Autopilot - tips?

[Tenly]

I've been gone over the weekend and the news regarding LCMC is very welcome. Also, I have found it's good practice to clear the deck (restart my ipad) before undertaking a new Auto Pilot session. It seems when I've experienced unexpected behavior it's usually been because I haven't done that.

Quick question on waypoint: Is there a way to automatically have video restart after designating a waypoint as a photo?

I assume that you're aware you can drop a camera marker right beside the waypoint to start the video recording - and that you're asking if there is a way to make that happen all from the waypoint itself?

I also have a question about videos/photos during waypoint missions... If I have the mission itself start recording video - when I encounter a waypoint action that requests a photo - does it work? Does it automatically stop the video to take the picture? Or do I have to make sure I've stopped the video before arriving at that waypoint?

Ideally - I'd like it to work the same way you do. If video recording is active when you arrive at the waypoint - then after taking the photo - the waypoint should make sure that video recording is restarted...

 

[Zigs]

I assume that you're aware you can drop a camera marker right beside the waypoint to start the video recording - and that you're asking if there is a way to make that happen all from the waypoint itself?.
..

Thanks for that reminder. I had turned the camera markers off. Nonetheless, like you I'd like to have the option to automatically default back to video after taking a photo.

Also, it would be nice when doing a path inspection if the icon indicated whether it was in video or photo mode.

-- zigs

 

[Hangar]

I assume that you're aware you can drop a camera marker right beside the waypoint to start the video recording - and that you're asking if there is a way to make that happen all from the waypoint itself?

This is the recommended approach.

Does it automatically stop the video to take the picture?

Yes

 

[2nd2non]

I see the new beta build 98 has LCMC. I also notice the popup when selected showing the lost of key features. Now I know why there was not much value from your POV to add this feature. You lose the features that make AP GREAT. So it's basically similar in limitations to most other apps that utilize the DJI flight controller.
Questions: Is there any way to get interpolation between focus points?
Are you utilizing the DJI flight controller when LCMC is selected (ie. Download parameters to AC)?
Not that I would need LCMC that often, but curious.

 

[Hangar]

Questions: Is there any way to get interpolation between focus points? Are you utilizing the DJI flight controller when LCMC is selected (ie. Download parameters to AC)?
Not that I would need LCMC that often, but curious.

Focus points will interpolate, even with LCMC selected, but you cannot define focus triggers at arbitrary points on the path. They must be defined at Waypoints. We only use the DJI flight controller when LCMC is selected, otherwise we use the Autopilot Flight Controller which means you still get all the awesome features if you are ok with RTH (firmware issue notwithstanding).

 

[Tenly]

@autoflightlogic
For LCMC to be useful to me in Autopilot, I'd need to be able to launch a waypoint mission with all of the advanced features and have it kick over to LCMC only if/when necessary! And it would need to automatically kick back into advanced mode when the connection is restored. Is this the plan for LCMC as the feature evolves?

 

[Hangar]

@autoflightlogic
For LCMC to be useful to me in Autopilot, I'd need to be able to launch a waypoint mission with all of the advanced features and have it kick over to LCMC only if/when necessary! And it would need to automatically kick back into advanced mode when the connection is restored. Is this the plan for LCMC as the feature evolves?

This is not possible. By definition the aircraft is either using the DJI flight controller or ours. The point is you don't know you are going to lose connection until it happens, at which point it is too late to instruct the aircraft to switch to the DJI flight controller as you are no longer connected.

 

[Tenly]

This is not possible. By definition the aircraft is either using the DJI flight controller or ours. The point is you don't know you are going to lose connection until it happens, at which point it is too late to instruct the aircraft to switch to the DJI flight controller as you are no longer connected.

So - when you come up against issues like this - do you have a mechanism available to you to request new/changed SDK capabilities from DJI? Do you find that they listen and respond? Is the SDK still under active development or is it more or less "complete" from DJI's perspective?

I ask because it seems like their are a number of features that you could deliver - and that people would want - that are currently being limited by the capabilities of the SDK.

 

[Tenly]

The UI labels the Waypoint Action timer as Duration and the Camera Action time as Start At. Open to suggestions on how to make this more clear.


Just to be very clear, if the first Waypoint is set to 100 ft, and the default altitude priority is in affect, the aircraft will take off and fly straight up for 51 ft and then start moving horizontally and vertically towards Waypoint 1. The section of FS that states this is the one you already linked to, but it makes an assumption that the reader knows altitude priority will apply. We will update it to mention altitude priority.

Ok - so I had a chance to test some of this out and I have a few more questions. One thing that is not clear in the documentation or from my testing is how the speed value is used on a waypoint. My understanding was that when the Phantom arrives at that waypoint, the speed will be set to the specified speed and that speed is the speed it will travel until it gets to the next waypoint. Is that correct? Does the speed set the arrival speed or departure speed? Is it applied instantly or gradually?

For example, let's assume that my default speed is 10km/h, waypoint 1 is set to 35km/h, waypoint 2 is set to 20km/h and waypoint 3 is set to 5km/h. Let's also assume that I request a 5-second hover at each waypoint.

What I expect is that when I click "engage", the Phantom will travel at 10km/h from its current position to waypoint 1. (I can confirm that when taking off from the ground, it does immediately go straight up - but which setting is it that defines the height that it ascends to at this point?)

Anyhow - once it arrives at Waypoint 1, the speed is set at 35km/h and it will travel at that speed to waypoint 2. After the 5 second hover, it will leave Waypoint 2 and travel to waypoint 3 at 20km/h.

Is that all correct? Because it looked like what I was seeing being waypoint 1 and 2 was a gradual deceleration from 35km/h to 20km/h spread over the entire length of the trip between the 2 waypoints. How is this supposed to work?

Request - that path inspector be updated to shown current speed at any given point in the mission!

Request - that instead of having to select a time value for the delay when taking a picture, I can select something that says "when settled". I re-did my mission by adding extra waypoints that reduced the speed to 5km/h but i still had issues with overshooting my destination.

Request - change the "Direction Offset from Course" selector so that instead of selecting from 0 to 360, it allows a selection between -180 to +180.

 

[Hangar]

So - when you come up against issues like this - do you have a mechanism available to you to request new/changed SDK capabilities from DJI?

We frequently communicate with DJI about SDK issues and feature requests, and they are very responsive and open to suggestions. Some things are easier to support than others, however, and this particular request probably slides more to the difficult side of things given the overall architecture. It would actually probably be easier to implement some of the AFL specific stuff into the DJI flight controller than to allow some sort of hybrid flight controller that knows how to take over or switch control at any point during a mission with continuity. This presents a bit of a conflict of interest for us because it is precisely some of these features that give Autopilot a competitive advantage, so there are incentives working in both directions. That is providing the best experience to our users without inadvertently bolstering the competition.

My understanding was that when the Phantom arrives at that waypoint, the speed will be set to the specified speed and that speed is the speed it will travel until it gets to the next waypoint. Is that correct? Does the speed set the arrival speed or departure speed? Is it applied instantly or gradually?

The speed at the Waypoint is the speed that the aircraft will be traveling at that Waypoint. If consecutive waypoints have different speeds, Autopilot linearly interpolates the speed along that segment, and this is evidenced in the path inspector in both a speed and accerlation reading. This is also outlined in Flight School under the Waypoint Preferred Speed mode control documentation. You can see this by dragging the path inspector along a segment with acceleration and watching the speed change. The one complication is, what happens when Waypoints have actions? In the most recent build that was just released earlier today, we just added automatic deceleration going in to Waypoints with actions, starting at 30 m, before the Waypoint. Once the actions are finished, Autopilot will accelerate to the speed configure at the Waypoint as fast and as smoothly as it can, as governed by the Movement Responsiveness Parameter.

What I expect is that when I click "engage", the Phantom will travel at 10km/h from its current position to waypoint 1. (I can confirm that when taking off from the ground, it does immediately go straight up - but which setting is it that defines the height that it ascends to at this point?)

The warning message in Flight School on the Default Altitude mode control states the following:

When engaged, Autopilot will navigate directly to the First Waypoint at the Altitude configured for that Waypoint within the bounds of Altitude Priority. Even still, it is important to ensure that the entire Flight Path between the starting location and the First Waypoint is clear of obstructions at all altitudes.​

As for the speed, it travels to Waypoint 1 and the speed configured for Waypoint 1.

Request - that path inspector be updated to shown current speed at any given point in the mission!

Already does, see above.

Request - that instead of having to select a time value for the delay when taking a picture, I can select something that says "when settled". I re-did my mission by adding extra waypoints that reduced the speed to 5km/h but i still had issues with overshooting my destination.

The question is really what is the definition of "settled". Hopefully the automatic deceleration solves this issue.

Request - change the "Direction Offset from Course" selector so that instead of selecting from 0 to 360, it allows a selection between -180 to +180.

Open to it.

 

[Tenly]

@autoflightlogic

I have purchased and aftermarket battery. The latest DJI firmware refuses to take off with a non-DJI battery. Someone has claimed that Litchi still works with aftermarket batteries.

Is there anything in the SDK that would allow Autopilot to ignore the "non-DJI" battery error and allow flight anyhow?

Inside DJI Go, I get the following error message:

(Actually, looking at it again - it's a WARNING - not an error...)

In Autopilot, the manual CSC to start the motors was ignored, and when I attempted to "engage" a black box mission - I got the red message about being below the hard flight deck - and then nothing happened.

So - right now I'm not asking if you WILL bypass the DJI restriction. I'm just asking if you CAN do it?

 

[Hangar]

Is there anything in the SDK that would allow Autopilot to ignore the "non-DJI" battery error and allow flight anyhow?

Not that we are aware of.

 

[pilotpeter]

When lcmc goes public (assuming no difference in the beta versions)what would work? With all the chatter about what won't work with that feature; what will work when using waypoints and lost comm occurs?

 

[Hangar]

When lcmc goes public (assuming no difference in the beta versions)what would work? With all the chatter about what won't work with that feature; what will work when using waypoints and lost comm occurs?

Anything in Flight School under Waypoint Mode should work with LCMC enabled, with the exception of what is listed in this table.

 

[pilotpeter]

Time frame- will autoflight get lcmc out within weeks/months /days?

Thanks!

 

[Hangar]

Time frame- will autoflight get lcmc out within weeks/months /days?

Thanks!

It is already available via the beta.

 

[pilotpeter]

How do I get the beta? I signed up via the website many months ago.

 

[Hangar]

How do I get the beta? I signed up via the website many months ago.

Email us again, you may have been removed due to inactivity.

 

[pilotpeter]

I just sent you a personal msg with my email address

 

[Hangar]

I just sent you a personal msg with my email address

Please sign up for the beta here.