Waypoints brief explanation

[MikeyST1957]

I just started reading back-posts… so I apologize if the answer has been talked about

I’m considering upgrading my min2 to a min4
People really like waypoints as a great upgrade selling point
I don’t think i understand it very well…
I understand you set route points and the mini4 will repeat and record the same route

But it’s basically flying itself along the route correct?

I’m not sure why I would have a use for that?
What is it mainly used for

Mike

 

[MikeyST1957]

Ok. Did more reading
Understand a little better

I’m not real technical , especially at editing video and photos. I’m a great painter and photographer, but wasn’t given ability for digital skills
Not complaining, just the way my mind works

I mostly just enjoy the actual flying
Not sure if I would ever use waypoints

Still the mini4 seems like great upgrade from my 2

 

[Jack in Dixie]

I just started reading back-posts… so I apologize if the answer has been talked about

I’m considering upgrading my min2 to a min4
People really like waypoints as a great upgrade selling point
I don’t think i understand it very well…
I understand you set route points and the mini4 will repeat and record the same route

But it’s basically flying itself along the route correct?

I’m not sure why I would have a use for that?
What is it mainly used for

Mike

I think you will find Waypoints to be another capability/tool in the new Mini 4 Pro that will allow for a fully Autonomous Flight (AF) from takeoff to landing. Autonomous flight will free you up to concentrate on taking better photos and video inflight while you 'monitor' the M4P's health and any changes to flight path, speed, altitude and actions at your various waypoints you programmed. The other tool in the M4P that allows you to relegate those AF duties is the new 360-deg Obstacle Avoidance (OA). That in my opinion are the real game-changers in the M4P over previous 'mini' versions.

These are some of the reasons why I personally chose the M4P over any other sub-250 gram quadcopter/drone on the market. Other than speed, altitude, distance, Time of Flight (ToF) and possible armament onboard, the M4P is a mini-UAV just like the big boys fly/operate (wink-wink)....

Jack
(aka The new guy!)

 

[akdrone]

the two big things that waypoints provide me are 1) smooth flight. I'm pretty good on the controls but if you want to do some irregular "circle" around a big object or follow some irregular path as you ascend or descend it's almost impossible to do it smoothly and waypoints let you fly from place to place to place perfectly smoothly. To me that is huge. 2) I enjoy filming an area and then returning in another season and repeating the flight to show the change of seasons. Locally seasons seem to be able to change in just a few days . I just reshot a scene after our first snow and will reshoot it again after the snow gets deep. Fun for me.

 

[solidhouse]

I like the ability to send my drone off up to several miles in any direction and be able to take pictures/ videos of rivers, springs, lakes, parks, etc. I often look the map to find some interesting and the plan a waypoint mission. Simply hit the “go” button and the relax waiting for the drone to return.

 

[Jack in Dixie]

the two big things that waypoints provide me are 1) smooth flight. I'm pretty good on the controls but if you want to do some irregular "circle" around a big object or follow some irregular path as you ascend or descend it's almost impossible to do it smoothly and waypoints let you fly from place to place to place perfectly smoothly. To me that is huge. 2) I enjoy filming an area and then returning in another season and repeating the flight to show the change of seasons. Locally seasons seem to be able to change in just a few days . I just reshot a scene after our first snow and will reshoot it again after the snow gets deep. Fun for me.

B-I-N-G-O! Concur 100%.

 

[Droning on and on...]

To amplify a bit on @akdrone's excellent explanation, it's also very hard to smoothly control the camera manually while flying, especially a multi-subject video that moves from one subject to the next. Camera control means not just gimbal tilt, but also aircraft yaw.

We humans are not very good at flying in a fixed direction while having full independent yaw movement. Flying by a subject off to the side, in a straight line and keeping the subject center frame requires rather complex continous maneuvers on pitch/roll/yaw/tilt.

The drone can fly this maneuver autonomously effortlessly, and produce beautiful smooth, perfect video.

It's simply impossible for one person to fly and be cameraman at the same time. This is the reason the high end cinematography drones like the Inspire support a separate camera operator from the pilot.

 

[MikeyST1957]

Would it be accurate to say it’s a better aid for video shoots?

 

[russellg]

I just started reading back-posts… so I apologize if the answer has been talked about

I’m considering upgrading my min2 to a min4
People really like waypoints as a great upgrade selling point
I don’t think i understand it very well…
I understand you set route points and the mini4 will repeat and record the same route

But it’s basically flying itself along the route correct?

I’m not sure why I would have a use for that?
What is it mainly used for

Mike

I made a video on how to plan waypoints for the Mini 4 without having the Mini 4 powered on.

 

[russellg]

I just started reading back-posts… so I apologize if the answer has been talked about

I’m considering upgrading my min2 to a min4
People really like waypoints as a great upgrade selling point
I don’t think i understand it very well…
I understand you set route points and the mini4 will repeat and record the same route

But it’s basically flying itself along the route correct?

I’m not sure why I would have a use for that?
What is it mainly used for

Mike

Nice thing about Waypoints is you can fly the same mission many times. I am doing a mission in 2024 that shows my garden and how it progresses over the summer.

 

[dan.utinske]

Recommend starting your mission at or about 30' above take-off point to orient your RTH precision landing ability. One at 30's I usually will hover there for about 5 seconds before launching mission. My RTH is normally 1" to 2" from where I took off on pad.

 

[JimSteadman]

I made a video on how to plan waypoints for the Mini 4 without having the Mini 4 powered on.

Thanks for posting this. It is the first one I have seen made without using the C1 button to set waypoints. I like it as it enables these flights to be done ahead of time and without being somewhere else, using your drone battery up while you fumble around with the remote control and then realizing that you should have done something else. I have repeatedly tried using the C1 button, but invariably the results are not as expected as the drone bypasses waypoints (I needed to set the hover) and the results, which have been very smooth flights, were not as expected. I'll try this way.

 

[mavic53]

According to a tutorial on YouTube the position of the drone and the controller are very important. This does not fit in with planning the flight beforehand. I do not understand why it matters as the drone marks its true position via GPS.

 

[mobilehomer]

According to a tutorial on YouTube the position of the drone and the controller are very important. This does not fit in with planning the flight beforehand. I do not understand why it matters as the drone marks its true position via GPS.

The drone uses barometric pressure for altitude. Takeoff point is zero altitude, that makes it very important to use the same location for repeatable results. Controller position does not matter, just takeoff point.

 

[Forensics_Pilot]

There are a couple of very specific points that you need to be aware of when using waypoints that were not brought out by others. First, of course your “route” is predefined while you are sitting in the comfort of your own home by selecting a number of “points” along the route (numbered 1, 2, 3, ….). You set such parameters as altitude, drone heading (or yaw if you will), camera pitch (from straight ahead to looking straight down at the earth), aircraft speed, and other misc. parameters, ALL of which can be revised at each waypoint. The waypoints feature also allows you to choose whether to take a still photo or roll video from takeoff to landing.
These features actually provide quite a relief to the pilot during flight while providing the PIC to focus more so on safety of the flight. Waypoints are typically used in mapping and scene creation, particularly when maps of an area of interest are either unavailable from local utilities (i.e, gas, electric, or water companies).
Like Sam I Am in the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess said, “Try them, you’ll like them!” Try the waypoints feature on your next mission. Good luck and safe flying!

 

[orionshooter]

Ok great video on a great feature. Quick question for everyone. I notice the aircraft does not take a direct/straight line route to each way point. The map suggests it curves around to each waypoint. Is that something that can be changed?

Thanks again.

 

[mavic3usa]

Ok great video on a great feature. Quick question for everyone. I notice the aircraft does not take a direct/straight line route to each way point. The map suggests it curves around to each waypoint. Is that something that can be changed?

Thanks again.

Cannot be changed to my knowledge but you actually don't want that. Autel waypoint missions do that and it's not very good. Autel flyers wish for the curves. I believe Litchi has the option tho.

 

[orionshooter]

I was not clear in my question - I actually like the curves in the route - much better cinematically I would assume. I just wanted to make sure it didnt require an extra step in the waypoint programming.

Thanks for the good news!

 

[mavic53]

The drone uses barometric pressure for altitude. Takeoff point is zero altitude, that makes it very important to use the same location for repeatable results. Controller position does not matter, just takeoff point.

From my chosen point I will be 60ft AMSL are you saying the drone takes this as being zero altitude even though it is not? And that all its other calculations are taken from there.

 

[mobilehomer]

From my chosen point I will be 60ft AMSL are you saying the drone takes this as being zero altitude even though it is not? And that all its other calculations are taken from there.

Yes. If you are on the shores of the Dead Sea or the top of Mount Everest, where you power on is zero altitude for the drone.