Why no course lock?

Skewif · Jan 27, 2018

Hello all, the Air is all that I want/need but not having course lock is stopping my buy finger from working. It’s something I really need. Could it be something they are still coding and will soon come in an update? Or... is this to be kept back to give value/better features for the Pro? Maybe once the Pro 2 is out they will let it pass down? Any thoughts on this will be much appreciated. Cheers from Brighton Uk.

Janjelmer1 · Jan 29, 2018

Skewif said:
Hello all, the Air is all that I want/need but not having course lock is stopping my buy finger from working. It’s something I really need. Could it be something they are still coding and will soon come in an update? Or... is this to be kept back to give value/better features for the Pro? Maybe once the Pro 2 is out they will let it pass down? Any thoughts on this will be much appreciated. Cheers from Brighton Uk.

Hi there!

I was just watching the tutorials on youtube posted by DJI themselves, and was also missing home/course lock functionality. However, if you watch the TapFly episode, they explain 4 options within the TapFly mode. In one of the options ('Free') you can control the quads yaw while the heading will not change. This sounds much like course lock to me. Biggest difference is that the aircraft airspeed is set by a slider, not by direct joystick control.

Hope this helps!

Skewif · Jan 30, 2018

Janjelmer1 said:
Hi there!

I was just watching the tutorials on youtube posted by DJI themselves, and was also missing home/course lock functionality. However, if you watch the TapFly episode, they explain 4 options within the TapFly mode. In one of the options ('Free') you can control the quads yaw while the heading will not change. This sounds much like course lock to me. Biggest difference is that the aircraft airspeed is set by a slider, not by direct joystick control.

Hope this helps!

Thank you. Yes that should do just what I want. Best I watch all their tutorials me thinks.

Cheers

Seb.

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

Air has course lock as well as all of the Pro's flight modes.

Janjelmer1 · Jan 30, 2018

droneworx said:
Air has course lock as well as all of the Pro's flight modes.

How do you know this? DJI states on their website comparing the Air and Mavic Pro that the Air does miss some of the modes which do ship with the pro:

Consumer Drones Comparison- DJI

See other thread: Intelligent Flight Modes on Mavic Air

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

Janjelmer1 said:
How do you know this? DJI states on their website comparing the Air and Mavic Pro that the Air does miss some of the modes which do ship with the pro:

Consumer Drones Comparison- DJI

See other thread: Intelligent Flight Modes on Mavic Air

becuase I have one...its right there in flight mode options, PoI, Follow Me, Waypoints, Home and Course Lock.

View attachment 30020

first 3 are Pro Flight Modes, bottom right is the Air flight mode options

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

Sorry here’s the screenshot

Janjelmer1 · Jan 30, 2018

droneworx said:
becuase I have one...its right there in flight mode options, PoI, Follow Me, Waypoints, Home and Course Lock.

View attachment 30020

first 3 are Pro Flight Modes, bottom right is the Air flight mode options

That's fantastic! Thank you so much for letting know. Really happy to hear that all flight modes are available

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

Janjelmer1 said:
That's fantastic! Thank you so much for letting know. Really happy to hear that all flight modes are available

well to be clear, not "all" of them, you don't have have tripod, you dont have terrain, and a few others, I haven't really looked too deep, but it adds a few others, the asteroid, dronie, spiral, etc., but the "basic" ones it has.

ZAG · Jan 30, 2018

Looks like the air does have tripod mode:

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

ZAG said:
Looks like the air does have tripod mode:

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actually ya I noticed that a little while ago while playing around...its under a new heading, its not with the standard flight modes, its in a new icon along with the new flight modes.

Janjelmer1 · Jan 30, 2018

B

droneworx said:
well to be clear, not "all" of them, you don't have have tripod, you dont have terrain, and a few others, I haven't really looked too deep, but it adds a few others, the asteroid, dronie, spiral, etc., but the "basic" ones it has.

I can see the terrain follow and tripod icon on your screenshots? Can you please elaborate on that? or are the screenshots the modes available for the Mavic Pro only?

Thanks in advance

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

Tripod mode really just slows all the drones responses way down. Its meant for using in tight locations where you want minute control, like inside.

Terrain follow is not on the Air, only the Pro, and it uses the sensors to follow a target and also adjust its height automatically. So lets say your riding a bike, and your in the hills going up and down in elevation, the Pro will follow you at a pre-set height above you and adjust automatically as you go up and down hills.

Janjelmer1 · Jan 30, 2018

droneworx said:
Tripod mode really just slows all the drones responses way down. Its meant for using in tight locations where you want minute control, like inside.

Terrain follow is not on the Air, only the Pro, and it uses the sensors to follow a target and also adjust its height automatically. So lets say your riding a bike, and your in the hills going up and down in elevation, the Pro will follow you at a pre-set height above you and adjust automatically as you go up and down hills.

Yeah I know, thanks. Both modes were listed in your screenshot but are not available on the Air, so I guess Waypoints and Course/Home Lock sadly also won't be available on the Air. In all vids I've seen so far, 8 modes were listed and Waypoints and Course/Home Lock were not one of them.

DefaultIT · Jan 30, 2018

Thanks guys...this answered a few of my questions.

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

Janjelmer1 said:
Yeah I know, thanks. Both modes were listed in your screenshot but are not available on the Air, so I guess Waypoints and Course/Home Lock sadly also won't be available on the Air. In all vids I've seen so far, 8 modes were listed and Waypoints and Course/Home Lock were not one of them.

actually TriPod mode is available on the Air, terrain is not. The Air has a new button where some of the other flight modes are available. It doesnt make sense why you would do that, but it is what it is

Splats · Jan 30, 2018

So what does the Air do in active track mode if you are cycling up a hill? Surely it doesn't just let you go up out of shot or continue until its about to hit the ground and then stop (obstacle avoidance).

droneworx · Jan 30, 2018

Splats said:
So what does the Air do in active track mode if you are cycling up a hill? Surely it doesn't just let you go up out of shot or continue until its about to hit the ground and then stop (obstacle avoidance).

I ran the Air towards my backyard fence a few hours ago with the APAS on, about 5 feet from it, it just stopped. Im assuming that since it couldn't see a way around it (as if it was a tree) it decided to just stop. This leads me to believe the APAS doesnt work going up and down, only side to side (need to test more). If so, then if the active track is on, if you change altitude, it will simply stop. This is an assumption, I dont know for sure ?

Janjelmer1 · Jan 31, 2018

droneworx said:
I ran the Air towards my backyard fence a few hours ago with the APAS on, about 5 feet from it, it just stopped. Im assuming that since it couldn't see a way around it (as if it was a tree) it decided to just stop. This leads me to believe the APAS doesnt work going up and down, only side to side (need to test more). If so, then if the active track is on, if you change altitude, it will simply stop. This is an assumption, I dont know for sure ?

I actually saw a video on YouTube where the Air did move up with APAS to avoid an obstacle. Maybe it didn't recognize the fence grid good enough/to late to avoid or was the fence to high for APAS to react. No idea if it will work good enough to used it uphill. I don't think you will get smooth motions, as APAS kicks in at a certain threshold, not continuously.

Janjelmer1 · Jan 31, 2018

droneworx said:
Air has course lock as well as all of the Pro's flight modes.

A DJI official has just confirmed (https://forum.dji.com/thread-132344-1-1.html) that the following 8 modes are available on the Mavic Air:

(Normal)
ActiveTrack
QuickShot
SmartCapture
TapFly
Tripod Mode
Cinematic Mode
Point of Interest

No 'Waypoints' (it was listed wrongly on the DJI comparison list before, but they have adjusted it to POI), No Home/Course Lock, No Terrain Follow and No Follow Me mode.