Two issues with Autopilot

[RaptorMan]

I haven't been able to fly for a month but flew 7 batteries today. On the third battery I ran an Autopilot Waypoint mission that I'd planned a while back and I had two problems. I took off with DJI Go and then switched over to "F" mode then started Autopilot. As soon as the mission started the camera focus went to hell and stayed that way for the entire mission. The other oddity was that as it was flying the mission the drone looked to be bucking between slowing down and speeding up and you could see and hear the drone pitching forward and back while flying between waypoints. The video, though blurring from the focus problem, did not seemed to bounce around from the bucking, but I put that down to the gimbal.

So, with the Autopilot not working as I'd hoped I switched back to the DJI Go app and completed the rest of my flights without incident.

I was in empty desert and decided to test my RC communications with the drone at extended range -- I have the 600 series drone. I would not do this where I might run into something or fall on someone but the empty desert was a good place to test. I got to 1.7 miles and still had full bars on the Go app and no dropped frames in the video. In addition to being in the middle of no where and thus safe to test something like this the wifi noise level in such a place is so low that getting a couple miles was no challenge.

My bad luck with Autopilot continues!


Brian

 

[damoncooper]

I haven't been able to fly for a month but flew 7 batteries today. On the third battery I ran an Autopilot Waypoint mission that I'd planned a while back and I had two problems. I took off with DJI Go and then switched over to "F" mode then started Autopilot. As soon as the mission started the camera focus went to hell and stayed that way for the entire mission. The other oddity was that as it was flying the mission the drone looked to be bucking between slowing down and speeding up and you could see and hear the drone pitching forward and back while flying between waypoints. The video, though blurring from the focus problem, did not seemed to bounce around from the bucking, but I put that down to the gimbal.

So, with the Autopilot not working as I'd hoped I switched back to the DJI Go app and completed the rest of my flights without incident.

I was in empty desert and decided to test my RC communications with the drone at extended range -- I have the 600 series drone. I would not do this where I might run into something or fall on someone but the empty desert was a good place to test. I got to 1.7 miles and still had full bars on the Go app and no dropped frames in the video. In addition to being in the middle of no where and thus safe to test something like this the wifi noise level in such a place is so low that getting a couple miles was no challenge.

My bad luck with Autopilot continues!


Brian

Had the same bucking bronco issue. Jim responded and suggested I bump this value to 10 seconds. I'll give this a go.

Why does the aircraft make abrupt course corrections for some flight paths in Waypoint Mode?

 

[Hangar]

As soon as the mission started the camera focus went to hell

Try disabling dynamic focus in the settings.

 

[RaptorMan]

Had the same bucking bronco issue. Jim responded and suggested I bump this value to 10 seconds. I'll give this a go.

Why does the aircraft make abrupt course corrections for some flight paths in Waypoint Mode?

Thanks Damon, I'll give that a shot and hope DJI cleans up the SDK soon.


Brian

 

[RaptorMan]

Try disabling dynamic focus in the settings.

Let me look into that...


Brian

 

[RaptorMan]

I've made both changes as recommended! I may get a chance tomorrow to test it out...


Brian

 

[Adelberg aerial imaging]

You can manually focus the lens and camera while flying if not sharp!

 

[Hangar]

If you disable dynamic focus (which will be disabled in 3.2 by default) you can then use a long-press gesture on the camera view to initiate an auto-focus operation, assuming the lens is in auto-focus mode.

 

[Bryan Conover]

This exactly why people secretly avoid AutoPilot...it's way too complicated for the minimum number of functionalities a user is trying to accomplish. Waypoint, Follow Me and Point of Interest work perfectly with firmware 1.4...Lets the flogging begin but it's hard to recommend based on mass complexity.

 

[Terry Lowe]

This exactly why people secretly avoid AutoPilot...it's way too complicated for the minimum number of functionalities a user is trying to accomplish. Waypoint, Follow Me and Point of Interest work perfectly with firmware 1.4...Lets the flogging begin but it's hard to recommend based on mass complexity.

Stand still and let me flog ya.

I am a new Autopilot user. Autopilot is very configurable and, because of that, the user interface was daunting for me when I first looked at it. It didn't take long for me to get used to the interface though and find it much more powerful than the DJI Go app. For example, you can set up your waypoint mission before you fly. I did my first waypoint mission today and it worked well after I got it sorted out. I'm over 50 now and it takes me a little longer to "get it" according to my kids. Autopilot allows you follow other devices like another iphone....or another drone. (I gotta admit that recording another drone in flight is not very practical, but it was sooo cool) I've not experimented with Cruise, Mimic or Intercept modes yet. So the secret is out....

 

[Hangar]

This exactly why people secretly avoid AutoPilot

Were you referring to something specific or just in general? Always happen to listen to constructive feedback on how we can make Autopilot easier to use while not sacrificing safety or functionality.

 

[RaptorMan]

Were you referring to something specific or just in general? Always happen to listen to constructive feedback on how we can make Autopilot easier to use while not sacrificing safety or functionality.

I sent a note to Autoflight Logic on a problem I was having starting a new mission and have not heard back. In summary, if I have a mission saved but still open, if I try to start a new mission I can not find anyplace to "Create New" or "New" or something along those lines. The way I found to be able to create a new mission is to shutdown the iPad (power off) then power on and load Autopilot -- at this point there's no mission open and you can start building a new mission.

When you select the "folder icon" you have three options: save flight plan, load flight plan, restore defaults; but there is no option to create new plan.

It is precisely this kind of omission that make Autopilot less than it should be. How is it that this simple and common program option isn't clearly available and obvious. If there is a way to create a new mission with another mission open where is it? If such an option exists why is it not in the same menu as the save and load plans?


Brian

 

[Hangar]

Use restore defaults. Then, if you tap Save Flight Plan and there was a previous plan loaded it will ask you if you want to save it as a new plan or update the previous one.

 

[RaptorMan]

Use restore defaults. If you tap Save Flight Plan and there was a previous plan loaded it will ask you if you want to save it as a new plan or update the previous one.

So "restore defaults" is Autopilots version of "create new"?

Let me point out that "restore defaults" could mean to change all the settings you may have changed to default values -- how am I to know that isn't what it means? If "restore defaults" doesn't actually change all those settings why not call it "create new plan"?

Seems to me the folder icon should have an option called "create new plan" that does NOT change all the settings but starts a new plan. How is that not the obvious and best method?

So, just to be clear, if I have a mission open and wish to start a new one will "restore defaults" create a new plan WITHOUT changing the other settings I may have changed?


Brian

 

[Hangar]

If you don't want to blow away all the current control values you just use Save Flight Plan, at which point it will prompt you to either create a new one or update the existing one.

 

[RaptorMan]

If you don't want to blow away all the current control values you just use Save Flight Plan, at which point it will prompt you to either create a new one or update the existing one.

But if you do that then ALL the waypoints and focus points etc are still there and I'd be forced to waste time deleting all that crap.


Brian

 

[Hangar]

Restore defaults first then.

 

[RaptorMan]

Restore defaults first then.

And if I "restore defaults" first do I then have to go back to the setup and reapply any changes I'd made?


Brian

 

[Hangar]

And if I "restore defaults" first do I then have to go back to the setup and reapply any changes I'd made?

Yes. I guess I am confused about what you are wanting to do. You said that you didn't want to have to recreate all the Waypoints and Focus Triggers and such, so does that mean you are looking for a way to leave the Flight Path intact, but reset all the other Mode Controls (such as Default Preferred Speed, Default Altitude, etc)? Currently it is all or nothing, but even if we did implement this function, I'm not really sure how it could be considered "Create New Flight Plan" as it is leaving the Flight Path intact.

 

[Hangar]

Yes. I guess I am confused about what you are wanting to do. You said that you didn't want to have to recreate all the Waypoints and Focus Triggers and such, so does that mean you are looking for a way to leave the Flight Path intact, but reset all the other Mode Controls (such as Default Preferred Speed, Default Altitude, etc)? Currently it is all or nothing, but even if we did implement this function, I'm not really sure how it could be considered "Create New Flight Plan" as it is leaving the Flight Path intact.

Okay sorry, after reading your response again I see you don't want to have to clear our the Waypoints and such manually (sorry it's early here).

If you are looking for a way to leave the Mode Controls intact (Default Preferred Speed, Default Altitude, etc) but start the Flight Path anew, you can tap the Waypoint Reference Marker twice for options. From the resulting menu you can then choose Delete All Waypoints. From there you can do Save Flight Plan and of course get the Create New / Update Existing prompt.