How to plan multi battery missions?
Hello everyone!
I have been a frequent User of Pix4D Capture but after upgrading from the M1P to the M2P, I have no flat JPG profile anymore and many models are now close to useless due to high contrast situations.
Dronelink might be my only hope because it supports RAW capture.
I want to fly my first mission today and I would like to know how to properly plan it.
In Pix4D I normally planned two overlapping missions then took off with the Go4 App to set my camera settings, then switched to Pix4D and started one mission, landed and repeated.
Dronelink seems to support multi battery missions, but how do I actually fly them?
Create a grid to my liking, start the mission, force the RTH manually, swap batteries and start the mission "again"?
Since I have never been on location with DroneLink before, I would love to know how the app handles low battery / battery swap situations before I try it out myself :)
Thanks in advance :)
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The firmware automatically initiates RTH when it reaches your pre-configured low-battery level. At that point, Dronelink automatically disengages the mission and waits for you to land/swap your battery. Once you turn the drone back on you just press play and Dronelink magically handles the rest :)
On multi battery missions I can manually take off and get the drone to "about" where it left off faster than programmed flight. This is nice as it saves time.
If I fly the drone to near where it left off and hit the "Play" button while the drone is in the air will it just go to the point and resume? Or does it need to do the whole take-off routine on its own?
I guess by the same token at the start of a mission can I just fly the drone to near the starting point and hit play?
You can manually fly near the start / resume point and it will just work.
Hey Jim,
may I just hijack this thread (which btw. helped me to successfully fly my first mission) in order to ask about your progress on offline (+in-app) flight plan editing?
As much as I love (LOVE!) being able to fly double grid missions with RAW image capture now, I am still struggling to actually use DroneLink on location. Mainly because I have no option to edit any parameters of the mission without internet connection.
99% of the time, I have no chance to scout the location I want to capture in advance.
This means, that I need to set the grid / mission altitude on location. Without cellular connection (roughly 30-40% or the time), I am unable to do so and thus unable to execute the mission.
How far is this feature implemented / tested? I would love to see an in-app editor just like the online planning tool for every mission that you download onto your controller / smartphone in advance.
Thank you so much for your work already!
We have been focusing on functions instead of offline planning. Functions can be run offline and also allow you to plan missions where you don't know exactly where things are ahead of time (outdated imagery, etc). Have you tried using the ones we published for free under the On the Fly tab in the native app?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU8dCt5FSNc
Sorry, but the functions are (to be quite honest with you) useless to me. I plan my missions (mostly industrial, real estate, "urbex" etc.) on the 2D map beforehand, which is accurate for nearly all of my missions.
The one and only (!) thing I want to edit while on location with (potentially) no internet access is the altitude of the drone / mission / grid.
I dont really want to plan "on the fly" because flying my drone to create reference points is a waste of batteries and way to inaccurate.
I still want to plan my grid beforehand and then set my altitude on location after a 2 minute scouting flight.
So it is not planned to add a feature which lets me edit the parameters of a mission, that I have already worked out 99% at home where only one variable needs to be changed?
Sigh, so I always need to have a backup Pix4D mission if I dont have internet access on location.
I think I understand your use case, although not sure I agree with the comment about on the fly being too inaccurate. We actually created functions to handle the inaccuracies of map-based mission planning relative to the drone's wandering GPS locks.
Back to the point though, asking for full, offline mission planning is a hugely complex feature compared to asking to edit just one variable (assuming you are not using AGL). Allowing simple, single variable editing (via a dialog or something) could happen relatively soon, but as always, we have to prioritize the roadmap based on what our paying customers are asking for. I will add it to the list though.:
https://trello.com/c/45uJM6um/96-edit-specific-variables-in-plans-particularly-altitude
Thank you so much for your response! I didnt want to come off as rude or ungrateful!
I just wanted to emphasize that, in my about 30-50 missions, the only thing I really had to change before every single flight without exception, was the altitude (above takeoff level) in order to stay as high as needed but as low as possible to achieve the best GSD.
I can only assume the amount of work you put into this app and I am very thankful for it - because it offers more functionality than I could ever wish for. Assuming that you are online :)
Just like you have now added to the roadmap (thanks!), it would be awesome to "simply" have a "download mission for offline use" button and a menu in the app for changing the altitude of a component and maybe other small things like speed and gimbal angle.
I wouldnt mind, if complete mission planning (grid + component creation) couldnt be done offline.
But if it can be done (like having the website ported into to the app with preloading of the 2D map), it would be amazing.
Thank you for your work!
No worries, I didn't take any offense. There is actually already a "Download for Offline" button in the app (tap the ... on the top left of any mission plan):
Like I said before, full mission planning is a huge feature, but simple editing is within reach. If you have the full list of things you want to be able to change, I can update the Trello card. Keep in mind, the shorter the list, the more likely it is that it will actually get done.
Lastly, not sure what your use case is for Dronelink, but please remember that you need a Pro or Team account to be using it for commercial missions!
Thanks Jim,
Just entered the market and looking for my mission planning / automated flight software. Does the above issue mean that way point altitude cannot be altered onsite if there is no web connection ? or have I misunderstood - thanks
Oh, and a very breif off-thread query please, is there a lowest alt the software will support - I need to fly (carefully of course) 5m or perhaps slightly less ? Thanks
Yes, you must have a network connection to do mission planning right now. You can fly at any altitude, including negative altitudes.
ok thanks: hard as it may be, please add my vote (if a prospective customer vote counts ;-) to the need for this functionality in future developments. It's an increasingly big selling point for competitors, and catches the eye of the many who, like me, fly in places where there is no web connection.
Thanks
If I understand your requested feature, and I think I do, I too, would like this.
The hills and trees of WV change the situation between online planning and field execution, but usually by "tweaks" not completely.
It is not desirable to waste battery and time to manually set things, even though a safety flight usually happens.
Jim, you have created an exceptional system, as I have told you before! I hope this comment is taken in the intended "good-will" suggestive frame!
Thank you!
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