of uploaded missions, continuing is apparently an option supported in the firmware, so Litchi and Dronelink offer it. However, it's clearly illegal anywhere that you are required to maintain control at all times to avoid other aircraft.

Parrot anafi could execute the missions without the controller; I tested this by creating a mission where there was a certain pattern and rerun point, when I started the mission I could disconnect the controller and see the drone execute the exact manoeuvres.

I assumed DJI drones did the same, but I had no idea those apps were not as advanced.