Waypoints with the ability to insert a Radius

EagleEyeSC · Aug 30, 2021

Has anyone found a way while using the explorer app/waypoints inserting a radius at all angle points? There is a third-party software that i use for DJI drones when I flew missions. Its called Litchi. You could make your waypoints so smooth and your POI spot on due to the smooth transitions at every angle point because of radiuses.
If anybody knows away using the intelligent modes other then just flying it manually i would really appreciate hearing what y’all have found.
I find it interesting that when you look at that particular flight mode on the Autel explore app it shows radius points In the app image although once you get into the waypoint App there’s no indication of radius’s provided at all

kenautelevo2pro · Aug 30, 2021

agreed, I would like to know as well. after watching back a video from an autel mission, I find the video to be ok until I see one of the waypoint "missions" from my dji and then I realize the autel is totally inferior in this regard. an autel mission would look so much better. however, I have found that if you insert a waypoint at one of these angle points which is far enough away, from an angular perspective (180 degree or more) such that the camera has to pan quite a bit, it takes some of the abruptness out the flight a bit. I understand this can't always be done though. as the drone comes to a halt at the end of a leg and the camera continues to pan, the drone will pickup the new direction more smoothly.

EagleEyeSC · Aug 30, 2021

Im hoping that Autel will read this concern and put the fix in their new update.
Just before you pick on the waypoint icon you see a image as line segments and radiuses so im guessing it was at one point or another in the plan to program it into it.

EagleEyeSC · Aug 30, 2021

Thank you Ken, i really appreciate your follow up and input.

gschulzuio · Sep 4, 2021

Would love to have litchi support for autel so I can fly my missions with autel, or use autel as a backup to my DJI. Otoh, not holding breath for Litchi, DD or other 3rd party apps to add Autel support, likewise, while Autel is improving their missions, they seem to keep missing the boat on some fundamentals. For example, autel missions compared to native missions on DJI IMHO are more robust and ok alternative to Litchi, DD, etc however, you cant save/export those missions to another device, nor, can you import a mission (other than a kml that lacks wpt actions etc). Not to mention being able to edit from the web or desktop like litchi, pix4d, dd, the list goes on...

RobertZ · Sep 4, 2021

Please listen Autel. Good advice

John Lord · Sep 5, 2021

kenautelevo2pro said:
agreed, I would like to know as well. after watching back a video from an autel mission, I find the video to be ok until I see one of the waypoint "missions" from my dji and then I realize the autel is totally inferior in this regard. an autel mission would look so much better. however, I have found that if you insert a waypoint at one of these angle points which is far enough away, from an angular perspective (180 degree or more) such that the camera has to pan quite a bit, it takes some of the abruptness out the flight a bit. I understand this can't always be done though. as the drone comes to a halt at the end of a leg and the camera continues to pan, the drone will pickup the new direction more smoothly.

Right now you cannot record video in a Rectangle or Polygon Mission on the Evo II with Explorer. This is absolutely crazy and something I have been on to Autel for more than a year, but it falls on deaf ears. They don't seem to understand the requirement. With my Inspire 2 and Litchi I can record video in waypoint missions and also have nice smooth turns. I can do the same with a Mavic 2 and indeed my old Mavic Pro.

Viktor · Sep 11, 2021

Agree with above, the Aute Evo 2 is a fine drone , but had to get a DJI to be able to get smooth turns.
They should cooperate with Litchi or Dronelink and fix this
So if Autel doesnt fix this soon ,next time my money goes to elsewhere ...

gschulzuio · Sep 19, 2021

John Lord said:
Right now you cannot record video in a Rectangle or Polygon Mission on the Evo II with Explorer. This is absolutely crazy and something I have been on to Autel for more than a year, but it falls on deaf ears. They don't seem to understand the requirement. With my Inspire 2 and Litchi I can record video in waypoint missions and also have nice smooth turns. I can do the same with a Mavic 2 and indeed my old Mavic Pro.

Sometimes I wonder if the Autel engineers (or product managers, technologies) are either suffering from a NIH perspective, or, have simply never looked at what others are doing such as Litchi, DroneDeploy (DD), etc. Otoh, so far it seems that for the most part the Autel engineers are not being platform blinded/biased (e.g. its ios or nothing like some other sw vendors).

Jet · Oct 6, 2021

Viktor said:
Agree with above, the Aute Evo 2 is a fine drone , but had to get a DJI to be able to get smooth turns.
They should cooperate with Litchi or Dronelink and fix this
So if Autel doesnt fix this soon ,next time my money goes to elsewhere ...

Viktor, it appears that DJI no longer supports mission planning on any of their new drones. I believe the last drone to offer Mission planning (other than for Hyperlapse) was the Mavic 2 Pro. DJI apparently has abandoned it all together and what's worse they aren't even providing an API/SDK so that third parties(e.g., DroneLink, Litchi, etc) can port their Mission Planning software to the DJI platform. Therefore, DJI won't be getting 1 red cent of mine.

Viktor · Oct 6, 2021

Jet, well if that's the case with new DJI i agree with you ,they wont get 1 red cent from me to.
Because for me that's a deal breaker, not to be able to do mission planing and smooth turns for that kind of money

So i guess for smooth filming i will still have to continue to use the Inspire 1.

kenautelevo2pro · Oct 6, 2021

I think we have to wait for the mavic 3 launch before we can say for sure if dji no longer supports waypoints. subsequent launches to the mavic 2 (minis, airs, fpvs) were said to omit waypoints because of their internal classification. I don't agree dji would designate waypoints as a premium feature only available on prosumer drones but if you really want the feature, there are a number of aftermarket software packages that can deliver it (litchi, maven, etc).

I don't agree with this at all but imagine being able to pre-program a rogue drone for a one-way, long range, nefarious mission to autonomous fly to various waypoints, avoiding detection by flying strategically and precisely (due to gps) and without the aid of a pilot (i.e. bvlos)....that's called waypoints.

eta: seems like a new round of litchi sw is set to launch providing waypoints to a number of recent dji drone prob already in beta

Jet · Oct 9, 2021

kenautelevo2pro said:
I think we have to wait for the mavic 3 launch before we can say for sure if dji no longer supports waypoints. subsequent launches to the mavic 2 (minis, airs, fpvs) were said to omit waypoints because of their internal classification. I don't agree dji would designate waypoints as a premium feature only available on prosumer drones but if you really want the feature, there are a number of aftermarket software packages that can deliver it (litchi, maven, etc).

I don't agree with this at all but imagine being able to pre-program a rogue drone for a one-way, long range, nefarious mission to autonomous fly to various waypoints, avoiding detection by flying strategically and precisely (due to gps) and without the aid of a pilot (i.e. bvlos)....that's called waypoints.

eta: seems like a new round of litchi sw is set to launch providing waypoints to a number of recent dji drone prob already in beta

If DJI has stopped offering Waypoints to avoid rogue drone scenario or bvlos..They need to STOP trying act like my nanny. This is why I won't buy another DJI drone. Also unfortunately if DJI doesn't offer a SDK there is no way that I know of for any of these third party solutions (e.g., Litchi, DroneLink, etc) to offer their products on a DJI platform. AFAIK DJI has only offered a SDK (and a watered down version of one - virtual sticks) on the Mini.
I think I'm done with DJI.
BTW I spoke with Litchi a couple of weeks ago and they said they can't do anything until DJI offers the SDK. And at that time there was no indication that DJI would be releasing an SDK. So I don't know where you are getting your info from.

kenautelevo2pro · Oct 9, 2021

Jet said:
If DJI has stopped offering Waypoints to avoid rogue drone scenario or bvlos..They need to STOP trying act like my nanny. This is why I won't buy another DJI drone. Also unfortunately if DJI doesn't offer a SDK there is no way that I know of for any of these third party solutions (e.g., Litchi, DroneLink, etc) to offer their products on a DJI platform. AFAIK DJI has only offered a SDK (and a watered down version of one - virtual sticks) on the Mini.
I think I'm done with DJI.
BTW I spoke with Litchi a couple of weeks ago and they said they can't do anything until DJI offers the SDK. And at that time there was no indication that DJI would be releasing an SDK. So I don't know where you are getting your info from.

I don't believe dji is "withholding" waypoints for any reason in particular but you are correct, if dji does not deliver waypoints, the only reasonable way to get something close to waypoints would be thru the sdk. litchi has recently posted October 2021 updates: What's new - Litchi

Jet · Oct 9, 2021

kenautelevo2pro said:
I don't believe dji is "withholding" waypoints for any reason in particular but you are correct, if dji does not deliver waypoints, the only reasonable way to get something close to waypoints would be thru the sdk. litchi has recently posted October 2021 updates: What's new - Litchi

Thanks for the link. It looks like DJI has the limited/crippled SDK (virtual sticks...loss of signal mission aborts and RTH) for the Air 2 that it made available on the Mini 1. Not sure if that is new or something that has been available for a while. But no SDK for the Mini 2 or Air 2s...so for those drones you are SOL wrt Waypoints.

claudius62 · Oct 9, 2021

All this is wrong for DJI. There is continuity of Waypoint modes for its products and new products. I have just had its last SDK and the Waypoints modes are present there in particular for the last Mavic Air 2.
Moreover, Litchi has released its latest software for the Air 2.
And stop dreaming about the beautiful bends between waypoints, the Evo will never be able to do them. Its PX4 based Flight platform is unable to do this (as are Yuneec PX4 based platforms also like the H520). The only thing it is able to do is straight line from point A to point B.
Being able to do a curve would be the complete change of his flight platform and his flight system, but the latter belongs to another who will not let go of the piece.

For Info, last litchi
iOS: Litchi for DJI Mavic / Phantom / Inspire / Spark
Version 2.10.0 / 2.10.1 (October 7, 2021) -
- added support for Mavic Air 2
- added waypoint mode for Mavic Mini 1 and Mavic Air 2
- Facebook login is no longer supported. If you were using Facebook to log in, please migrate your Litchi account to Facebook Login - Litchi
- bug fixed

in Follow mode where the gimbal did not stay on the subject when there are changes in altitude - fixed a bug where Litchi Vue was unable to connect

- fixed a glittering bug with inspire 2 gimbal
- various improvements and bug fixes

Android: Litchi for DJI Mavic / Phantom / Inspire / Spark
Version 4.19.0 (October 7, 2021)
- added support for Mavic Air
- addition of waypoint mode

for Mavic Mini 1 and Mavic Air 2 - added secondary video stream support for drones with multiple cameras

- Facebook login is no longer supported. If you were using Facebook to log in, please migrate your Litchi account to Facebook Login - Litchi
- fixed a bug in Follow mode where the gimbal would not stay on the subject when changing altitude
- various improvements and bug fixes

...........................................

Jet · Oct 9, 2021

claudius62 said:
All this is necessary for DJI. There is continuity of Waypoint modes for its products and new products. I have just had its last SDK and the Waypoints modes are present there in particular for the last Mavic Air 2.
Moreover, Litchi has released its latest software for the Air 2.
And stop dreaming about the beautiful bends between waypoints, the Evo will never be able to do them. Its PX4 based Flight platform is unable to do this (as are Yuneec PX4 based platforms also like the H520). The only thing it is able to do is straight line from point A to point B.
Being able to do a curve would be the complete change of his flight platform and his flight system, but the latter belongs to another who will not let go of the piece.

For Info, last litchi
iOS: Litchi for DJI Mavic / Phantom / Inspire / Spark
Version 2.10.0 / 2.10.1 (October 7, 2021) -
- added support for Mavic Air 2
- added waypoint mode for Mavic Mini 1 and Mavic Air 2
- Facebook login is no longer supported. If you were using Facebook to log in, please migrate your Litchi account to Facebook Login - Litchi
- bug fixed

in Follow mode where the gimbal did not stay on the subject when there are changes in altitude - fixed a bug where Litchi Vue was unable to connect

- fixed a glittering bug with inspire 2 gimbal
- various improvements and bug fixes

Android: Litchi for DJI Mavic / Phantom / Inspire / Spark
Version 4.19.0 (October 7, 2021)
- added support for Mavic Air
- addition of waypoint mode

for Mavic Mini 1 and Mavic Air 2 - added secondary video stream support for drones with multiple cameras

- Facebook login is no longer supported. If you were using Facebook to log in, please migrate your Litchi account to Facebook Login - Litchi
- fixed a bug in Follow mode where the gimbal would not stay on the subject when changing altitude
- various improvements and bug fixes

...........................................

Not sure what you mean by "all of this is necessary for DJI". Maybe you meant that third party vendors such as Litchi, DroneLink, etc, need the SDK....if so yes I knew that. The DJI SDK is only available on the Mavic Mini 1 and Air 2 (not on their more recent drones Mini 2 or Air2S). And even at that DJI no longer provides a "proper" API/SDK like they use to for 3rd Party vendors to use for Waypoints. Starting with the Mini they started offering a crappy "Virtual Sticks" API. This will limit what 3rd Party Waypoint providers can do with their Waypoint missions (e.g., you lose signal with your drone and the mission will end and it will RTH rather than continuing the mission.). If you ask DJI if they plan to offer Waypoints at any time in the future and they simply say..."We have no information on that right now". To which I then respond by asking someone to find out and respond back to me and of course they never do. If they can't be bothered to put out some sort of statement of direction relative to Waypoints I can't be bothered to buy another one of their drones. Either they have plans or they don't. If they have plans then they should communicate that to their customers. One can only assume at this point that they will NOT offer Waypoints in the future as the last Drone platform that included Waypoints was the Mavic Air 1 (2018 -- four years ago!). So with no reassurances I have no choice but to buy another vendor's drone. Looks like I'll be purchasing Autel's drones in the future. Goodbye DJI.

kenautelevo2pro · Oct 9, 2021

Jet said:
Not sure what you mean by "all of this is necessary for DJI". Maybe you meant that third party vendors such as Litchi, DroneLink, etc, need the SDK....if so yes I knew that. The DJI SDK is only available on the Mavic Mini 1 and Air 2 (not on their more recent drones Mini 2 or Air2S). And even at that DJI no longer provides a "proper" API/SDK like they use to for 3rd Party vendors to use for Waypoints. Starting with the Mini they started offering a crappy "Virtual Sticks" API. This will limit what 3rd Party Waypoint providers can do with their Waypoint missions (e.g., you lose signal with your drone and the mission will end and it will RTH rather than continuing the mission.). If you ask DJI if they plan to offer Waypoints at any time in the future and they simply say..."We have no information on that right now". To which I then respond by asking someone to find out and respond back to me and of course they never do. If they can't be bothered to put out some sort of statement of direction relative to Waypoints I can't be bothered to buy another one of their drones. Either they have plans or they don't. If they have plans then they should communicate that to their customers. One can only assume at this point that they will NOT offer Waypoints in the future as the last Drone platform that included Waypoints was the Mavic Air 1 (2018 -- four years ago!). So with no reassurances I have no choice but to buy another vendor's drone. Looks like I'll be purchasing Autel's drones in the future. Goodbye DJI.

my mavic2zoom has waypoint, didn't it launch 3 years ago? and still, dji has not removed the feature despite numerous sw updates.

I knew about "virtual sticks" but I was not aware 3rd party sw offering (like litchi) were so limited that the only option available for loss of signal is rth. that would almost defeat half the purpose of waypoints even with the extended range of these latest drones. honestly, I still do not believe dji is fearful of the drones being used for "fire and forget" but again, I think we need to see what comes up on mavic3.

elistechnology · Oct 9, 2021

2 or 3 years ago i bought Parrot Anafi 4K for some fun inbetween pre planned flights on various brands pro ultra "enterprise" platforms, it was really cheap. It end on that i'm using it for all my linear, monthly repetable filming jobs (progress on roads/highways construction sites, up to 40km of straight lines, circular arcs, spiral curves, with elevation changes, orbits around junctions etc.)
The way that Parrot solve waypoint transitions in their stock FreeFlight app... So simple, so satisfying. And it is supported by UgCS and Pix4dCapture.

...

Autel needs to relase SDK (not this piece of garbage thats aviable now on their site) then we will talk about what can be done with it.

Aut

claudius62 · Oct 10, 2021

@Jet
"Looks like I'll be purchasing Autel's drones in the future"
If you will, but I am no longer betting on a lame horse that has such a bad sales policy and kills its drones after a year and leaves its customers behind. He follows the same policy as Yuneec and we have seen how the latter left the American continent. I bet that in a year or more, Autel will be gone as well.
I only bought one Evo, it is already at the end of its life.
I still have an Inspire from 2015, it still flies, I can still find batteries, I also have a three-year-old M2Pro, it flies very well (makes me beautiful turns !!!), I find all the spare parts and has even just bought 2 batteries. (Not bad for a three-year-old device,find out who can do better).
Find the mistake .......................