Autonomous Waypoint Navigation and Camera Control with the FreeSkies Copilot

[halfpipe]

In all fairness, it is a startup and prolly don't have a PR dept to edit and check / polish everything they say and this is after all a forum for discussion. So give em a break and just maybe they will produce some magic

 

[GadgetGuy]

In all fairness, it is a startup and prolly don't have a PR dept to edit and check / polish everything they say and this is after all a forum for discussion. So give em a break and just maybe they will produce some magic

Agreed. I am intrigued, but the 60 yard elevation limitation in the Apple 3D Maps makes it difficult, if not impossible, to get the key frames you want and need, and preview the flight properly, and that apparently now won't ever be fixed in the Basic version, even though they originally implied that it would be, and said we should buy it now, before the price goes up after that is fixed by using different maps.

 

[halfpipe]

I can't imagine myself flying in the heart of a city as they seem to illustrate and 3d out in the boonies seems unlikely

 

[GadgetGuy]

I can't imagine myself flying in the heart of a city as they seem to illustrate and 3d out in the boonies seems unlikely

The inability to frame any shot at less than 60 meters above ground, even where 3D Apple maps exist, is a major limitation for anyone seriously wanting to set up autonomous flight in urban areas for real estate and construction and inspections. Also, not sure why iOS 9 is required, as the Apple 3D Maps were available long before iOS 9.

 

[MPD352]

I downloaded the basic app as soon as it came up on the App Store. So far I'm impressed, although the app still has a way to go. The folks at FreeSkies were super responsive to questions and issues.

Over all impression/comments:

The app requires the latest DEVELOPER firmware, which means you have to sign up as a developer to gain access to V1.5.0011. That will change as the app matures and DJI releases the firmware packages. My bird flies with no issues on that firmware in both DJI GO and Copilot.

The app is designed to fly with Apple's 3D maps, which are limited in the areas they cover. Freeskies is aware of this and tell me they have a solution, but it will require some time as a lot of rewriting has to be done. For now the app works well even in 2D areas.

The app DOES allow you to plot waypoints on a map and the app will fly the bird to those waypoints perfectly. In a perfect world you would use the 3D maps to set altitude, camera pitch angle, heading, etc. when creating keyframes.

Right now when doing a 2D mission all you can do is set waypoint location and altitude. You then fly the app in C Mode with lets you control camera pitch and yaw. I'm sure letting us set camera pitch and bird heading when creating 2D missions is coming.

It's a new app, but pretty impressive for a brand new basic flight control package.

I think it is well worth the $40.00 bucks as I finally have a way to design a mission on the ground, launch the mission and let the bird fly itself while all I do is control the camera, which is what I assumed I would get from DJI in the first place.

In short:
The App is almost there.
The price is more than reasonable.
The developers are super nice and very responsive.

I recommend it.

 

[sdharris]

Interested to know why the beta firmware is needed as other apps such as Litchi on Android and Autoflight Logic on iOS function with the production firmware, any ideas?

 

[MPD352]

Don't know. Hopefully the folks at FreeSkies are watch and can answer that.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Interested to know why the beta firmware is needed as other apps such as Litchi on Android and Autoflight Logic on iOS function with the production firmware, any ideas?

I am very interested in the answer to this, as well...

 

[ViperNuke]

I downloaded the basic app as soon as it came up on the App Store. So far I'm impressed, although the app still has a way to go. The folks at FreeSkies were super responsive to questions and issues.

Over all impression/comments:

The app requires the latest DEVELOPER firmware, which means you have to sign up as a developer to gain access to V1.5.0011. That will change as the app matures and DJI releases the firmware packages. My bird flies with no issues on that firmware in both DJI GO and Copilot.

The app is designed to fly with Apple's 3D maps, which are limited in the areas they cover. Freeskies is aware of this and tell me they have a solution, but it will require some time as a lot of rewriting has to be done. For now the app works well even in 2D areas.

The app DOES allow you to plot waypoints on a map and the app will fly the bird to those waypoints perfectly. In a perfect world you would use the 3D maps to set altitude, camera pitch angle, heading, etc. when creating keyframes.

Right now when doing a 2D mission all you can do is set waypoint location and altitude. You then fly the app in C Mode with lets you control camera pitch and yaw. I'm sure letting us set camera pitch and bird heading when creating 2D missions is coming.

It's a new app, but pretty impressive for a brand new basic flight control package.

I think it is well worth the $40.00 bucks as I finally have a way to design a mission on the ground, launch the mission and let the bird fly itself while all I do is control the camera, which is what I assumed I would get from DJI in the first place.

In short:
The App is almost there.
The price is more than reasonable.
The developers are super nice and very responsive.

I recommend it.

And yet you can do that and more with better control on a free app.. But good to see some people are enjoying this failure of an app... I beta tested the app and can tell you the app is worth at best .99 Cents.

 

[MPD352]

What free app is that? I haven't found one. I looked at Autopilot, and found it clunky and hard to use.

I like the app and hardly consider it a failure. You seem a little judgmental? Shorts too tight?

 

[Hangar]

Interested to know why ... Autoflight Logic on iOS function with the production firmware, any ideas?

We can't speak for the others, but Autopilot uses a custom flight controller (see key features) that is not usually affected by many of the breaking/non-backward-compatible changes that DJI continues to make to their SDK.

Autopilot, and found it clunky and hard to use.

We are always open to suggestions and improvement. If you have a few ideas or feature requests, please email to [email protected]. We are also continuously updating our video tutorials and Flight School, so make sure to check back often.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I downloaded the basic app as soon as it came up on the App Store. So far I'm impressed, although the app still has a way to go. The folks at FreeSkies were super responsive to questions and issues.

Over all impression/comments:

The app requires the latest DEVELOPER firmware, which means you have to sign up as a developer to gain access to V1.5.0011. That will change as the app matures and DJI releases the firmware packages. My bird flies with no issues on that firmware in both DJI GO and Copilot.

The app is designed to fly with Apple's 3D maps, which are limited in the areas they cover. Freeskies is aware of this and tell me they have a solution, but it will require some time as a lot of rewriting has to be done. For now the app works well even in 2D areas.

The app DOES allow you to plot waypoints on a map and the app will fly the bird to those waypoints perfectly. In a perfect world you would use the 3D maps to set altitude, camera pitch angle, heading, etc. when creating keyframes.

Right now when doing a 2D mission all you can do is set waypoint location and altitude. You then fly the app in C Mode with lets you control camera pitch and yaw. I'm sure letting us set camera pitch and bird heading when creating 2D missions is coming.

It's a new app, but pretty impressive for a brand new basic flight control package.

I think it is well worth the $40.00 bucks as I finally have a way to design a mission on the ground, launch the mission and let the bird fly itself while all I do is control the camera, which is what I assumed I would get from DJI in the first place.

In short:
The App is almost there.
The price is more than reasonable.
The developers are super nice and very responsive.

I recommend it.

Perhaps you missed the part where they wrote that the Basic $50 version will always use Apple 3D Maps, and only their Enterprise version (completely different app with a much more expensive price) will use a different set of maps!

 

[GadgetGuy]

What free app is that? I haven't found one. I looked at Autopilot, and found it clunky and hard to use.

I like the app and hardly consider it a failure. You seem a little judgmental? Shorts too tight?

I believe the free app referenced is DJI GO.

 

[IOIIOOO]

I'm confused why Autopilot (which is a completely different app) keeps coming up in this thread about Copilot.

 

[iSkyShots]

How do you override the app and get the aircraft home if there is any problem?

 

[Tony Perry]

I'm confused why Autopilot (which is a completely different app) keeps coming up in this thread about Copilot.

I think its fair to make a comparison against one of the more fully featured 3rd party apps out there. I honestly wish the Copilot team much success, but from what I've seen it totally misses the mark for all but one (super defensive, I might add) person in here.

 

[ViperNuke]

I think its fair to make a comparison against one of the more fully featured 3rd party apps out there. I honestly wish the Copilot team much success, but from what I've seen it totally misses the mark for all but one (super defensive, I might add) person in here.

Exactly my thoughts.. Most likely someone that knows the app developers or sponsored by them. BTW have you tried an app called Airnest?? It's currently under beta..

 

[Tony Perry]

I am currently in the beta test for Airnest. It is deceptively simple but so far seems to work really well. Point mode is pretty awesome. You park the P3 somewhere in the air, then when you move your iPad around it moves the gimbal and yaws the craft to mimic those movements. It's like having a portable window. Path mode also works really well.

 

[ViperNuke]

I am currently in the beta test for Airnest. It is deceptively simple but so far seems to work really well. Point mode is pretty awesome. You park the P3 somewhere in the air, then when you move your iPad around it moves the gimbal and yaws the craft to mimic those movements. It's like having a portable window. Path mode also works really well.

Im testing it as well.. It really is a great app.

 

[Racer38]

Just picked up a new P3A. Haven't had any drones in a year or so and really like how things have progressed. Just dropped the cash on this program. Will be giving it a try over the weekend ..