New alternative to Litchi for those that are into missions.

[dougcjohn]

To be clear, the native app does not allow editing mission plans directly. You can open the web app on your phone or tablet and make changes, but if you have a mission in progress, it will continue to execute against the copy of the plan that it made when you started the mission. The native app will warn you about resuming a mission that is using an outdated plan, and give you the option to abort and reload it if you want to fly with the updates.

Thanks for replies, all helpful.
On above, updated mission.
Can you abort and upload new updated mission while in the air, restart mission and craft returns to start point or need to land to upload the updated mission.

Brings up another question omitted.
Can we launch aircraft manually and position in air above tree line before starting mission?

 

[dronelink]

Can you abort and upload new updated mission while in the air, restart mission and craft returns to start point or need to land to upload the updated mission.

You can do it all while in the air. The mission does not get uploaded, but rather runs on the mobile device, sending commands in real-time.

Can we launch aircraft manually and position in air above tree line before starting mission?

Yes, but be aware that if you have a require a specific area for the take-off location (plan settings), then you need to make sure you manually take-off within the required zone, otherwise it won't let you start the mission. This is for missions in areas with large elevation changes.

 

[dougcjohn]

You can do it all while in the air. The mission does not get uploaded, but rather runs on the mobile device, sending commands in real-time.


Yes, but be aware that if you have a require a specific area for the take-off location (plan settings), then you need to make sure you manually take-off within the required zone, otherwise it won't let you start the mission. This is for missions in areas with large elevation changes.

If my questions are too basic, apologies... I haven't examined the actual product yet or even visually looked at the native app. I'm going off of the training videos for questions.

The specific area is a good point. In other autonomous programs, the area marked as LZ isn't normally pin-point accurate unless aircraft is powered "on" and positioned... although it's not a critical small zone so it doesn't interfere.

Is the specific LZ area in DroneLink a large enough zone that it's not preventing / obstructing missions due to a variance in map marking and actual LZ for some areas where map may be not representative or low detail.

That brings up a related question, if the LZ is for example on a driveway under a tree umbrella and after launch you position craft not directly above the LZ... close but not direct. Will it pass mustard since the actual launch was on the LZ or is it based on current position of the craft in the air?

 

[dronelink]

That brings up a related question, if the LZ is for example on a driveway under a tree umbrella and after launch you position craft not directly above the LZ... close but not direct. Will it pass mustard since the actual launch was on the LZ or is it based on current position of the craft in the air?

All that matters is that the actual takeoff occurred in the zone as DJI zeros out the altimeter when this happens.

 

[dronelink]

Just got iOS App Store approval. Enjoy:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dronelink-for-dji/id1451684056?ls=1

The Android app is still available via direct download due to the DJI SDK issue

 

[limburgdrone]

For $100 / year the app has to be pretty perfect.
For instance, does it cover all DjiGo4 settings? Manual flight, HDR bracketing, compass/gimbal calibration, color profile, fps, exposure, focus settings: I hate to replug USB and start another app, for switching between route planner and DjiGo, while working on a job.

 

[dronelink]

For $100 / year the app has to be pretty perfect.

No app will ever be perfect, but we are certainly committed to listening to your feedback and making it better over time. In the end there are many different types of users and use cases and the requirements across these use cases can vary drastically.

For example, some people are more focused on manual control and looking for a DJI GO replacement. Others are in search and rescue and prioritize things like offline access, security, and collaboration. Still others are doing advanced inspections such as cell towers and building facades.

Just like in the Autopilot days, our mindset has always been to prioritize the features and functionality that make our product unique as we feel doing so provides the most value for early adopters. For example, we spent a great deal of time on the component-based architecture of mission plans as components enable a level of reuse and scalability not previously possible with DJI drones. We also spent a large amount of effort on the pre-mission workflows (mission preview, verifications missions etc) as we believe the goal should be to control for as many variables as possible before the flight to reduce the chance of error (saving time on re-work in the field) and increase the overall safety of the mission to protect people and property.

HDR bracketing

It's interesting that you bring up this particular point as this was one of the bugs that most DJI cameras currently suffer from: the number of bracketed photos does not save across drone restarts. One of our users pointed this out to us during the beta and we responded by creating the Camera AEB Count command component the next week.

With Dronelink mission plans, you can simply include your standard camera settings list component in each of your plans, and put the AEB Count command in that list to be sure that you never forget to set that setting manually because Dronelink will do it for you every time. Need to make a change to your standard camera settings component? If you designed it as a separate component and included it in your mission plans, Dronelink will automatically prompt you to update your mission plans to use the latest version of your settings component, and managing the versioning process of your mission plan for you!

If you are interested in seeing the complete list of commands and UI options, you can download the native app for free and open the flight dashboard (airplane icon, top right). You can also sign up for a free explore account on the web app to access the command component list in the mission planner.

I hate to replug USB and start another app

We agree, this is a drag and our goal is to minimize this over time (hopefully to zero). The continued development effort to make this happen is part of the reason for the subscription-based revenue model (trying to avoid another fate like Autopilot), but this is only part of what your subscription is for.

Dronelink is also a growing network of drone professionals that are looking to enhance their craft by sharing ideas. We are taking the lead by continuing to create innovative components in our public repositories, and we hopeful that the rest of the community will actively participate in helping us iterate to make these components better, or even start creating brand new components as we have already seen happening (users have already created Gigapano and Hyperlapse components for example). When it becomes too difficult to implement a component with the existing component types, we are committed to rolling out new component types that drastically reduce the time and energy required to plan innovative missions. Many of the ideas for new component types are already represented on our public product roadmap, which allows up-voting. Is there any other company in this space that takes feedback so seriously that it publishes its product roadmap and allow you to vote on it?

 

[dougcjohn]

Many of the ideas for new component types are already represented on our public product roadmap, which allows up-voting.

Is there any other company in this space that takes feedback so seriously that it publishes its product roadmap and allow you to vote on it?

I'm in-process of learning DroneLink, looks like an outstanding product in many ways... and the potential of growth in "components", etc is a plus. My minimal examination... even without flying a mission yet, can easily see this a potent flexible product with a very fresh unique methodology in mission planning & execution.

I've recently became a stronger Litchi User... in-directly pushed towards Litchi when AutoPilot fell silent. Litchi has added some great features, but as you indicate... they're lacking a "strong listening ear" on development requests... although remains a great product. Map Made Easy was another pushed replacement after AutoPilot's demise.

Not attempting to compare since all have strong features; I've been watching several developing applications that include a cost to operate the full version. I have no qualms in a product having an associated cost, frankly I'm amazed when products have zero investment cost or when their low cost version provides the majority of the common features.

Regarding a feature "vote" list... To be fair, there has been one I can recall: DroneHarmony has taken an EndUser "vote" for new features since their introduction... they too have been leaders in new unique ideas & methods to apply missions. Although Not the same as a "vote", the UgCS product has been very receptive to incorporate EndUser requests/suggestions.

This isn't a comparison, nor an advertisement for other product... point being: agreement that EndUser input on product development is a strong asset of any product. I do like the ideas & creativity several companies are pursuing... the end result benefits the sUAV Pilots "toolbox" to meet multiple needs & projects. Idea Portal for the Drone Harmony Products and UgCS Support

One area I will state I'm bit surprised with DroneLink is the "no fly" until you commit to a subscription (refundable). Other products either 1) provide a limited feature product for free or minimal cost, 2) provide a 30 day trial (many will extend with a email). One suggestion I would have is to consider a short trial period to test on a few flights.

 

[dronelink]

One area I will state I'm bit surprised with DroneLink is the "no fly" until you commit to a subscription (refundable). Other products either 1) provide a limited feature product for free or minimal cost, 2) provide a 30 day trial (many will extend with a email). One suggestion I would have is to consider a short trial period to test on a few flights.

We are open to going this direction if the demand is there, it just requires more development effort (which we could be spending on new features). Part of the reasoning is there should be zero question in your mind about what you are going to see during the mission because the mission previewer and export to Google Earth features show you exactly what is going to happen. If there is any difference or you are unsatisfied with the results, you can have a refund no questions asked.

 

[dronelink]

Here is a sneak peek of our facade scan testing. We are using existing component types (Path and Orbit) to prove it out, and then we will release a Facade component type when feel like the requirements are locked down. Click here to see the mission plan for this preview:

 

[parkgt]

Interesting concept. The linked approaches will have to be thought out when a battery cannot fly the entire mission.

 

[dronelink]

We are open to going this direction if the demand is there, it just requires more development effort

We are excited to announce that Dronelink is now free for individuals that want to fly missions for non-commercial purposes. This includes recreational and educational users, and even professionals that are looking to test Dronelink before making a commitment.

Our long-term mission has always been to make Dronelink available to as many people as possible, and we are grateful that the incredible demand for the pro, team, and enterprise plans is allowing us to make our product available to you at no cost. We believe that using automation is the first step toward flying commercial missions, but if you just want to have fun with it (and maybe help us test new features along the way), enjoy!

For those of you who already paid for a Pro account and are not flying commercially, contact support and we will happily give you a refund.

 

[dougcjohn]

We are excited to announce that Dronelink is now free for individuals that want to fly missions for non-commercial purposes. This includes recreational and educational users, and even professionals that are looking to test Dronelink before making a commitment.

Our long-term mission has always been to make Dronelink available to as many people as possible, and we are grateful that the incredible demand for the pro, team, and enterprise plans is allowing us to make our product available to you at no cost. We believe that using automation is the first step toward flying commercial missions, but if you just want to have fun with it (and maybe help us test new features along the way), enjoy!

For those of you who already paid for a Pro account and are not flying commercially, contact support and we will happily give you a refund.

A big Thank You for the little guys exploring the tools and not quite ready for commercial. That was a very generous move on your company and greatly appreciated! Hope to add a little value with comments for your development, and when I take the next step, your product with subscription will certainly be at the top of the tool box!! Thanks!

 

[dronelink]

Thank you all for your continued interest in Dronelink! We would like the community to know that we appreciate the time and effort you put in to learning our product and hope you find it valuable.

Having said that, transparency is one of our core values, and we think you should know that we will be limiting our community involvement on this forum (and others like it) for the next few months. As you may already know, Dronelink is a small startup with limited resources and we are currently directing all our efforts to supporting our enterprise clients that are making use of the Dronelink SDK.

The Dronelink SDK is an industry-first, flight automation toolkit that we are proud to announce has many open source components under the MIT license! Dedication to open source is another one of our core values, and we are hopeful that it will lead to many great collaborations to extend the functionality of the Dronelink flight controller (in particular porting the DJI adapters to support other hardware manufacturers). If you have a software development background and are interested in contributing, let our dev team know at [email protected]!

In the meantime if you need help or support, we recommending using the many available channels on our website such as the FAQs, tutorials, and the Dronelink forums. Email support is also available for those of you that have paid for Pro and Team plans.

 

[siteturbo]

Dronelink is a great service. However, I found limitations with their app when you use an Matrice 210 with an XT2 thermal imager attached. The features of the thermal imager are only available in the native DJI Pilot App. Therefore, running missions from Dronelink with an XT2 did not work for me.

 

[R.Perry]

I've been using Litchi for over two years now, I fly the same exact mission twice a week. One of the fears I have with new software is reliability. I haven't tried your software yet but considering it because I see features that aren't available with litchi. One feature I would love to have is the ability to change altitude during a mission and I do understand that is asking for a lot. I hope I didn't miss something, but do you have the ability to maintain a consistent AGL above terrain?

 

[parkgt]

I've been using Litchi for over two years now, I fly the same exact mission twice a week. One of the fears I have with new software is reliability. I haven't tried your software yet but considering it because I see features that aren't available with litchi. One feature I would love to have is the ability to change altitude during a mission and I do understand that is asking for a lot. I hope I didn't miss something, but do you have the ability to maintain a consistent AGL above terrain?

Yes.

They both have their pluses. Once one grasps the methodology of Dronelink the possibilities in complex autonomous flight seem almost limitless. They continues to expand on Dl's abilities almost weekly.

Best way to get started is to watch the video tutorials, then look at some of the member missions to understand what and how they are doing things.

 

[Dave Pitman]

Keep in mind that once upon a time Jim sold Autopilot and development ended. I'm not implying that DL will see the same fate. But it could. That said, if it's ability along with it's complexity makes it a good solution for folks then it likely doesn't matter.

I spent some time with Autopilot and for me, it just never provided as smooth of camera moves as Litchi. Also, it takes a fair amount of time to get competent with any application so it's hard to put in the time if the solution you currently use (Litchi in my case) won't get it done. When it won't get something done is when you start looking for alternatives.

What operation are you using DL for that Litchi falls short?

 

[parkgt]

Dave,

I have no specific operations that I use DL for over Litchi. For quick and easy things Litchi is still used.

There are several thins that are interesting in DL. Waypoints only define the path and have nothing to do with any other actions of the drone or camera.

Markers can be placed any where along the path that allow one to control just about all aspects of the drone or camera. Complex sequences of changes can be saved as Lists and reused on future plans. For instance one could start by filming, stop switch to camera to shoot a 360 pano and then continue on shooting intervals or back to film. The granular level of control is amazing and limited only by ones imagination.

As far as smoothness goes DL is able to make transitions in pitch and yaw as gracefully as the craft can. (Still can't beat a Solo) Acceleration and de-acceleration rates both vertically and horizontally are adjustable.

It is definitely worth a look for those that enjoy exploring the outer limits of what autonomous mission planning can do.

 

[Dave Pitman]

I have no specific operations that I use DL for over Litchi.

Okay. I was just curious.

Acceleration and de-acceleration rates both vertically and horizontally are adjustable.

That's interesting. Litchi doesn't do that.