I’m just curious when you set up a waypoint mission I would assume that the drone uses GPS to record the exact location of that particular waypoint. So if you were about 5 miles from that location the drone would automatically fly to that location once you enabled the mission? But if you lost signal it would probably cancel the mission and return home. I hate to see that happen to your mini 4 pro. I hope DJI will send you a new one or repair it
@@WestVirginiasBigred271 correct, it would fly to the gps location of latitude and longitude, however, unless you somehow takeoff at the same elevation above sea level from 5 miles away as where you took off from when you set those waypoints, it will fly at a completely different height. Be very careful with this. I almost flew into a light pole once because I took off 10 feet lower in elevation than when I set the way points, and just by luck, missed it by a couple feet.
@@chrisharris_arizonaNot quite. I had my waypoints listed as they are saved and when I went to fly a previous mission I selected the wrong one and I got an error message to say the start point was greater than 10km (6 miles) away and it wouldn’t start. So, there is a limit as to how far away you can start a mission.
@@StevieProton my point wasn’t to say literally say 5 miles…it was the example used in original question. More stating that you don’t have to take off from the same place for it to find point 1 and the point was to watch the height/elevation of take off. If you do some testing for distances, please let us know at what distance it works as it would be interesting to find out the distance that it starts to works. One would think, if DJI programmed it for US flights that maybe they’d take the 3 statute miles number and allow that. Either way, nobody in the States should be doing that without a waiver since it’s BVLOS.
I had that similar injury with the front right arm of my M3P, And Nooo DJI Care Plan, to fix my arm, cracked gimbal and something else... Only cost me $61...and DJI paid for S/H.... and they have the BEST communication through that return process...and I don't remember the actual turn around time? But it wasn't more than a week after I submitted payment and returned the drone... I'm pretty sure they sent me a refurbished drone, but so far it's been working as new... Lesson learned: NEVER turn off Obstacle Avoidance... Thanks for sharing Russ!!! #Salute #SafeFlying #DJIisTheBest
One of the best tip I got from watching RUclips videos and doing a quick shot was keeping your finger on the pause button in case of an emergency while I was doing a circle quick shot and my mini 2 was about to hit a tree from the side which helped me save my drone. Keeping clear line of sight and knowing your surroundings also helps. I was shocked to see the mini 4 even with obstacle avoidance sensors still managed to crash. Can't rely too much on technology no matter how good they claim it to be. Good thing you got DJI credits and getting a replacement soon. Can't wait to see more of your great videos.
Well he turned the sensors off. They can't help if you intentionally disable them. He was trying to prove they work even when off, when running Waypoints. They do not. The Obstacle Avoidance indicator was bright red. Interestingly they do still work in RTH, as designed- I think that's what Russ was thinking of. 🤔
The short of this is obstacle avoidance was turned off. Waypoints mode does NOT override/ enable obstacle avoidance itself. You still want to make sure its turned on. Propeller guards also disable obstacle avoidance. What it does do, is it forces your currently activated obstacle avoidance to only work in "Brake Mode". It does not let you use the Bypass setting while waypoints are active. Always look in the top right of the screen. The little 4 way bumper will be white if its enabled and red if its disabled.
Another important issue is that a waypoint mission relies on GPS only. GPS may ba accurate to 5-10 meters (depending on how good the signals are). This means that you should avoid low ground planning and also avoid flying in the proximity of an obstacle. I tried yesterday many different way to get my route "accepted", but the GPS signals caused me to get to close to some branches (but since I had the obstacle avoidance on, the drone just stopped at that point, hoovering and then returned. I have up and realized that the best waypoint mission is higher from the ground and away from any obstacles (because it will not go around over over, it will stop!
Been there done that! Sorry about your Mini 4 but you got the answer to the question just not the one any of us wanted. This is a good example of why we don't want to be disturbed while flying.
Maybe I missed something but why would you want to turn off obstacle avoidance? Wouldn't you always want to avoid crashing into something? Not sure when or why you would want to turn that feature off.
Great tutorial and a great lesson for us all at the end. Based out of Vancouver, I shot helicopter aerials for Hollywood for years. Guess how we organized our missions? With rehearsals and waypoints. It's the only way to guarantee safety and repeatability. SO glad to see them arrive on the Mini 4.
You don’t need to launch from ‘Exactly the same point for waypoint re runs - And also Sudden movements have no bearing on the smoothness of transitions as long as the way points are well separated - The drone will have time to automate a smooth transition regardless Of how you move the gimble and camera during set up - And why would obstacle avoidance work if you switch off obstacle avoidance? Russ back to the drawing board - would advise getting DJI care refresh - Thanks for your content
@@51Drones Hi Russ - I’m running a few waypoint missions at the moment and you can start them from within a reasonable distance of the initial launch (a few hundred metres) - The only restriction I imagine would be the battery and drones ability to determine whether the mission can be completed within the time of the battery - The drone only needs to be able to locate the first waypoint - And please note that you can set up waypoint missions on the device at home before visiting your proposed location so the drone is never going to know where you previously launched from
A waypoint route can be saved. Is it possible to fly the same route at different times of the year (spring/summer/autumn/winter)? When editing a film, I would like to create seamless transitions from, for example, autumn leaves to snow-covered trees without changing the image section.
I really am sorry to hear about your Mini 4 Pro but Russ, this post is priceless. Thank you sharing your misstep so openly and honestly. You always make a big, positive difference for me and my drone experiences. Keep up the great work. P.S. Its more cost effective on several levels to keep your wife, even if she "caused" you to crash your drone on every flight.😅 (I chuckled out loud at that joke.) Keep getting high, sir.
I'm so happy we have guys like you who will crash for us so we don't have to😂 I love this feature, hope i can learn to use it properly!!! I've been a subscriber for a few yrs now and wondering why i sometimes do not get notified of a new video from you, glad i got the notification for the shorts video or i wouldn't have know you crashed😡 Thank's for giving these educational videos, i always learn something new 👍👍👍
Ouch!! Very brave and honest of you to hang out (well at least until the 4 mini hit the ground) your fail. Many would not be so transparent, i.e. "I meant to do that". Good episode (and again, honest). Kudos!
Need a video on how to file a boo boo claim pretty cool I'm still flying the original mavic pro the OG thinking about upgrading definitely like that you don't have to use your phone with the new rc ✌️
Thank you sir for the lesson. I plan to buy a mini 4 Pro once I am financially able. Around a year back I bought the mini 3 Pro and discovered that way points only worked in Hyperlapse mode. Also I might add that while in Hyperlapse the obstacle avoidance results in the mission being canceled. I held out hope that dji would eventually add video record waypoints, for the mini 3 pro, but they never did.
Nevermind the hateful comments Russ, unfortunately this is the world we live in today. It can happen to the best of us. I always appreciate your content because I continue to learn new things. Good luck and hope you get a new mini 4 soon.
I have quick ? When setting waypoints can you just fly straight around an object then make the object the poi then make each waypoint heading of poi and the drone should stay centered on object
Your drone videos are full of great information and easy to watch. Regrettably, working with the remote map is not as easy or smooth as on your video(s). Thanks again for incredible info/advice!
I wonder as well, was it one of the take off and fly before the home piont is set. Like the one with the water fall. But now aday dji drones (new ones crash alot), and risk taking seems not a good idear. But the "way point" pointers are good for me I have a 3 Classic. Thanks for the video.
Hi there Russ, thank you for continuing tutorials and educating on drones, your channel has helped me a lot since it started and inspired me into buying a drone for my travel videos. What I'm going to share here does not relate to your current video but my recent experience while travelling. I have been carrying my DJI Mavic in my bag pack for last 4 years ( on dozens of national and international flights) with no trouble and i even always deliberately disclose it to TSA who also never seemed to have any problem. However, this time, while boarding Emirates airlines in Athens to NYC, they had a sign right before entering the jet bridge (tube) to board the plane, that said (some thing to the effect) "Let a crew member know, If you have following items in your carry on" (which also included Drone), so i did what a law abiding citizen would do, i informed the person checking the boarding passes and then to my surprise, the whole hell broke loose, they halted boarding, started to make calls right and left, started yelling that i should have known better and so on (this time i was only carrying my DJI mini, i even took out my drone to show them that how little this thing was but to no avail). Eventually a security personnel showed up took my gear bag from me (full of thousand of $ worth cameras and drone) and told me that i would receive it on my arrivals at Newark. When i told them to atleast put a 'Fragile' sticker on it, the lady angrily said, it's on you and walked away while i was still talking. I just want your response to what's your take on this over-reaction from Emirates airlines, when Airports securities never exhibited any concerns with all of this and it would've been ok , had i not disclosed it ?
Have been using waypoints for years on my Spark and Mavic series of drones using LITCHI.. I would assume when you turn off avoidance, that's what it means..
Hello! Thanks for the nice explanation. A question about this... Is it also possible to set Wapoints "on top of each other"? Example: I start at Waypoint A at 10m, fly to Waypoint B at 10m. Waypoint C should be identical in position to B - but the height should increase to 20m. According to the scenario, there should be a vertical climb of 10m at the original Waypoint B.
The Maven app has had waypoints for quite a while now and it works really well. It will work with my Mavic 2 Zoom and my Mini 2. It won't work with the newer DJI drones because DJI will not release the Software Development Kit (SDK) for them. Now I think I know why DJI won't release the SDK; DJI is trying to make their software work as well and Maven and Litchi. Also, with the Maven app you do not have to fly your mission first to set waypoints and you do not need to worry if take off from a different altitude or even a different spot.
Love the videos Russ! I just received my mini 4 pro today. I bought the DJI Care Refresh for this exact reason, so thank you for sharing. It's a little different than flying my M30T!
Sorry for the loss. To answer your question about why it ended up where it did after hitting the tree. Just like throwing a ball against a wall, the ball will bounce back. It is the typical "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." For a drone, you will also have the residual power and lift from the propellers that did NOT hit the tree adding to the distance the drone will fly after hitting the branches.
🧐 same durability as the mini 3 pro ✅. The mini 3 pro is the only drone I’ve had to replace due to crash,TWICE 😂. Thanks for that demo. As they say, there are no stupid questions only expensive answers.
Another great post Russ, you are the reason I bought my Mini 3 Pro, one month before the Mini pro 4 intro 😒. Wished I would have waited, oh well. Maybe they'll add waypoints to the Mini 3 Pro someday.
Oh, man I can empathize with you. Last week I was filming my son skateboarding in a parking lot with my Air 3. Only obstacles were some scattered poles for the lot lights. Decided to see what Active Track was all about even though I had no intention on using very much, if at all. Worked really well for about 5 minutes, navigating around the obstacles in bypass mode. Right as I was about to switch back to Spotlight, my son was turning on his skateboard, which caused the Air 3 to make an unusually broad boomerang type of path at probably about 20mph (Normal Mode with pitch, roll, and yaw speeds at factory settings) and slam face first into one of the lights poles, totaled, deleted, unalived on impact. Felt so sick, but knew I only had myself to blame for putting too much trust in the omni sensors and decision-making of the drone. It was covered with Care Fresh, but didn't help with not watching to kick myself in the head. So, yeah. I highly doubt I'll be using Active Track any time soon. Even at a lower speed, I can't trust it. At least not without a massive firmware update. Between Waypoints, Spotlight, and the occasional Quick Shot....I've always I'll ever need to safely pilot the drone.
You said If you set the drone to continue mission on signal lost it will return to home when mission is complete. Is that true if you set it to hover at missions end? That could sure result in drone loss if it’s out of range.
I’ve watched your videos for years, but still haven’t taken the plunge to get a drone. Is super glue not an option to repair? Are replacement parts available? Some of my hesitation in purchasing one has been crashing it and ruining a big investment.
Can't see that waypoints are a good thing. Should be able to set waypoints on the PC at home, then transfer to the drone and send the drone off without thinking about anything, the drone then returns home after completing the mission. When a Tesla can drive in city traffic without problems, must it be possible to make a drone that works
Thanks so much for all the added tips you threw in. I just purchased the mini Pro Plus package. I have the original Mavic Pro Platinum Plus and just bought a new controller for that one. But I'm more anxious for this mini as it seems to have more protection from accidents built in to programs. Im really very new at this. My Mavic Plat. Only has a few hrs in it. But thats what you do when your retired and exploring. Can't wait to take it into the Smokey Mts and film. Thanks a heap You are articulate, thorough, and you speak at any level of experience.
I'm confused. The drone should know it's gps coordinates, height off the ground or based on GPS translation which would also give it elevation information etc so if you launch from a different spot, why wouldn't it return to the exact spot again based on the data that's been saved. If I'm 5"11 tall at sea level, I'm still 5'11 on top of a mountain and the phone in my hand knows where I am in relation to sea level. Or have I missed something and assuming that the drones don't understand/know relative position to sea level/ground?
My Mini 4 Pro with the obstacle avoidance ON managed to thread it's way into the center of a tree when I tried out the POI follow. I'm wondering if maybe there's an issue with DJI obstacle avoidance and the Mini 4 Pro. I'm hoping for a firmware update that addresses this issue. Long story longer, my drone is out for repairs, looking forward to getting it back so I can try to diagnose if there's an issue or not.
Thanks for the info!..separate question or topic.... Do you think that DJI will do another firmware update later on..on the AIR 3..where like in the Mavic 3 Pro uses the "obstacle avoidance" cameras as separate visual cameras so you can see around you further more...its seems like they have no excuse because the cameras are there already..unless its a "processor" issue?..where the Air 3 doesn't have enough internals to do so?.
Why is it crucial that the drone launches from the same position for a repeat waypoint mission? Does it not just make its merry way to the start point regardless of its launch point?
I'm kinda looking for the backwards way to make waypoints. I want to use the map to plan it and then have it fly there. Mostly to one point. I chase weather balloons and I get the GPS points where they land. It must be an isolated case because I never see another request to have a drone go to a GPS point.
Interesting video. The mistake You did was NOT pressing the pause button before turning to Your lady! Now and then people approach me during the flight and starts talking, asking questions, wants to look at the screen etc. If possible, drop the controls having the drone to hover. Else, get the drone into a safe situation. A question: Is it possible to use any control on the controller during waypoint flying to adjust the action? Yes, editing is possible but very slow in case the W P flight follows f ex a fast moving train, but not useful.
Can you create a waypoint mission without flying it first? In other words can I sit at my desk, bring up the map and build my route, store it then go out and fly it?
Sorry to hear about the crash!!! I haven't been brave enough to fly with way points along my forest road yet with the Air 3 but am working up to it so I can try to make a good season change video along the same path. Thanks for sharing more about way points in general.
Oops, well we’ve learned a lesson 😱😱. Thank you Russ for your excellent waypoint tutorial. This video and your others will help me with the Air 3 FM w/ RC-2 controller I ordered🙏🙏
I would like to know more about Gimble control with Way Points. 1) Gimble position can be saved with way pts, correct? 2) If so, can you have multiple way pts in the same position and just move the gimble? My Mavic Pro doesn't do any Gimble w/ Way pts. 😥 Suppose you won't want to do any Mini 4 Way Point tests first thing when the new 4 arrives!!
I have an experience that may share how erratic a crash can be. Years back I took my Mavic Pro for its first day flying in a park that had a large RC flying area. My wife and I parked ourselves under the canopy of a huge tree of which there were several at the perimeter of the RC area for a picnic drone day. On my last battery when it got down to 25% I decided to get a little more out of it and practiced flying around some smaller obstacles about 8 feet off the ground within about 100' from me and then brought it in to land on the table next to me. I guess since it was so close when the early battery low warning went off, there wasn't much time before RTH set at 150' to clear some 100' plus palm trees. It flew straight up under the tree I was under, hit the tree and started flying tilted nearly sideways in a cork screw pattern. I killed it with the controller sticks and it hit a soft fluffy young tree falling trough it to where I could reach it at least 80 feet from where this all started. The cork screw pattern ranged from about 6' to maybe 20' feet off the ground and there were people walking some 50' or so from me in a slightly different direction so it scared the stuff out of me. I had no idea where it was going or when it would stop. It was so fast. It is built like a tank and just needed new props, but it was completely crazy.
All this discussion about waypoints they were on the original Mavic and others are capable of doing it in Litchi with Sdk so it’s just a marketing point from DJI as any can do it
One situation I could think of where you would not want the drone to RTH on lost signal would be if you were flying a mission down a tight path through a forest or low along a stream, where rising up to the RTH height would potentially put the drone into the canopy of the trees. If you know the path the drone is going, and battery levels are tight, it might make sense to have it land, but certainly hovering would be preferred over RTH in that situation. Sorry about your crash! It's an excellent reminder about how focused we should be when flying!
It's cool, but I love using Litchi for my older DJI. I can plot the mission sitting my desk at home, and just load it once onsite and run it. I wish DJI would release an SDK for the mini drones so applications like Litchi could be used.
Waypoint is a great add on but.... I wish you could set a waypoint based on Longitude & Latitude. Example , I had a malfunction with my Mini 3 Pro. Overheated gimbal. In DJI wisdom this caused the drone to land and because of inactivity shut down. this was 4000 ft out up the face of a rocky large mountain, no roads even close. Using find my drone it gave me location of longitude/Latitude. Knowing this it would have been possible to use my Mavic 3 with some sort of hook I could maybe retrieve it.
Thank you very much for the video. Sorry for your loss and subscribers gain. Right before the crash, it looks like it recognized the tree and had a red circle. Not sure why it didn't stop. That really sucked.
Always like your video's how much did it cost to get your M4P fixed (you did get it fixed right ?) - I am currently training on way points and looking to change the drone speed at different way points - is this possible or do I need third party software to do that ? Also do you have a recommended tablet to use with the controllers ?
In answer to your question "how did it get way over here", I'm a professional drone crasher, 7 catastrophic times now, and half a dozen recoveries. when they impact on one rotor, they usually try to spin it off, it's a 50/50 deal, my harem of m3p's illustrated that to me- sometimes they correct themselves in the air- I have seen it multiple times now.
I had something similar happen…. So when doing the waypoints… the drone actually will curve its path to make the route smooth. In doing so, it took a wider path then required and went into a tree fairly high up. Shockingly, it didn’t drop. Only nicked a prop. Any idea how to make the route more rigid vs smooth?
Question: Hi Russ thanks for your videos they are very helpful. I am wondering what if any benefits to a part 107 pilot of having a drone that is under 250 grams? TIA -Jason
What if you had bypass on when doing waypoints like say you dont a waypoint next to a tree and the tree grew or moved cause of the wind does it go around it and continue the waypoint
Sorry for the drone mishap Russ. When obstacle avoidance is off...........it's off. Unfortunately you found that out the hard way. The drone is definitely not trashed though. As long as the gimbal isn't broken, it's fairly easy to replace the arms.
I don't have a DJI drone. But if I had to choose I would get a Mini 2 with Litchi or Maven anytime over a Mini 4. Mainly because those apps have follow-me. While the Mini 4 only has the very unreliable active-track. And I would not trust the obstacle avoidance anyway with $1000 drone.
Thanks for the great video and lessons learned! If the Mini 4 Pro breaks (to avoid an obstacle) during a mission, and then stops/cancels the mission, does it automatically trigger RTH or it stays there doing nothing? Or it takes whatever setting you used in the mission for what to do when the mission completes?
So waypoints are saved to the drone when started and don’t need the remote if signals are lost. My yuneec typhoon h needed the remote to finish its waypoints
I have a question that maybe you can help with. I have the understanding that the vertical limit in the United States in uncontrolled airspace is 400 ft. Why then, do the DJI drones give you a warning that states you have exceeded 393 ft and maybe in violation of laws?
Is there a way to reverse the waypoints to avoid having the drone fly back to the first point and wasting battery? I know this is possible in the Hyperlapse mode but I cant seem to make it work in the video waypoints mode.
I love your videos…..do you have one walking you through how to fly in an “authorized zone”? Got all I needed and my drone still wouldn’t fly after I approval from LAANC and unlocked the Geo Zone.
Sorry about that but thanks for sharing. I've never seen a mini arm crack in so many places, is the plastic on the mini 4 pro thinner than that of mini 3 pro?
If you turn off obstacle avoidance , why would it still be on ? 😂
As I mentioned, because I thought Waypoints had a failsafe that superseded the OA setting. 🤷🏻♂️
I’m just curious when you set up a waypoint mission I would assume that the drone uses GPS to record the exact location of that particular waypoint. So if you were about 5 miles from that location the drone would automatically fly to that location once you enabled the mission? But if you lost signal it would probably cancel the mission and return home. I hate to see that happen to your mini 4 pro. I hope DJI will send you a new one or repair it
@@WestVirginiasBigred271
correct, it would fly to the gps location of latitude and longitude, however, unless you somehow takeoff at the same elevation above sea level from 5 miles away as where you took off from when you set those waypoints, it will fly at a completely different height. Be very careful with this. I almost flew into a light pole once because I took off 10 feet lower in elevation than when I set the way points, and just by luck, missed it by a couple feet.
@@chrisharris_arizonaNot quite. I had my waypoints listed as they are saved and when I went to fly a previous mission I selected the wrong one and I got an error message to say the start point was greater than 10km (6 miles) away and it wouldn’t start. So, there is a limit as to how far away you can start a mission.
@@StevieProton my point wasn’t to say literally say 5 miles…it was the example used in original question. More stating that you don’t have to take off from the same place for it to find point 1 and the point was to watch the height/elevation of take off. If you do some testing for distances, please let us know at what distance it works as it would be interesting to find out the distance that it starts to works. One would think, if DJI programmed it for US flights that maybe they’d take the 3 statute miles number and allow that. Either way, nobody in the States should be doing that without a waiver since it’s BVLOS.
You're a good man to share the heartache of crashing and the principle of moments. 😮💨
I had that similar injury with the front right arm of my M3P, And Nooo DJI Care Plan, to fix my arm, cracked gimbal and something else... Only cost me $61...and DJI paid for S/H.... and they have the BEST communication through that return process...and I don't remember the actual turn around time? But it wasn't more than a week after I submitted payment and returned the drone... I'm pretty sure they sent me a refurbished drone, but so far it's been working as new... Lesson learned: NEVER turn off Obstacle Avoidance... Thanks for sharing Russ!!! #Salute #SafeFlying #DJIisTheBest
One of the best tip I got from watching RUclips videos and doing a quick shot was keeping your finger on the pause button in case of an emergency while I was doing a circle quick shot and my mini 2 was about to hit a tree from the side which helped me save my drone. Keeping clear line of sight and knowing your surroundings also helps. I was shocked to see the mini 4 even with obstacle avoidance sensors still managed to crash. Can't rely too much on technology no matter how good they claim it to be. Good thing you got DJI credits and getting a replacement soon. Can't wait to see more of your great videos.
Well he turned the sensors off. They can't help if you intentionally disable them. He was trying to prove they work even when off, when running Waypoints. They do not. The Obstacle Avoidance indicator was bright red. Interestingly they do still work in RTH, as designed- I think that's what Russ was thinking of. 🤔
@@BlairAir I stand corrected. I had to re-watch the video to realize that.
@@TheDroneRanger215 All good- figured you missed part of that. No OA is perfect, but it's rarely THAT bad, lol!
Thanks Russ! Great lesson for us all!!
The short of this is obstacle avoidance was turned off. Waypoints mode does NOT override/ enable obstacle avoidance itself. You still want to make sure its turned on. Propeller guards also disable obstacle avoidance.
What it does do, is it forces your currently activated obstacle avoidance to only work in "Brake Mode". It does not let you use the Bypass setting while waypoints are active.
Always look in the top right of the screen. The little 4 way bumper will be white if its enabled and red if its disabled.
Now you can do a video on DJI refresh care.
Didn’t have it
@@51Droneshow much did it cost you to fix? My country doesn't even have a dji store.
You are definitely my favorite drone instructor. So many thanks.
Another important issue is that a waypoint mission relies on GPS only. GPS may ba accurate to 5-10 meters (depending on how good the signals are). This means that you should avoid low ground planning and also avoid flying in the proximity of an obstacle. I tried yesterday many different way to get my route "accepted", but the GPS signals caused me to get to close to some branches (but since I had the obstacle avoidance on, the drone just stopped at that point, hoovering and then returned. I have up and realized that the best waypoint mission is higher from the ground and away from any obstacles (because it will not go around over over, it will stop!
Been there done that! Sorry about your Mini 4 but you got the answer to the question just not the one any of us wanted. This is a good example of why we don't want to be disturbed while flying.
Maybe I missed something but why would you want to turn off obstacle avoidance? Wouldn't you always want to avoid crashing into something? Not sure when or why you would want to turn that feature off.
Great tutorial and a great lesson for us all at the end.
Based out of Vancouver, I shot helicopter aerials for Hollywood for years. Guess how we organized our missions? With rehearsals and waypoints. It's the only way to guarantee safety and repeatability. SO glad to see them arrive on the Mini 4.
You've set a record!! One of the first guys to break the arm of a mini 4 pro!! Dinner is served. DJI CARE REFRESH IS WAITING.
You don’t need to launch from ‘Exactly the same point for waypoint re runs - And also Sudden movements have no bearing on the smoothness of transitions as long as the way points are well separated - The drone will have time to automate a smooth transition regardless
Of how you move the gimble and camera during set up - And why would obstacle avoidance work if you switch off obstacle avoidance? Russ back to the drawing board - would advise getting DJI care refresh - Thanks for your content
Please cite a reference to your statement that you do not have to launch from the exact same location for subsequent waypoints.
@@51Drones Hi Russ - I’m running a few waypoint missions at the moment and you can start them from within a reasonable distance of the initial launch (a few hundred metres) - The only restriction I imagine would be the battery and drones ability to determine whether the mission can be completed within the time of the battery - The drone only needs to be able to locate the first waypoint - And please note that you can set up waypoint missions on the device at home before visiting your proposed location so the drone is never going to know where you previously launched from
You dont need cheap drama for views, you re the best either ways.
Not sure what you mean, but thanks I guess.
A waypoint route can be saved. Is it possible to fly the same route at different times of the year (spring/summer/autumn/winter)? When editing a film, I would like to create seamless transitions from, for example, autumn leaves to snow-covered trees without changing the image section.
Exact use for it!
I really am sorry to hear about your Mini 4 Pro but Russ, this post is priceless. Thank you sharing your misstep so openly and honestly. You always make a big, positive difference for me and my drone experiences. Keep up the great work.
P.S. Its more cost effective on several levels to keep your wife, even if she "caused" you to crash your drone on every flight.😅 (I chuckled out loud at that joke.)
Keep getting high, sir.
I'm so happy we have guys like you who will crash for us so we don't have to😂 I love this feature, hope i can learn to use it properly!!! I've been a subscriber for a few yrs now and wondering why i sometimes do not get notified of a new video from you, glad i got the notification for the shorts video or i wouldn't have know you crashed😡 Thank's for giving these educational videos, i always learn something new 👍👍👍
Take home message: If you want obstacle avoidance, don´t turn it off!
I totally agree.
Ouch!! Very brave and honest of you to hang out (well at least until the 4 mini hit the ground) your fail. Many would not be so transparent, i.e. "I meant to do that". Good episode (and again, honest). Kudos!
Need a video on how to file a boo boo claim pretty cool I'm still flying the original mavic pro the OG thinking about upgrading definitely like that you don't have to use your phone with the new rc ✌️
Thank you sir for the lesson. I plan to buy a mini 4 Pro once I am financially able. Around a year back I bought the mini 3 Pro and discovered that way points only worked in Hyperlapse mode. Also I might add that while in Hyperlapse the obstacle avoidance results in the mission being canceled. I held out hope that dji would eventually add video record waypoints, for the mini 3 pro, but they never did.
Great bonus lesson: I just bought Dji Care Refresh =)
I love My New Mini 4 pro. So many upgrades
Thanks for the vid, I also learned the hard way using RTH on my m4p at dawn and it completely didn’t see my tan color house and was totaled
Nevermind the hateful comments Russ, unfortunately this is the world we live in today. It can happen to the best of us. I always appreciate your content because I continue to learn new things. Good luck and hope you get a new mini 4 soon.
All comments have value. A dirty $100 bill is worth the same as a brand new one. 😁
I have quick ? When setting waypoints can you just fly straight around an object then make the object the poi then make each waypoint heading of poi and the drone should stay centered on object
another great vid.
Your drone videos are full of great information and easy to watch.
Regrettably, working with the remote map is not as easy or smooth as on your video(s).
Thanks again for incredible info/advice!
I wonder as well, was it one of the take off and fly before the home piont is set. Like the one with the water fall. But now aday dji drones (new ones crash alot), and risk taking seems not a good idear. But the "way point" pointers are good for me I have a 3 Classic. Thanks for the video.
Hi there Russ, thank you for continuing tutorials and educating on drones, your channel has helped me a lot since it started and inspired me into buying a drone for my travel videos. What I'm going to share here does not relate to your current video but my recent experience while travelling. I have been carrying my DJI Mavic in my bag pack for last 4 years ( on dozens of national and international flights) with no trouble and i even always deliberately disclose it to TSA who also never seemed to have any problem. However, this time, while boarding Emirates airlines in Athens to NYC, they had a sign right before entering the jet bridge (tube) to board the plane, that said (some thing to the effect) "Let a crew member know, If you have following items in your carry on" (which also included Drone), so i did what a law abiding citizen would do, i informed the person checking the boarding passes and then to my surprise, the whole hell broke loose, they halted boarding, started to make calls right and left, started yelling that i should have known better and so on (this time i was only carrying my DJI mini, i even took out my drone to show them that how little this thing was but to no avail). Eventually a security personnel showed up took my gear bag from me (full of thousand of $ worth cameras and drone) and told me that i would receive it on my arrivals at Newark. When i told them to atleast put a 'Fragile' sticker on it, the lady angrily said, it's on you and walked away while i was still talking. I just want your response to what's your take on this over-reaction from Emirates airlines, when Airports securities never exhibited any concerns with all of this and it would've been ok , had i not disclosed it ?
Have been using waypoints for years on my Spark and Mavic series of drones using LITCHI.. I would assume when you turn off avoidance, that's what it means..
Yeah, that’s a mystery I would just as soon be left unanswered.
Hello! Thanks for the nice explanation. A question about this... Is it also possible to set Wapoints "on top of each other"? Example: I start at Waypoint A at 10m, fly to Waypoint B at 10m. Waypoint C should be identical in position to B - but the height should increase to 20m. According to the scenario, there should be a vertical climb of 10m at the original Waypoint B.
The Maven app has had waypoints for quite a while now and it works really well. It will work with my Mavic 2 Zoom and my Mini 2. It won't work with the newer DJI drones because DJI will not release the Software Development Kit (SDK) for them. Now I think I know why DJI won't release the SDK; DJI is trying to make their software work as well and Maven and Litchi. Also, with the Maven app you do not have to fly your mission first to set waypoints and you do not need to worry if take off from a different altitude or even a different spot.
Love the videos Russ! I just received my mini 4 pro today. I bought the DJI Care Refresh for this exact reason, so thank you for sharing. It's a little different than flying my M30T!
Sorry for the loss. To answer your question about why it ended up where it did after hitting the tree. Just like throwing a ball against a wall, the ball will bounce back. It is the typical "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." For a drone, you will also have the residual power and lift from the propellers that did NOT hit the tree adding to the distance the drone will fly after hitting the branches.
So, DJI Refresh is a good idea. Think I'll with the top tier coverage.
Thanks for lesson learned. I've wondered about this same situation myself
Miss my drone. The way things go around here I doubt I will be able to get one again. This mini 4 sure makes me want one
Thanks for sharing. I’m sure you saved me from making a mistake in the future.
🧐 same durability as the mini 3 pro ✅. The mini 3 pro is the only drone I’ve had to replace due to crash,TWICE 😂. Thanks for that demo. As they say, there are no stupid questions only expensive answers.
Another great post Russ, you are the reason I bought my Mini 3 Pro, one month before the Mini pro 4 intro 😒. Wished I would have waited, oh well. Maybe they'll add waypoints to the Mini 3 Pro someday.
Thanks for the explanation of how to use way points and sorry about the drone that sucks
Yes, my mini2 also crashed yesterday because of a wire that I didn't notice for just a few seconds.
Oh, man I can empathize with you. Last week I was filming my son skateboarding in a parking lot with my Air 3. Only obstacles were some scattered poles for the lot lights. Decided to see what Active Track was all about even though I had no intention on using very much, if at all. Worked really well for about 5 minutes, navigating around the obstacles in bypass mode. Right as I was about to switch back to Spotlight, my son was turning on his skateboard, which caused the Air 3 to make an unusually broad boomerang type of path at probably about 20mph (Normal Mode with pitch, roll, and yaw speeds at factory settings) and slam face first into one of the lights poles, totaled, deleted, unalived on impact. Felt so sick, but knew I only had myself to blame for putting too much trust in the omni sensors and decision-making of the drone. It was covered with Care Fresh, but didn't help with not watching to kick myself in the head.
So, yeah. I highly doubt I'll be using Active Track any time soon. Even at a lower speed, I can't trust it. At least not without a massive firmware update. Between Waypoints, Spotlight, and the occasional Quick Shot....I've always I'll ever need to safely pilot the drone.
You said If you set the drone to continue mission on signal lost it will return to home when mission is complete. Is that true if you set it to hover at missions end? That could sure result in drone loss if it’s out of range.
Hi can you do a video about the dji air 2s vs the dji mini 4 pro
I’ve watched your videos for years, but still haven’t taken the plunge to get a drone. Is super glue not an option to repair? Are replacement parts available? Some of my hesitation in purchasing one has been crashing it and ruining a big investment.
Silly decision, but as long as lesson's have been learned, all good.
Great content, nice to see ho smooth way points is.
Thank you. Now I know that if you turn off Obstacle avoidance, then it stops working.
Does it load maps as you fly or do you have to preload the map first. How do you unlock a area if it don’t have Wi-Fi. Thanks and sorry for the loss.
Thanks for the tutorial. I learned a lot. Sorry for your loss.
Can't see that waypoints are a good thing. Should be able to set waypoints on the PC at home, then transfer to the drone and send the drone off without thinking about anything, the drone then returns home after completing the mission. When a Tesla can drive in city traffic without problems, must it be possible to make a drone that works
Thanks so much for all the added tips you threw in. I just purchased the mini Pro Plus package. I have the original Mavic Pro Platinum Plus and just bought a new controller for that one. But I'm more anxious for this mini as it seems to have more protection from accidents built in to programs.
Im really very new at this. My Mavic Plat. Only has a few hrs in it. But thats what you do when your retired and exploring.
Can't wait to take it into the Smokey Mts and film.
Thanks a heap
You are articulate, thorough, and you speak at any level of experience.
You said you would have anew replacement drone, can't this one be repaired by DJI?
I’m getting my mini for in two days, can’t wait to learn it all. Just wondering if you can lock him in on a subject while doing the waypoint
Yes! I forgot to demonstrate that
POI
I'm confused. The drone should know it's gps coordinates, height off the ground or based on GPS translation which would also give it elevation information etc so if you launch from a different spot, why wouldn't it return to the exact spot again based on the data that's been saved.
If I'm 5"11 tall at sea level, I'm still 5'11 on top of a mountain and the phone in my hand knows where I am in relation to sea level.
Or have I missed something and assuming that the drones don't understand/know relative position to sea level/ground?
My Mini 4 Pro with the obstacle avoidance ON managed to thread it's way into the center of a tree when I tried out the POI follow.
I'm wondering if maybe there's an issue with DJI obstacle avoidance and the Mini 4 Pro. I'm hoping for a firmware update that addresses this issue.
Long story longer, my drone is out for repairs, looking forward to getting it back so I can try to diagnose if there's an issue or not.
I’m sure DJI will send you a replacement mini 4 pro, I can’t wait to try out waypoint’s with my A3 and put your info to good use.
How to get the “H” on the RC screen?? I would like this for helping me to bring my Mini 4 back to me ?
Thanks for the info!..separate question or topic....
Do you think that DJI will do another firmware update later on..on the AIR 3..where like in the Mavic 3 Pro uses the "obstacle avoidance" cameras as separate visual cameras so you can see around you further more...its seems like they have no excuse because the cameras are there already..unless its a "processor" issue?..where the Air 3 doesn't have enough internals to do so?.
Why is it crucial that the drone launches from the same position for a repeat waypoint mission? Does it not just make its merry way to the start point regardless of its launch point?
I would like to know if you can use the FPV goggles with the mini4 pro
I'm kinda looking for the backwards way to make waypoints. I want to use the map to plan it and then have it fly there. Mostly to one point. I chase weather balloons and I get the GPS points where they land. It must be an isolated case because I never see another request to have a drone go to a GPS point.
just got one mini 4 pro, i really apreciate your video and your advice
Interesting video.
The mistake You did was NOT pressing the pause button before turning to Your lady! Now and then people approach me during the flight and starts talking, asking questions, wants to look at the screen etc. If possible, drop the controls having the drone to hover. Else, get the drone into a safe situation.
A question: Is it possible to use any control on the controller during waypoint flying to adjust the action?
Yes, editing is possible but very slow in case the W P flight follows f ex a fast moving train, but not useful.
Can you create a waypoint mission without flying it first? In other words can I sit at my desk, bring up the map and build my route, store it then go out and fly it?
Yes
Sorry to hear about the crash!!! I haven't been brave enough to fly with way points along my forest road yet with the Air 3 but am working up to it so I can try to make a good season change video along the same path. Thanks for sharing more about way points in general.
Oops, well we’ve learned a lesson 😱😱. Thank you Russ for your excellent waypoint tutorial. This video and your others
will help me with the Air 3 FM w/ RC-2 controller I ordered🙏🙏
Does poi on normal mode prevent crashes? Mine crashed on a thin tree with a lot small branches :(
I would like to know more about Gimble control with Way Points. 1) Gimble position can be saved with way pts, correct? 2) If so, can you have multiple way pts in the same position and just move the gimble? My Mavic Pro doesn't do any Gimble w/ Way pts. 😥 Suppose you won't want to do any Mini 4 Way Point tests first thing when the new 4 arrives!!
No. You have to move a minimum distance to set another waypoint
Can you set waypoints in a 10 foot radius to go in a circle?
I have an experience that may share how erratic a crash can be. Years back I took my Mavic Pro for its first day flying in a park that had a large RC flying area. My wife and I parked ourselves under the canopy of a huge tree of which there were several at the perimeter of the RC area for a picnic drone day. On my last battery when it got down to 25% I decided to get a little more out of it and practiced flying around some smaller obstacles about 8 feet off the ground within about 100' from me and then brought it in to land on the table next to me. I guess since it was so close when the early battery low warning went off, there wasn't much time before RTH set at 150' to clear some 100' plus palm trees. It flew straight up under the tree I was under, hit the tree and started flying tilted nearly sideways in a cork screw pattern. I killed it with the controller sticks and it hit a soft fluffy young tree falling trough it to where I could reach it at least 80 feet from where this all started. The cork screw pattern ranged from about 6' to maybe 20' feet off the ground and there were people walking some 50' or so from me in a slightly different direction so it scared the stuff out of me. I had no idea where it was going or when it would stop. It was so fast. It is built like a tank and just needed new props, but it was completely crazy.
So if your Mavic Pro hit the tree does that mean it did not have obstacle avoidance?
Sorry about your crash. Hopefully you had dji care refresh. I just crashed my air 3 it landed in water and had to use it
All this discussion about waypoints they were on the original Mavic and others are capable of doing it in Litchi with Sdk so it’s just a marketing point from DJI as any can do it
One situation I could think of where you would not want the drone to RTH on lost signal would be if you were flying a mission down a tight path through a forest or low along a stream, where rising up to the RTH height would potentially put the drone into the canopy of the trees. If you know the path the drone is going, and battery levels are tight, it might make sense to have it land, but certainly hovering would be preferred over RTH in that situation. Sorry about your crash! It's an excellent reminder about how focused we should be when flying!
Waypoit also has a bug. When you save any waypoit and come to it it is off by almost 50 feet at times. Hopefully DJI will fix this soon
Thank you for the way-point tutorial, and the valuable PSA on obstacle avoidance. So sorry to see your drone crash.
I am assuming that you can plan waypoints on a map before flying the path?
Yes
Maybe you can do a video of how to plan waypoints on a map rather than flying the path and adding them in flight.@@51Drones
What made you believe that your drone would stop if you turned off obstacle avoidance?
You didn't buy DJI care refresh? Also, can you set it to bypass an obstacle during waypoint route?
No. Bypass doesn’t work in waypoints.
Stop & hover, but no bypass
It's cool, but I love using Litchi for my older DJI. I can plot the mission sitting my desk at home, and just load it once onsite and run it. I wish DJI would release an SDK for the mini drones so applications like Litchi could be used.
Waypoint is a great add on but.... I wish you could set a waypoint based on Longitude & Latitude. Example , I had a malfunction with my Mini 3 Pro. Overheated gimbal. In DJI wisdom this caused the drone to land and because of inactivity shut down. this was 4000 ft out up the face of a rocky large mountain, no roads even close. Using find my drone it gave me location of longitude/Latitude. Knowing this it would have been possible to use my Mavic 3 with some sort of hook I could maybe retrieve it.
Thank you very much for the video. Sorry for your loss and subscribers gain. Right before the crash, it looks like it recognized the tree and had a red circle. Not sure why it didn't stop. That really sucked.
Always like your video's how much did it cost to get your M4P fixed (you did get it fixed right ?) - I am currently training on way points and looking to change the drone speed at different way points - is this possible or do I need third party software to do that ? Also do you have a recommended tablet to use with the controllers ?
In answer to your question "how did it get way over here", I'm a professional drone crasher, 7 catastrophic times now, and half a dozen recoveries. when they impact on one rotor, they usually try to spin it off, it's a 50/50 deal, my harem of m3p's illustrated that to me- sometimes they correct themselves in the air- I have seen it multiple times now.
I had something similar happen…. So when doing the waypoints… the drone actually will curve its path to make the route smooth. In doing so, it took a wider path then required and went into a tree fairly high up. Shockingly, it didn’t drop. Only nicked a prop.
Any idea how to make the route more rigid vs smooth?
Question: Hi Russ thanks for your videos they are very helpful. I am wondering what if any benefits to a part 107 pilot of having a drone that is under 250 grams? TIA
-Jason
Need if making money selling your drone as a service.
What if you had bypass on when doing waypoints like say you dont a waypoint next to a tree and the tree grew or moved cause of the wind does it go around it and continue the waypoint
In waypoint there is no bypass.
I'm sorry for your drone.
Thanks for sharing.
Sorry for the drone mishap Russ. When obstacle avoidance is off...........it's off. Unfortunately you found that out the hard way. The drone is definitely not trashed though. As long as the gimbal isn't broken, it's fairly easy to replace the arms.
I am a mini2 user. I hope you can give me an honest opinion on whether I should upgrade to mini4.
I don't have a DJI drone. But if I had to choose I would get a Mini 2 with Litchi or Maven anytime over a Mini 4. Mainly because those apps have follow-me. While the Mini 4 only has the very unreliable active-track. And I would not trust the obstacle avoidance anyway with $1000 drone.
Thanks for the great video and lessons learned! If the Mini 4 Pro breaks (to avoid an obstacle) during a mission, and then stops/cancels the mission, does it automatically trigger RTH or it stays there doing nothing? Or it takes whatever setting you used in the mission for what to do when the mission completes?
Is it repairable? Why no DJI refresh?
So waypoints are saved to the drone when started and don’t need the remote if signals are lost. My yuneec typhoon h needed the remote to finish its waypoints
I have a question that maybe you can help with. I have the understanding that the vertical limit in the United States in uncontrolled airspace is 400 ft. Why then, do the DJI drones give you a warning that states you have exceeded 393 ft and maybe in violation of laws?
Great Video🙂
Is there a way to reverse the waypoints to avoid having the drone fly back to the first point and wasting battery?
I know this is possible in the Hyperlapse mode but I cant seem to make it work in the video waypoints mode.
I love your videos…..do you have one walking you through how to fly in an “authorized zone”? Got all I needed and my drone still wouldn’t fly after I approval from LAANC and unlocked the Geo Zone.
Sorry about that but thanks for sharing. I've never seen a mini arm crack in so many places, is the plastic on the mini 4 pro thinner than that of mini 3 pro?