Spark and autopilot

Dave woods · Oct 10, 2017

waypoints imported from google earth pro, shame it doesnt read the altitude data, but the spark did a great job in gusty conditions of up tp 20Mph, you can tell the limitations of the 2 axis gimble in these conditions, but alltogether pleased with the results.

MileHighSi · Oct 10, 2017

Thanks for sharing. I'm really interested in both Autopilot and Litchi for their pre-planned waypoint missions. Can you share a little more about how you're finding Autopilot so far? If altitude didn't get carried over from GEP, how was it set? How about a screengrab of your route plan? Any limitations you've found?
Sorry to come across as needy

I've spent a while looking for Spark-specific Autopilot/Litchi reviews and tutorials but there is very little.

Dave woods · Oct 11, 2017

MileHighSi said:
Thanks for sharing. I'm really interested in both Autopilot and Litchi for their pre-planned waypoint missions. Can you share a little more about how you're finding Autopilot so far? If altitude didn't get carried over from GEP, how was it set? How about a screengrab of your route plan? Any limitations you've found?
Sorry to come across as needy I've spent a while looking for Spark-specific Autopilot/Litchi reviews and tutorials but there is very little.

Hi and thanks
Firstly litchi does not as yet support waypoints for the spark so Autopilot is your only option, the altitude is set in the Autopilot app after Importing the file from GEP by tapping the waypoint marker and setting the altitude. WHILST recording video during the missions works great my attempts at setting a waypoint action for photos results in the spark hanging at the waypoint, I have sent a report to Hangar but have yet to receive a reply. I have had no connection errors but then I've only flown 3 missions so far, I'm having a lot of fun planning and executing these missions and to see the spark as a little dot flying autonomously is scary and exhilarating all at once. I'm on my Android phone right now so can't take a s reenshot of the app but will upload one later. I would recommend autopilot

sdharris · Oct 11, 2017

Nice views over Pensford, I flew my old Phantom 3 over there a summer back and got some great footage. I'm not a huge fan of waypoints, but use them occasionally by planning on my iPad, saving within Autopilot and loading later on my iPhone.

I'm a beta tester for the app and their release notes do mention fixing a problem in waypoints when a waypoint action is set to photo mode / interval. Not sure if that was the problem you encountered but if it is then it might be fixed in the next update.

Dave woods · Oct 11, 2017

sdharris said:
Nice views over Pensford, I flew my old Phantom 3 over there a summer back and got some great footage. I'm not a huge fan of waypoints, but use them occasionally by planning on my iPad, saving within Autopilot and loading later on my iPhone.

I'm a beta tester for the app and their release notes do mention fixing a problem in waypoints when a waypoint action is set to photo mode / interval. Not sure if that was the problem you encountered but if it is then it might be fixed in the next update.

Yes that sounds just like the problem I had good to hear it's on the fix list

Dave woods · Oct 12, 2017

these are the screenshots of the mission on GEP and in autopilot

one thing mentioned by another guy which I have found to be true is that you have to number the waypoints in reverse order as when imported to autopilot the mission runs backwards

SpeedCore · Oct 13, 2017

Dave woods said:
these are the screenshots of the mission on GEP and in autopilot

Haha, was the heart shape intended?

Dave woods · Oct 13, 2017

SpeedCore said:
Haha, was the heart shape intended?

Lol of course

SpeedCore · Oct 13, 2017

I'm going to try my first autopilot mission tomorrow and I was wondering if I engage with an orbit flight plan, how long would the Spark orbit around until it disengages?
Does it orbit until the battery gets low or can I set a number of cycles to orbit around the subject?

MileHighSi · Oct 13, 2017

Thanks for going to the trouble uploading these! Looks a nicer interface to plan a route than the Litchi mission plan (or whatever they call it). Am I right in saying that the app is continuously 'driving' the Spark? i.e. will a dropped connection, even for a second, stop the Spark in its tracks? Other drones seem to have the ability to have a waypoint mission uploaded to them and ran entirely from the drone, rather than from the ground.

Dave woods · Oct 13, 2017

MileHighSi said:
Thanks for going to the trouble uploading these! Looks a nicer interface to plan a route than the Litchi mission plan (or whatever they call it). Am I right in saying that the app is continuously 'driving' the Spark? i.e. will a dropped connection, even for a second, stop the Spark in its tracks? Other drones seem to have the ability to have a waypoint mission uploaded to them and ran entirely from the drone, rather than from the ground.

Yes you are correct the Spark cannot undergo LCMC (lost connection mission continuation) as waypoints are not currently supported in the spark firmware DJII have said that they are working on a firmware update to incorporate waypoints in a future SDK release, how far in the future is unclear, so until that time the only app to support waypoints by using a custom flight controller on your mobile device is autopilot, if the craft becomes disconnected briefly it will 're connect and continue the mission if the disconnect is more lengthy the craft will initiate a RTH under the control of the DJII flight controller.

Dave woods · Oct 13, 2017

SpeedCore said:
I'm going to try my first autopilot mission tomorrow and I was wondering if I engage with an orbit flight plan, how long would the Spark orbit around until it disengages?
Does it orbit until the battery gets low or can I set a number of cycles to orbit around the subject?

TBH I haven't tried any of the follow or orbit modes yet so I can only assume that it will continue to orbit until you stop it, there doesn't seem to be any setting for number of orbits just the radius altitude and offset so let us know how it goes

sdharris · Oct 13, 2017

SpeedCore said:
I'm going to try my first autopilot mission tomorrow and I was wondering if I engage with an orbit flight plan, how long would the Spark orbit around until it disengages?
Does it orbit until the battery gets low or can I set a number of cycles to orbit around the subject?

It'll keep on orbiting until you disengage the flight mode.

Barneylodge · Oct 21, 2017

Dave woods said:
Yes you are correct the Spark cannot undergo LCMC (lost connection mission continuation) as waypoints are not currently supported in the spark firmware DJII have said that they are working on a firmware update to incorporate waypoints in a future SDK release, how far in the future is unclear, so until that time the only app to support waypoints by using a custom flight controller on your mobile device is autopilot, if the craft becomes disconnected briefly it will 're connect and continue the mission if the disconnect is more lengthy the craft will initiate a RTH under the control of the DJII flight controller.

Thanks for this. Does this mean the RTH has to be set using DJI Go before you start the mission?

Dave woods · Oct 21, 2017

Barneylodge said:
Thanks for this. Does this mean the RTH has to be set using DJI Go before you start the mission?

I don't use DJI go 4 as autopilot does all the required home point settings but some like to set up with go4 before shutting it down and starting autopilot a sort of comfort zone I suppose

Barneylodge · Oct 31, 2017

Dave woods said:
waypoints imported from google earth pro, shame it doesnt read the altitude data, but the spark did a great job in gusty conditions of up tp 20Mph, you can tell the limitations of the 2 axis gimble in these conditions, but alltogether pleased with the results.

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Hi Dave,
What range are you achieving with your Spark?

Dave woods · Oct 31, 2017

Barneylodge said:
Hi Dave,
What range are you achieving with your Spark?

I have only tried missions covering around 500m from the home point

Jack B.Fish · Nov 25, 2017

Do you know if it is possible to cache video with autopilot, as we do with dji go 4 app.
It is important to check what you've just recorded without go home and take out the micro sd