CAREFULL : EVO MISSION PLANNER

[claudius62]

Last week I had a surprise with the Explorer Waypoint course which hadn't caught my attention before because the waypoints weren't so widely spaced.
A simple route of 6 waypoints over a great distance.
Points 1 to 5 were programmed at 50 meters and the last point programmed lower at 15 meters to regain control and land.
THE ALTITUDE CHANGE WAS MADE AT POINT 5 from 50 METERS TO 15 METERS and the journey from point 5 to point 6 was done at 15 meters altitude.


That is to say that if a tree or other would have been in the way, the drone would not have passed. Fortunately, it was a large field.
Deceived by Lichi who do lower the altitude to the point where we change the height and not at the previous point.

Surprised by this, I repeated the same route by adding a point 6 after point 5 at 50 meters high, leaving the last point at 15 meters: the change in altitude was then made at point 6 and returned at 15 meters to the last point.



MORALITY: In this kind of mission, if you want to lower the altitude before landing, put the penultimate point very close to you and without obstacle until the arrival.

 

[Jsizzle*EVO*1_Alpha]

lol, yea that should be spelled out a little clearer or at least some type of planner tip mentioning that the height differentiation begins at the start of the waypoint and not gradually taken throughout the point or at the end even though I think a descending point trail would be a pretty cool addition and somewhat very useful if you're trying to get a unique shot or something of that nature. I'm glad you were able to learn from what could have been potentially fatal for your little drone and yet no longer has to be part of a doom gloom fatality. Happy flying and stay safe!! Been seeing too many of these birds eat the dust lately and even though that means money for fixing one's mistake, it's still sad to see the abuse these little guys endure and seem to take.

 

[rollon1300]

I have flown my Mavic Pro with Litchi and would have expected the Evo Mission Planner to operate in the same manner. Thank you for your report as it has certainly saved my Evo 2 8k.

Autel should, without a doubt, make this very clear in their instructions on Mission Planner, or even better, make the program work as one would expect...

 

[Quad808]

I have to admit something. Been flying drones, since like forever, and NEVER have used a mission planner on any drone other than a home built model, a long, long time ago. Ok, maybe like 3 + years ago. Seems like ages. (ok, I think its been at least 4-5 years ago...my brain is getting old)
Am I the only one who doesn't create missions? It sure sounds like I am missing out on some fun. I can't be the only one who doesn't use this, right?? This maybe a dumb question, and I could look up the answer myself, but there must be a limitation on distance, right?

 

[Ansia]

I have to admit something. Been flying drones, since like forever, and NEVER have used a mission planner on any drone other than a home built model, a long, long time ago. Ok, maybe like 3 + years ago. Seems like ages. (ok, I think its been at least 4-5 years ago...my brain is getting old)
Am I the only one who doesn't create missions? It sure sounds like I am missing out on some fun. I can't be the only one who doesn't use this, right?? This maybe a dumb question, and I could look up the answer myself, but there must be a limitation on distance, right?

I started mapping by creating missions. I then realized that you are at the mercy of a software and lost a drone that way. Now I run all my missions manually and can adjust depending on what my objective is. My photogrammetries turn out WAY better this way.

 

[Jsizzle*EVO*1_Alpha]

I have to admit something. Been flying drones, since like forever, and NEVER have used a mission planner on any drone other than a home built model, a long, long time ago. Ok, maybe like 3 + years ago. Seems like ages. (ok, I think its been at least 4-5 years ago...my brain is getting old)
Am I the only one who doesn't create missions? It sure sounds like I am missing out on some fun. I can't be the only one who doesn't use this, right?? This maybe a dumb question, and I could look up the answer myself, but there must be a limitation on distance, right?

With any software and machine alike there will always be trade-offs and certain things one person like and another one doesn't but to be honest, I don't plan maybe but a quarter of my missions because like Ansia up above said, the results under manual control end up turning out much better..... lmao that is if you don't understand how to properly set up a mission flight, to begin with. Another additive bonus in my opinion there is from what I have experienced UNLIMITED range all the way up to 990 waypoints or until the battery drops too low it will then act upon however you set the certain parameters. I have never once come close to losing a drone due to this software and it ran flawlessly for me every single time. There was even an instance where I panicked due to losing signal unintentionally and thus discovered the drone will complete the mission in its entirety without and worries in the world and come right back home no matter what right where you took off from or where you have the home return point setup. because all throughout this process 5the drone has full obstacle avoidance and its ability to maneuver and dodge any obstacles completely and fully to maintain its objective of completing its mission and making it back to the home point safely. So, I'm not sure why you are trying to put down a very sophisticated piece of tech that is actually pretty well polished from what I've experienced, and not only that I would give more details but I'm positive another one of my posts will be edited or completely deleted because lord forbids I give another pilot a little insight on the very product he spent his hard2 earn money on and don't want them to go and waste it by believing something is bad when it really isn't..... Let's just say that the compiled file or simple coded format that is uploaded to the drone as its waypoint mission or whatever it may be at the time. All this is, is a measly generic text file, deeply embedded inside the AUTEL Explorer application folders trying to hide from those who are curious... Well, lets just also say that once you easily manipulate these values in this specific file/folder you can have the drone do your bidding at 45MPH waypoints, mid-way point assertion or descents of altitude, dynamic POI with multiple heading point variables to get the exact shot without any jitter or manual input risking any type of user error.

 

[PingSpike]

but there must be a limitation on distance, right?

Only battery life

 

[Quad808]

Thanks my man....looks like I need to start enjoying some of the features of the drone that I don't use.

 

[Bobstaff]

I set my end of mission (last way point)at the the last picture I want to take....or end of recording, then set the last function to Return Home. That way it does a standard Go Home as if I pushed the Go Home button. It takes the shortest route and avoids obstacles along the way.

 

[Rattlebars]

When I flew a phantom 4 I would hand edit the mission files created with a 3rd party app. No native way to do it.

On Android mission files are stored internally at root in

Android/data/com.autelrobotics.explorer/files/NewMission/????..txt

???? as the mission name. I cannot successfully copy missions from my tablet to my fone or vice verse. If ANYONE knows how please inform with details.

I will attempt to hand edit a few to see how that might work. I've only had my Evo 2 for three days.

 

[claudius62]

The original mission file is in the root of the phone in a large file which contains all the functions that Explorer can use. The TXT File is a pale copy of what you created in your mission, but the original file that will be used for the mission is in Explorer's internal documents. It is mixed with others, is encoded, and is not extratable. I broke my teeth looking for it but to no avail.
I had mentioned this problem of file not transferable possibly on another tablet to Autel, but apparently, they do not care and do not change anything about it.
So your misson is well hidden in your smartphone, will be used for the flight, but cannot be extracted or transferred elsewhere.
You have to mourn it.
You had a P4 and you were using Licthi, with a nice file that you can use on multiple tablets or multiple drones of the same brand and I know the pain is deep.
In your opinion, why did I take a Mavic 2 Pro after my Inspire instead of the Evo 2 ..............
270 cinema missions made with Litchi on the inspires, leaves very good moments of flight.
Having seen the style of missions that the Evo 1 does and knowing that the Evo 2 has the same flight module as the Evo 1, I didn't see missions with stops at each waypoint for changes to direction and altitudes.

 

[Rattlebars]

Agreed. No editing of mission files allowed. Here's the path to the mission jpg

mapScreenshotPath":"/data/user/0/com.autelrobotics.explorer/files/mapscreenshoot/Test Mission_1619126539926.jpg"

Like the actual mission data... One will never find it with a file manager. Any hand editing of a mission.txt will yield no change to the actual values in the mission itself which will be retrieved from the hidden bowels of the android system to eliminate whatever you changed. If you want to abandon any changes there is no way because one cannot exit the mission planner editor without saving unless one uses "close all" or actually turns off the fone. Really difficult to edit without the Galaxy stylus. A simple "undo" would be invaluable but there ain't none.

The hover at every waypoint makes smooth cinematic filming of a mission impossible. If you take a photo, it stops video recording which you must restart. There is no flyover! Anything cinematic must be done in post. Maddening. Very limited ability. I have yet to find a way to initiate a simple orbit but have not fully explored POI. lack of documentation makes one use trial and error too much. Lack of import is wholly unacceptable because you cannot share missions with your team.

 

[Quad808]

I hope that you guys who use missions are making sure you are letting Autel know of the short comings in their software. The more people complain, the more likely they are to fix stuff.
Remember that Autel doesn't read these forums, since they are not official Autel forums.

 

[Rattlebars]

Please give details of how to contact Autel as I'm not aware of the way to make requests for "features" you'd like to see or report problems. TIA!

 

[Quad808]

You must be kidding, right? But if not:

Contact Us

Customer Service United States Email: [email protected] Toll-free: (844) MY AUTEL or (844) 692-8835 For Enterprise support

auteldrones.com

 

[Rattlebars]

You must be kidding, right? But if not:

Contact Us

Customer Service United States Email: [email protected] Toll-free: (844) MY AUTEL or (844) 692-8835 For Enterprise support

auteldrones.com

Not kidding. Thanks. Had this EVO only a week or so. I have a day job. Whenever I make a post on this and other forums forum or others like yours, I always include a link or other info that would be helpful. I'm still waiting on a reply to my query seen below from another thread. Information is power. Thanks for the info.

"Currently copied missions works great. Also good support for kml polygon/line with height import."

 

[Rattlebars]

You must be kidding, right? But if not:

Contact Us

Customer Service United States Email: [email protected] Toll-free: (844) MY AUTEL or (844) 692-8835 For Enterprise support

auteldrones.com

"Thank you for contacting Autel Robotics. Unfortunately, there is no current way to copy or share missions. They are saved locally on the device. I will submit a feature request for an undo button."

That was the response from autel. Apparently they need to be spoken to about a "feature" request for an export/import feature in Missions" so...

Here is how I put one in. Please contact support using the link given by Quad808 above and using your own words say something like:

"I need to share missions with my team. Please implement an export/import capability to the Evo 2 mission planner so that I can distribute any mission that I have created to other members of my team to use on their own devices. Thank you!"

Maybe we can budge them...

 

[gschulzuio]

That was the response from autel. Apparently they need to be spoken to about a "feature" request for an export/import feature in Missions" so...

Here is how I put one in. Please contact support using the link given by Quad808 above and using your own words say something like:

"I need to share missions with my team. Please implement an export/import capability to the Evo 2 mission planner so that I can distribute any mission that I have created to other members of my team to use on their own devices. Thank you!"

Maybe we can budge them...

Just sent a request to have this added.

Note that in addition to being able to share across multiple devices/phones/tablets, the feature would also be good for making a backup in case missions get deleted during a sw/fw update, phone gets reset, a new phone/device is added, or for additional team members per above.

 

[Gpop24]

When I flew a phantom 4 I would hand edit the mission files created with a 3rd party app. No native way to do it.

On Android mission files are stored internally at root in

Android/data/com.autelrobotics.explorer/files/NewMission/????..txt

???? as the mission name. I cannot successfully copy missions from my tablet to my fone or vice verse. If ANYONE knows how please inform with details.

I will attempt to hand edit a few to see how that might work. I've only had my Evo 2 for three days.

Why can't you use something like Onedrive or Google Drive to move/copy the files between devices?

 

[gschulzuio]

Why can't you use something like Onedrive or Google Drive to move/copy the files between devices?

Currently Autel does not support moving missions from one device with explorer app to another, likewise, they do not support copying/moving a mission from device with explorer app to external device/drive/cloud device.

All you can do currently is locally clone and rename a mission which has affinity to the device/app that is done on. Although you will find a readable mission file, the actual mission is stored internally by Autel explorer.

Note that you can import a kml and create a new mission from that, however you will need to add pos, waypoint actions, adjust altitudes for agl etc.

Join the rest of us who have sent an email to [email protected] asking for the move/export/import mission from one app/device to another. The more their developers/prod mgmt hear about it hopefully something gets done. They know about it, now they need to hear more about it...