Mini 5 waypoints

[Stormboy]

Getting ready to purchase a mini 5. In the past I used Litchi as my waypoint setups.
I liked setting up my routes at home and then going there and running that program.
My question is, is there a program app to be able to do that with the mini 5?
I don’t much care for the DJI has their program set up.
Thank you

 

[bpendleton]

Getting ready to purchase a mini 5. In the past I used Litchi as my waypoint setups.
I liked setting up my routes at home and then going there and running that program.
My question is, is there a program app to be able to do that with the mini 5?
I don’t much care for the DJI has their program set up.
Thank you

There's no SDK support yet, so you have to do it with by loading the waypoints into the DJI Fly app. How you do it depends on whether you have the RC2 (you have to do some tricks to create a waypoint flight in the remote, then overwrite the GUID-named-file with yours by mounting the remote from another device over USB) or the RC-N3 (simpler, though somewhat similar process, because it doesn't happen on a locked-down device).

I have done it in the field with my RC2, an Android phone, a USBC-to-USBC cable, and FlyLitchi.com. Not super fun, but definitely possible.

ETA: But, yeah, you can definitely do all of those steps at home and have the routes pre-loaded when you get there. You just have to use the DJI Fly app to fly them. A little easier than the Android phone in-the-field process.

 

[Stormboy]

Oh poop, thank you for your info. Got a bit to learn. I have iOS not android, problematic or not?

Has there been an SDK completed if I were to go the mini 4?

 

[BossBob]

There is a way of using Litchi Hub to plan waypoint missions and then upload the generated mission file to the device running Fly. Have a look here How to use Litchi Hub with DJI Fly (for drones with no SDK support)

 

[bpendleton]

Oh poop, thank you for your info. Got a bit to learn. I have iOS not android, problematic or not?

Has there been an SDK completed if I were to go the mini 4?

Yes, as far as I can tell, though I don't have the mini 4 myself. SDK support from DJI tends to lag many months to a year or so. They will hopefully release an SDK covering the mini 5 at some point.

And, also yes, there are similar techniques for loading into the right place for the Fly app from an iOS device. You can also do it from a computer.

 

[Stormboy]

Yes, as far as I can tell, though I don't have the mini 4 myself. SDK support from DJI tends to lag many months to a year or so. They will hopefully release an SDK covering the mini 5 at some point.

And, also yes, there are similar techniques for loading into the right place for the Fly app from an iOS device. You can also do it from a computer.

Thank you

 

[Droning on and on...]

Just to set expectations... Don't count on an SDK for the mini 5P (or mini 4P, mini 3P, Air 3/3S, Mavic 3 series, Mavic 4 series, and I'm sure a few others I've missed) EVER being released.

This has been a sore point in the user community now for several years. DJI changed their product strategy years ago, deciding to provide waypoint functionality directly through DJI Fly, wrecking Litchi's entire business model.

Litchi is a much much better, more capable, and feature-rich waypoint solution, but DJI decided to stop supporting them and other 3rd parties in the DJI ecosystem.

For now, the DJI Fly waypoint functionality is "good enough" for most applications, but lacks some useful functionality that Litchi provided.

And to be absolutely accurate, there was an SDK for the Mini 3P, but it was a crippled version that only supports "Virtual Stick" operation, which requires a good, solid connection with the RC at all times to work. Litchi was not updated to support this SDK, instead Litchi developed a new app, "Litchi Pilot", which sucked worse than a Vegas street prostitute 40 years into her career. Don't know if LP ever got off the ground from beta.

 

[Exphantomflyer]

Litchi was not updated to support this SDK, instead Litchi developed a new app, "Litchi Pilot", which sucked worse than a Vegas street prostitute 40 years into her career. Don't know if LP ever got off the ground from beta.

Yes it did and it works fine on the Mini 4 pro, I think its still in Beta testing at the moment as its still very limited in what it can do.

 

[PINEBARON]

Droning on and on... said: Litchi sucked worse than a Vegas street prostitute 40 years into her career.

Experience counts

 

[DJ Wes]

Don't count on an SDK for the mini 5P (or mini 4P, mini 3P, Air 3/3S, Mavic 3 series, Mavic 4 series, and I'm sure a few others I've missed) EVER being released.

DJI did add support to the MSDK v5 for both the Mini 3 and Mini 4 Pro.

And to be absolutely accurate, there was an SDK for the Mini 3P, but it was a crippled version that only supports "Virtual Stick" operation, which requires a good, solid connection with the RC at all times to work.

The Mini 3 does not have native waypoints. Therefore, VSC is the only option for waypoints on that drone. It wasn't the MSDK that is crippled. Instead, it is the Mini 3 Pro that doesn't have native waypoint capability leaving VSC as the only option if waypoints are desired.

Litchi was not updated to support this SDK, instead Litchi developed a new app, "Litchi Pilot"

This is because the original Litchi app was written against DJI's MSDK v4. The newer DJI drones are supported in MSDK v5. Since the two SDKs are not compatible with each other, Litchi had no choice but to create a second app (Litchi Pilot), written against MSDK v5, for the newer drones.

 

[Droning on and on...]

@DJ Wes does the SDK for the Mini 4P and therefore Litchi Pilot support native autonomous waypoints with the option for a mission to continue if the connection to the RC is lost? If so, I'm delighted to learn this, and may take another look at Litchi Pilot (it's been a few years).

I thought DJI was only supporting Virtual Stick in their SDKs after the Mavic 2, except for the Enterprise versions of the top of the Mavic line, impacting Litchi and all DJI drones after that model. I'd love to be wrong

 

[DJ Wes]

does the SDK for the Mini 4P and therefore Litchi Pilot support native autonomous waypoints with the option for a mission to continue if the connection to the RC is lost?

Yes, it does.

I thought DJI was only supporting Virtual Stick in their SDKs after the Mavic 2

Litchi Pilot supports whatever functions the current MSDK provides. In the case of the Mini 4 Pro, both native and VSC waypoints are supported in the MSDK.