Welcome, Autel Pilots!
Join our free Autel drone community today!
Join Us

Multiple issues with Gimbal drift etc.

scriffij

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2020
Messages
19
Reaction score
6
Age
55
OK This is now getting ridiculous

I am trying to do a simple inspection of a chimney using waypoints and POI. I created a set of 37 orbit waypoints (10 degrees apart) at a set radius from the centre of the chimney which I get from the design drawings. I import those waypoints into Autel Explorer and set a POI which I have to manually place in the centre of the orbit (as there is no way of putting in the exact coordinate) I set all waypoints to the POI and set POI to the same height as the waypoints. I then fly the waypoints In a CW direction. By the time I get half way around the gimbal has yaw drifted to the left so that the chimney is out of View of camera. I do it CCW and the gimbal does the same but yaw drifts to the right this time. When the drone lands the gimbal snaps back to centre position so it knows where it is supposed to be. I have done multiple calibrations of IMU then Compass then Gimbal with shutdowns between each one, I have latest firmware and hardware and app all on an V2 enterprise with 6k camera.

So I try a different way. I use the same 37 waypoints but this time I don’t use a POI – I do a custom set the yaw direction of the drone to point to the centre for every waypoint hoping it would just roll around the keeping the yaw direct of the waypoint. No the drone points towards the next waypoint flies forwards then rotates to the angle of the waypoint at the waypoint. So I have no vision of the chimney between waypoints. Again, absolutely useless

So I try a different way that is not accurate but what the heck. I try to approximate centre of chimney in the camera ‘intelligent’ flight Orbit action. Very difficult to do when you have massive layover of object in imagery. And guess what the gimbal does…. Yaw drift so chimney is out of field of view, again…..

So then I use UGCS (which by the way is amazing) to create a series of waypoints so that the drone flies up 100 meters then across 8 meters then down 100 meters then across 8 metres and so on all away around the chimney at a distance opf exactly 20 metres. Thinking I can set the custom yaw directions of the waypoint and so long as it does not yaw when it flies up and down I will have captured the entire chimney with overlap in imagery even if it points to next waypoint when it flies horizontally. Unfortunately I am unable to test this theory as there is no way of selecting a waypoint in Autel Explorer if it is exactly under another waypoint.

So unless someone can tell me how the hell I am supposed to do a simple automated inspection of a chimney or fix any one of the above bugs/issues, the Autel Evo II is incapable of doing automated inspections and Autel Robotics are falsely advertising the functionality of its products. Not bad for $16,000.00 AU.

Is there anyway this can be done. I need to go back and complete the job or I won’t get any work with them anymore. And this will have cost me valuable business.

I have contacted Autel but I think they think this is a feature not a bug.

Cheers

chimney.jpg
 
Also if you have two waypoints vertically offset and set custom Yaw in camera action the same say 245 degrees each, you would think that it would start at 245 degrees and rise without yawing to second waypoint, but no, it yaws to a different compass bearing when flying to the second waypoint and then sets to 245 degrees once it reached second waypoint. This drone makes no cents/sense! completely unusable in waypoint mode as far as I can tell.
 

Latest threads

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
11,229
Messages
102,660
Members
9,819
Latest member
sky3d