Using waypoints with Hover to create "Pilot 2 Panorama" mission
This is related to several other posts, but I could use some help making sure I have this buttoned up. I have a regular construction progress job that includes 32 panoramas spread over a large area, with 1,000ft of elevation change. To make it as fast as possible, I've automated the flight with waypoints (AGL), and at each waypoint I use the manual buttons to pause the flight, switch to Pilot 2 to shoot the panorama, then switch back to DL and continue the flight to the next waypoint. I've done three iterations of the weekly flights, and it's going pretty well, except for one problem.
The problem is that I've missed waypoints several times. With flight plans with sharp turns, the drone comes to a complete stop, then turns, then continues to next waypoint. This gives me a clear point at which to manually pause the flight and shoot the pano. But with a couple of the flight plans, I have straight flight paths through multiple waypoints. In this case, the drone doesn't slow down for the waypoint and it's easy to miss.
I *think* the solution is to add a Hover component at each waypoint. Where I need help: I've started to edit this flight plan (link below), but I get confused quickly when adding Hover components as it splits the waypoint mission and an A-B-C-D waypoint mission becomes an A-BA-BA-BA-BA-B, etc. Am I doing someone wrong here? Is there some way to manage or keep track of these that's easier than what I'm trying to do?
Comments
6 comments
Abandon waypoints and just use checkpoints instead.
That's what I did at first, but the flight plans end up too slow that way. I'm using waypoints because of the flight behavior. Checkpoints ascend/descend, then traverse. This is slow, and it required me to add a bunch of extra checkpoints to ensure the drone doesn't crash into the mountain side. With waypoints it flys straight from waypoint to waypoint, which is both faster and more fool-proof when creating these plans.
Maybe try adding a path action with a disengage component near each waypoint.
I'll try that. Could I also use it in the waypoint vs a path action?
That could probably work.
Disengage is what I needed! My test flight worked exactly as I hoped it would. Now I have a workflow for these plans that seems an optimal combination of speed and "clean" and easy to work with (i.e. minimum # of components to deliver the fastest and most accurate results for my client).
Thanks!
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