Control M100 only without GPS

Question

I am trying to code a C++ program that will move the drone (DJI Matrice 100) from point A to Point B without using GPS coordinates because I'm testing it inside where GPS signal is non-existent.

I use a DJI Matrice 100 drone equipped with a Guidance and a Manifold.

I analysed the DJI_SDK_DEMO but it's all using GPS coordinates.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I managed to find an answer to my question.

The Matrice 100 doesn't want to fly if the GPS is not activated, so even with no GPS signal, it still needs to be connected. In such environments, the only way to control the drone is with the virtual RC. Documentation can be found here: https://developer.dji.com/onboard-sdk/documentation/Protocol-Documents/virtual-rc-protocol.html

And some example here: https://github.com/dji-sdk/Onboard-SDK-ROS/blob/3.2/dji_sdk_demo/src/client.cpp#L505

Answer 2

Based off the ROS version, I think you still need GPS some signal. If you look at the wiki for the dji SDK ros SDK here and find the dji_sdk/local_position this publishes local position based off a GPS signal. You can see how that's done in the GPSConvertENU function in the source code here. If you need odometry indoors, you might have to add additonal sensors (Visual Odometry) such as the guidance to publish more info for you. If you have the A3/N3, DJI has another topic TOPIC_POSITION_VO which you can read more about here

Hope this helps