Hello !

Since I have realised it is not so easy to stay aware of the environement (trees en paritcular) when taking pictures or recording movies, I'm interested in waypoints mode.
I have tried to record some points but I have been afraid to let the Mavic go on its own.

Actually I have few questions ...
1.  limited to 500m ?  Why ?  Only in Europe or everywhere ?
2.  should the flight plan be like a circle (coming back to the beginning ?)  if not, what happens ?
3.  if I say "now, follow track number 3" what happens ?  
       a) If I am like 20 kilometers away ?  will it try to reach the place ?  
       b) If I don't use the same taking off point that I first used to record the track ?
       c) especially if there is a tree between the taking off point and the first "waypoint" recorded ?
4.  If I record a flight plan from the hill nearby and the next day, I say to the mavic : go, follow the track we recorded yesterday, BUT this morning I am deep in the valley : what will it do ?  since the recorded altitude when I was on the top of the hill the day before might suffer the fact I am like 200 meters lower this morning ??
5.  this morning, after I recorded some "points" and said "ok", I was surprised (and afraid) reading something about RTH and I cancelled everything : what about this RTH alert when using the waypoint's mode ?
6.  How safe is-it ?  can I fly like 1meter high (3 feet) and record it and next times, when it follows the track it will be like 1m high (+- 5 centimeters ? +- 50 cm ? +- 1 m ??)

Thaaaaaaaaanks !

Ok... too many questions kill a topic ...

So, more accurate question :

I want to create a mission above my field (1000 m length) : if limited to 500m away MAX, I can record a mission from the middle of the field !  But then, tomorrow, if I want to start from the road (which is at one side of the 1000 meters) : will it work ?

Thanks again
NB/ I know I might try but ... I don't like surprise !!

M_str Posted at 2017-3-29 04:44
Ok... too many questions kill a topic ...

So, more accurate question :

You may also have better luck if you clarify which app you're talking about. I'm assuming that you mean the DJI Go 4 app, but there's also Litchi and DJI's Ground Station Pro. To be honest, though, I don't think there are a lot of people doing waypoint missions using DJI Go 4, which may be why you haven't gotten a response before now.

I can't speak from personal experience because I've only ever used LItchi for waypoint missions, but at least with it the scenario you've described doesn't apply. That's because the idea behind a waypoint mission is to specify a series of coordinates / locations ("waypoints") to which the aircraft should fly. So your scenario of flying some kind of pattern starting from one place and then the same pattern from a different location doesn't apply, at least not with Litchi. And I believe all three use the same API, so I think that what you're describing wouldn't work with the DJI apps either.

If you have a serious interest in waypoint missions -- and I think they're very useful and fun -- then you should seriously consider paying for Litchi; the "mission hub" web UI alone makes it well worth the cost, and there's no 500m limit on where you can fly. Some people even prefer it for flying "manually", though I personally don't use Litchi for that. I've also heard good things about Autopilot and understand that it uses a very different approach that gives it some additional flexibility, but again I have no personal experience with it.

Check out my posts on waypoints.

500m = Up to 500m between waypoints so WP1 to WP2 =  Upto a total distance of 1000m
I have already achieved what you are trying to do (crash free). It will work but there are a few pre flight checks you MUST do to succeed.

More to add as I will be sleeping by the time Belgium is waking up LOL.

Answers are in retrospect to your "few questions". I will do my best to answer them as per my experience.

1. DJI Go 4 App Waypoint (WP) function limits only 500m between WP. See post # 4 in this thread.

2. The flight path can be any shape you wish to drop a WP pin. The Mavic Pro (MP) will fly in order of pins dropped in numeric order.

3. Q3 is a little confusing. The max unobstructed range of the MP is upto 7km (not Visual Line of Sight). Depending on the aviation laws in Belgium, be careful, life's could be at risk. Fly safe brother.

To continue Q3, if I understand you, there are a few options in terms of Camera/Gimble view. One simply stays pointing at the heading, whilst the other option turn towards the next heading as it reaches the next WP.

3 (a). Yes the MP will fly to the 1st WP from your take of point, which may differ from your "Home" point. It will only fly within the flight mode parameters. For example if in Beginner mode it will limit height, distance and speed. A good point to remember is obstacle avoidance setting. Check them prior to take of!

3 (b). Sounds similar to question as 3 (a).

4. Ask DJI (sorry for the pass off). I don't know how the MP will react (too many variables and not enough specific conditions in the question).

5. You can command what the MP will do at the end of your WP route/journey. Option 1 is to have the MP hover once the final WP is reached. Option 2 is RTH once the final WP is reached.

6. What version Firmware are you using?

What device are you using (iOS or Andriod)? is the device you are using on the supported device list which can be found on DJI Mavic Pro specifications as you scroll down the page.

The MP in WP mode has a min distance Above Ground Level (AGL), can't recall it off hand but it will prompt you to set a min/Max height. If you choose to fly the route from a pre recorded mission the MP will fly just the way you have "programmed" the WP Mission.

Couple of points to note. The WP feature requires you to fly the mission and drop pins/waypoint in real time so you can fly this route again and again if you wish. A whole other discussion but are you or do you intend to use map data via a wifi or hotspot OR offline mapping via the map cache feature within the DJI GO 4 app menu once connected to the MP. My point here is accuracy of the flight. There may be a difference in my experience using map cache is less accurate regardless of satellite count above 10.

Good luck and Happy landings.

In litchi, it's nice because you can plan it all out on google maps offline. So you can save a waypoint flight before you get to the location. It will fly 20 km out if you tell it to, and keep flying the mission out of range. It's why you want to have the mission come back. I would think if it ended mission out of range, it would use your rth settings to come back, but it's better to be on the safe side. Plan the mission time too, make sure it doesn't exceed say 20 minutes so you can keep it within battery limits. Poi is a lot of fun too. Can go out a mile if you want and come back in a circle. Can set c1 or c2 button to set the poi at aircraft too. Then start point can be a half mile out, the ac will loop back around to you.

Lemonsorbie Posted at 2017-3-29 19:38
More to add as I will be sleeping by the time Belgium is waking up LOL.

Answers are in retrospect to your "few questions". I will do my best to answer them as per my experience.

Thanks a lot !