Status of work on waypoints for Mini 3 (via QGroundControl, etc.)

[TT3023]

I've been asked what functionality I would expect the existing wrapper app to provide for the Mini 3 prior to the (who knows when?) availability of Mini 3 support in the DJI MSDK. I can speculate based on the Mini 2 experience, but these are only speculations at this point and cannot be confirmed until an actual Mini 3 is in hand.

Normal waypoints loaded into the wrapper app from a ground control station like QGroundControl would be anticipated to work, via the usual automated joystick mechanism. I also anticipate that collision avoidance would function as enabled from the Go Fly app (which would not be left running). Note that in a waypoint situation you wouldn't normally want it stopping at an obstacle but rather going around it, so that setting will be important.

Less clear is if collision avoidance can be enabled and disabled from the wrapper app (as opposed to from the Go Fly app) and whether or not collision warnings can appear on screen. The former might be possible depending on how closely the Mini 3 interface mirrors the emulated drone models. The latter seems unlikely in the short term, but it's possible that the controller will still make its warning sounds for collision situations.

And that's about as far as I can go with speculations until there's a way to test with an actual Mini 3, which so far I've been unable to source here in the U.S.

 

[surfbird]

I've been asked what functionality I would expect the existing wrapper app to provide for the Mini 3 prior to the (who knows when?) availability of Mini 3 support in the DJI MSDK. I can speculate based on the Mini 2 experience, but these are only speculations at this point and cannot be confirmed until an actual Mini 3 is in hand.

Normal waypoints loaded into the wrapper app from a ground control station like QGroundControl would be anticipated to work, via the usual automated joystick mechanism. I also anticipate that collision avoidance would function as enabled from the Go Fly app (which would not be left running). Note that in a waypoint situation you wouldn't normally want it stopping at an obstacle but rather going around it, so that setting will be important.

Less clear is if collision avoidance can be enabled and disabled from the wrapper app (as opposed to from the Go Fly app) and whether or not collision warnings can appear on screen. The former might be possible depending on how closely the Mini 3 interface mirrors the emulated drone models. The latter seems unlikely in the short term, but it's possible that the controller will still make its warning sounds for collision situations.

And that's about as far as I can go with speculations until there's a way to test with an actual Mini 3, which so far I've been unable to source here in the U.S.

I will get one this week. I will check if it's possible to mock dronetype.
Hardest part can be the videofeed, since dji patches the 264 decoding different for each drone type. -). I will also check for atti-mode, builtin waypoints simulator and parameter hacking.

 

[TT3023]

The video indeed is a continuing hassle. I have another fork that tries to deal with this more effectively, but I'm not planning any changes until there's a unit to test with, which at this rate won't be for ages.

 

[surfbird]

So now I have done some quick tests. (First flight)
* No virtualstick (at least not with the old protocoll)
* No waypoints
* No videofeed (yet), I only tried mocking with mini1.

* Atti mode possible, without speed limit (got 26m/s downwind)
* Boost mode seems possible, I will check with power meter.
* Gimbal in free mode possible.
* Max 40degrees attitude in sportmode, I will try to check if it possible to increase max.
* Simulator works, but crashes when using virtualsticks.

So no virtualstick is a major problem. Without that I don't see any point to continue to use the sdk, since you can't do very much without VS. I wonder if they change the protocoll, they did once, but then they only swapped x/y coordinates. Or, they skipped the VS completly.

 

[TT3023]

Thanks for testing. I'm concerned about the lack of obvious access to VS. I'll take a look at all this if I ever have a Mini 3 in hand. Still no luck getting hold of one.

 

[TT3023]

I am putting efforts related to this app on hold for now for the Mini 3. There seem to simply be too many conflicting reports regarding relevant problematic issues with this drone, and it appears that it's going to take considerable time for the issues that can be dealt with to be corrected. For now I'm going to concentrate on continuing to improve the app performance with the Mini 2, which is a solid known quantity.

 

[TT3023]

So, in a previously unexpected turn of events, it looks like a Mini 3 will be available for me to test with in a week or so. So, no reason not to pursue this.