Are Path Actions a one trick pony?
"Path Actions" seem to be a one trick pony. I can use a path action to set a POI. I can use a path action to set a gimbal orientation. But why can't I set a path action to have multiple actions?
I would like to have a path action set a POI & Gimbal Orientation, but after I establish my POI, if I then select Gimbal Orientation it dismisses my previously selected POI & vice versa.
Am I doing something wrong?
Comments
8 comments
You can add multiple elements, but POI and Gimbal Pitch are mutually exclusive because setting a POI implies a gimbal pitch (it attempts to pitch the gimbal to point at the ground level of the POI).
So the offset altitude on a POI is how far to offset from the ground position of the point of interest? I'm a little confused as to how the elevation is established from a two dimensional point indicated on the screen. What am I missing?
I certainly didn't program this. But I would assume that it's based on a triangle. You have the POI gps location = Point 1, you have the gps location of the drone at some distance from the POI = Point 2, you also have the altitude of the drone = Point 3. Those make a triangle, so it's simply math to figure the angle and thus the gimbal angle. So the further the drone is from POI, Point 1, the shallower the angle becomes and the gimbal moves up to keep it pointed at the same place.
Altitude offset is useful if you want to center on something not at ground level, like the top of a statue or second floor of a building. That effectively raises the Point 1, and so moves the gimbal up "a smidgen" as needed.
C is the Drone altitude
B is the point on the ground under the drone
A is the POI
Basically you solve for angle C and point the gimbal down that much. So you can see if you "raise" the POI (A), the angle would change accordingly.
One of the really nice things about path actions is you can slide them anywhere you like along the path, to achieve different effects
One of the many great features of DL is you can adjust the altitude offset and run mission preview quickly. Then adjust as needed. A Plus value will be higher up and negative value will be lower. Also can just adjust the POI to get similar effect depending on what the angle from the path is. A bit closer or further away will work as well. Try and test.
Kelly, one thing to keep in mind about the POI altitude offset is that it's relative to the takeoff point, not to the ground at your POI, so it might not look like it's working properly if you don't account for that. If you want a specific height above ground, you can use Google Earth to find the elevation difference between those points and include that in the offset. (That's quicker than trial and error if you know the altitude you want above ground.)
Roger, that's the point of clarity I needed POI altitude = takeoff altitude +/- offset.
Thanks for the feedback everyone.
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