Constructive(hopefully) critic
Sorry for my english,it is not my native language.
after few months of playing with mavic mini and dronelink I wanted to share my thoughts here.
I am a begginer at drones, my first drone was/is a mavic mini and I really enjoy it. I use Samsung galaxy A7 as controller.
As soon as I mastered DJI app i went to look for something more autonomous so I was met with Dronelink and Litchi.
At first sight I liked Dronelink better,but after multiple tests i realised I have much more stable connection on Litchi,can anyone explain why is that?
The concept and workflow is great,but when it comes to connectivity and execution this app doesnt prove itself in my experience.
as already mentioned,I allways have problems with livefeed and connection in general,even when 50m away,but I also have problem with panoramic shots,not being done,like it shoots 25 instead of 35 pictures I set it to.
Also,all automatic movements are too wobly,jerky and robotic,it would be a night and day difference if that could be smoothed out.
As I said I am fairly new here and Im not wanting to shitpost, just sharing my experience,and hopefully you can fix this sometime,or show me what I am doing wrong.
Thanks
Comments
5 comments
Dronelink functions in a completely different way than Litchi (learn more), and in the case of the Mini, this means that it can actually support waypoint missions where Litchi does not, so you really cannot even compare the two apps in a true apples to apples way.
As far as the connectivity issues, Dronelink and Litchi are using the same underlying technology (the DJI SDK), so there should be no difference in the quality of the connection. Without a rigorously execute test plan that controls for the many variables involved (drone, mobile device, weather, environment, location, etc), it is hard to draw any conclusions from your experience, but it is possible it just seemed better in Litchi because Litchi wasn't relying on a constant connection due to the virtual stick approach mentioned in the previously linked article.
Finally, on the smoothness of the shots with the Mini, this issue is something that has been discussed in many threads for many months and we have created an article that discusses possible reasons and potential mitigation strategies.
We will always try to make Dronelink better, but you have to realize that the Mavic Mini has severe hardware limitations (no Ocusync 2.0 for the RC, and only a 2-axis gimbal), and software can only go so far to mitigate what may ultimately be hard limits due to shear physics. The good news is, DJI has corrected both of those issues with the Mini 2 (which has Ocusync and a 3-axis gimbal), so we are very hopeful that performance of the Mini line will greatly improve once DJI launches SDK support for that drone. That is to say, the rest of DJI's drones do not suffer from the same problems that you have described here, despite running the same exact code in Dronelink.
Mavic Mini has 3-axis gimbal (from specs: Stabilization: 3-axis (tilt, roll, pan)), not 2-axis gimbal (spark has 2-axis gimbal)
Doesn't change the rest of my comments.
I realise mavic mini is limited in performance, but I didnt expect to have so much problems trying to execute missions,even pretty basic ones. I prepared missions many times,especially first few times,just to come to location and have an error and not be able to execute.(that is probably a mistake on my end,but theres no official documents or manual for referencing functions other than videos,and thats highly unpractical really)
I dont want to praise your competition,and I am not praising as it is not fully developed as well, but I want to point out a few things to make a small comparison.
-As I sayd, dji fly app and Litchi have better connection and stability than Dronelink in my case,I cant say why but it is true.(on same devices, same flight area,in basicaly same time of testing).
-While litchi is "less capable" of dronelink, it is more stable and faster to use for me. I just turn on the app,set it to "follow" or use in fpv, click fly and it is in the air ready to shoot.
-Another perk is that you can customise all(or allmost all) settings from within the app,including wifi channel and set homepoint function.
-on the other hand,i really like dronelinks planner module,and I see what potential it has,especially if you would introduce "timelines" and "keyframes".(simmilar to premiere pro function for videoediting or like in your mission preview,you have those timelines down there,if only we could play with parameters on them)
That way would be really good for planning a flight in great detail easily.
-i really missed the follow option on dronelink, and am very happy you introduced it
-I am frustrated as I cant follow any info like reference manual,or wiki,or simmilar regarding functions. I expected when i bought personal/elite bundle to at least have some tutorial info on all functions,not only those few videos that are pretty much vague and for specific use.
I hope in time you will consider making something like that,better sooner than later when you add more and more stuff.
If you have any links for good tutorials or explanations,other than the videos on your channel,please do share.
Thanks,
Demijan
We are definitely committed to making Dronelink better and it will just take time to fill in all the holes (like actual documentation). Until then, thanks for your support and maybe just consider using Litchi or other apps for the things that they are better at for the moment.
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