Major problems flying waypoint mission
So the weather is nice today, so I thought I'd fly my first waypoint mission. Took off, and started to fly. As soon as the mission starts, I notice the gimbal angle is wrong. I thought I set it at 17, but it was at 0. So I aborted the mission. I tried to fix the gimbal angle, but it said I couldn't edit the mission without internet. Wtf? What if you don't have internet? So I landed and moved to where I had internet. Also, when you tap on a waypoint, it doesn't show you the gimbal angle. You have to tap on gimbal to get that. I only care about pitch angle. Another thing, is you should be able to save as. I also got this screen that I didn't like but i didn't know how to get back to the full screen. Dronelink should be made more similar to fly because that's what people know how to use. I don't like this screen. I want full screen. How do I get out of this. One mistake I made, is I didn't force stop Fly before I started flying, and one time I restarted the drone it ran fly. Another problem, is when I try to change the pitch on the gimbal, the little keyboard it gives me doesn't have a minus sign. Obviously I want the gimbal to point down, but I can't do it.
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15 comments
Might I suggest starting with some of the tutorials that are available?
Here is one for waypoints https://youtu.be/xEO3xHZSCfk?si=DtihOsqDcSeSSwJk
That said, if all you want to do is create missions on site and control the gimbal angle then perhaps you don't need anything as powerful as Dronelink and you might be better off just sticking with the Fly app.
Dronelink has limited support for offline use (learn more). The majority of users and use cases that we target are not in internet-denied environments, and we made several design and architecture choices based on this fact. This increases the velocity of our development and allows us to provide functionality that is either not possible or prohibitively expensive to develop assuming a 100% offline environment. If you are looking for a 100% offline solution, you will need to look elsewhere.
The gimbal angle at any waypoint is implied by the other waypoints and path actions around the waypoint and it can depend on several things including POIs and interpolation settings. If you want a specific gimbal pitch at a specific waypoint, the system requires you to click the gimbal angle button to override it. If you want to see what the angle will be at any given point point along the path, you can run the mission preview and see it exactly.
This is possible by clicking the ... on the left, and then you click copy.
It appears that the onscreen keyboard reduced the height of the mission planner to the point where the CSS put it into mobile device view. Have you considered editing your mission plan on a computer with a large screen and physical keyboard? The Dronelink mission planner was created with this environment in mind and it makes several compromises when moved to smaller screens and touch-screen environments.
Our overall philosophy is to provide advanced flight automation tools that allow creating missions that no other mission planner can create. We have tried to make it as easy as possible given the advanced functionality (see the June 2022 update), but duplicating other basic apps is not what the majority of our target user base wants.
This appears to be specific to the Android device you are using (and the flavor / version of Android installed). Our test devices (both iOS and Android) have onscreen keyboards that include minus signs.
Thanks for replying so fast. I like to work on my missions lying in bed. The internet thing isn't really a problem because most of the editing i do is in the house. I was just surprised you needed internet. I will try to get keyboard that has a minus sign. One thing fly does, is when you change a parameter on a waypoint, it asked you if you want to make all the waypoints have that value. Can you do that on dronelink?
"I also got this screen that I didn't like but i didn't know how to get back to the full screen.
It appears that the onscreen keyboard reduced the height of the mission planner to the point where the CSS put it into mobile device view. Have you considered editing your mission plan on a computer with a large screen and physical keyboard? The Dronelink mission planner was created with this environment in mind and it makes several compromises when moved to smaller screens and touch-screen environments."
I got that screen when I was flying.
Here's another thing. After I ended a mission, the video went out. You can see I'm still connected by the telemetry, but the video is black.
https://youtu.be/1_ZSIIS4mJE?si=CuRi1AbaXEiToRll
I installed dronelink on my phone, and the keyboard had a minus sign. So I made one ‐17. One thing fly does, is when you change a parameter on a waypoint, it asked you if you want to make all the waypoints have that value. Can you do that on dronelink? I need to change them all to -17, with having to do each one individually. How can I do that? My last post is still pending approval.
steven burnett
You don't need to change them all. Once it is set it stays that value until changed by something else.
See Jim's quote above
"The gimbal angle at any waypoint is implied by the other waypoints and path actions around the waypoint and it can depend on several things including POIs and interpolation settings. If you want a specific gimbal pitch at a specific waypoint, the system requires you to click the gimbal angle button to override it. If you want to see what the angle will be at any given point point along the path, you can run the mission preview and see it exactly."
That last part is important. There are many ways to view the flight before you go and fly it in the real world. That can really help you to see what is happening and fix things long before you leave the house.
For example, check this video out https://youtu.be/SMLQnI0bgMU
https://support.dronelink.com/hc/en-us/articles/10181845018387-Flight-Dashboard-Layout-Options-Map-and-Details-Expanded
Can I reply to specific posts here? I don't see how. But this reply is for Barry. DJI does not have waypoint missions for the mini 3 pro. If it did, I wouldn't have bought dronelink. I already have a mission with 8 waypoints. So if I change one waypoint to -17, it won't change all the existing waypoint to -17, will it? It will only make future waypoints -17. I watched the waypoint mission tutorial a long time ago but I don't think it explains how to change all your gimbal angles at the same time. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks Jim. BTW. I like the way dronelink displays distance in miles, rather than feet, when you go past one mile. A lot better. DJI's programmers are not very good IMO. Can I ask what IDE you use for your Android development?
steven burnett
The gimbal only changes if you tell it to change. So if you haven't manually set anything else at any of the waypoints then setting the first one will cause it to be left there for the whole mission.
If you did edit the others and need to re-edit you can multi select by clicking on the first waypoint, then shift and click on the other waypoints to select more than one.
And don't forget you can apply all the same settings by using (the preferred by many) use of "Path Actions" which can be dragged around to anywhere on the path
To simplify: Once set, always set. So whether it’s a waypoint or path markers, set it and let it rip. No need to set any other waypoint or add any other command at any point unless you want to change or add something. If you do change something at a waypoint or even a path marker then it will continue the rest of the mission with that value or command. This includes, speed, gimbal, headings, POI’s, altitude, start or stop capture etc. Don’t over think it.
Barry remember I am doing everything using the dronelink app on my android tablet lying in bed. So I have no shift key. Any way to select all waypoints in my case? Mike, I tried using path actions but it didn't set all waypoints to -17. See screenshots. They are kind of in reverse order.
Setting the gimbal at any point in the plan does not change any other waypoint or marker. It sets the gimbal and it will stay there. There is no reason for you or the software to add another gimbal pitch command at every other waypoint since it’s already set. As I mentioned as well this applies to speed, heading, POI’s, altitude etc. So setting anything is only needed once, not an every waypoint. There is no need as it is a command to set……
There is no way to multiple select waypoints on a Tablet or iPad unless you connect a keyboard to it.
Ok. I see. Unfortunately, I think I set every one. I'll have to check. So you just set the first one and the gimbal stays there. I will check my mission now. I just looked at my mission.
I checked. The first 5 are set at -17 but the last 4 are set at 17. So maybe I'll change them on my phone. There's no way to change them all at the same time. Right?
Thanks for replying. Steve
As mentioned above, There is no way to multiple select waypoints on a Tablet or iPad unless you connect a keyboard to it. All you would need to do is select a waypoint and then click the delete icon for the gimbal on the ones you changed or added which aren’t needed. If you run the mission preview will indicate all the parameters. Speed, altitude, gimbal etc, so you will know if there is anything incorrect.
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