DJI workflow error message "Forward Flight Required"

Hi, Zane. Is this new? I am experiencing the same issue. I take 20 images of a University (I know that's the minimum). I have completed this mission, and used MME to process, on 16 different occasions with no issue. I used DroneDeploy for 8 of those, and DroneLink for the other 8 missions. I have never received this message before. Why is this happening all of a sudden?

This error does not occur when I use the trial version of Map Pilot Pro.  The error does occur when I use the Grid Mission Designer (https://ancient.land/) to export a mission to Litchi.  Otherwise, it's the same drone, same location, etc.

Glad to see there is a post from a few hours ago with others having the same problem. I've used Maps Made Easy for quite some time now, and never saw this error message. Is there a way around this? Wouldn't it be fair to make this a warning, and I can accept the warning at my own risk? The results in the past for images taken without Map Pilot Pro were just fine, and the Mini 3 support for Map Pilot Pro is not always convenient (because I need to use the RC-N1).

Also, for the Mavic 3E, even in survey mode (where the drone does travel at constant speed), I get this error message. Happy to provide some sample data if needed.

Thanks!

We added this change because WAAAY too many people were disregarding the statement in the Data Collection guidelines about only taking images while you are moving forward (no sideways, no backwards). If you take images through the ends of the passes it is going to collect lots of images taken while turning. A few of those are OK but if 60% or more of the images are not taken while flying straight you are going to get this message in the DJI workflow.

With small missions it won’t take many images to throw off that number.

Even though you should be maintaining the same speed while imaging, the flight speed is not taken into account.

Using Map Pilot Pro will make it so this doesn’t happen. Other apps do an OK job too but some do a terrible job.

The warning is in the Data Collection guidelines. The DJI workflow just enforces it. You can still upload these images to the Classic workflow even though you shouldn’t.

Hi Zane, thanks for your reply. I do understand the problem with rolling shutter and moving sideways in the meantime, etc.

At the same time, looking at a dataset from the Mavic 3E, where I used DJI's Pilot 2 app on the remote to fly in a lawnmower pattern, I still get this error. Is there any way for me to find out, which of the images is being tagged as critical? Then I can sort it out manually.

Using the classic workflow isn't really the same, the subscription bonus / free maps are not applicable there, etc. For other errors (I had it a few weeks ago but I don't remember specifically), there is also just a message in the sense of "Your data is poor, are you sure you want to continue? If the outputs are not as desired, we can't refund any points. Processing on your own risk."

If this filter stays in the DJI Workflow, I will have to cancel my subscription. Which is an absolute shame, since I've used Maps Made Easy for a year now and recommended it to everyone else who asked me how I created these pretty maps. 

Thanks for commenting so quickly. Appreciate it! Even though I'm not happy with this, customer support will stay a plus :).

Thanks for the response, Zane. A few considerations:

1. If this is due to server load/space, I understand. But wouldn't you consider (a) charging folks for the extra images taken, rather than not processing (which I would prefer), or (b) considering this for larger sites only? My site was 20 images and only 4 were "wasted"  from what I could tell on the map. Now I have to travel 2.5 hours round-trip to reshoot this.

2. Being perfectly honest, telling us to use your app to rectify this is bogus. A lot of us have workflows we've tweaked and improved over the years. We use Dronelink for all four deliverables we give our clients. Having to land an M3E and kill Dronelink, then start your app...not a great solution. We have no control over how 3rd-party apps capture data.

3. I would gladly pay a few more points so that I don't have to worry about a shoot processing, or having to do a calculation of each of the 25 construction sites we shoot to make sure I'm over 60% for moving images.

4. Shot in the dark here, but it doesn't seem like a server load issue, as my jobs ALWAYS start processing within 10 min. If I have to wait, no worries, as we have a 24-48 SLA for our clients.

We use MME because it is a phenomenal service that is timely and VERY affordable. The bloated prices DroneDeploy charges now are outrageous. 

I don't want to move to a different processor, but if I have to constantly worry about my dataset (while keeping my preferred workflow), I'll have a tough choice to make, I guess.

Thanks for listening.

We will look into making it so you can identify which images are problematic and give a breakdown of what the current percentage is. We don't think requiring only 60% of the images being taken while moving forward is unfair since that is part of the Data Collection guidelines you need to be following anyway to use the system. 

The DJI Workflow is cheaper to use and is part of the subscriptions because it allows us to know some things about the images before they are uploaded. It keeps problematic data out of the system so we can offer the lower pricing on the processing. 

Another thing we are really trying to keep out of our system is the oblique "victory lap" that goes along the outside of the survey area pointing inward. 

Again, you don't HAVE to use Map Pilot Pro but you do HAVE to follow the Data Collection guidelines to be able to use the DJI workflow. Over half of our users don't use Map Pilot Pro for their data collection and don't seem to have any problems submitting data that is compliant. Any decent 3rd party app should be able to offer the settings you need to do so. We generally don't recommend using apps that are made by companies that don't process data since they don't really have much of an idea of what works and what doesn't. 

It is great to take too much data. That is the cheap/easy part. Hopefully it is good data though. We will try to make it easier to pare you data down to something that is usable. 

If it was only 20 images it could easily be processed for Free using the DJI workflow anyway... 50 images (20 megapixel) get processed for free in either workflow. 

Marc: It looks like your most recent map didn't have any issues. What are you doing different there? How are you collecting the data that it is non-compliant?

Here are some examples of what we are trying to keep out of the system:

Hi, Zane. The previous map I did looks fine because it processed. My most recent one, of 20 images, is not processing due to the 60% rule. If you can still see them, it's the Rowan University map that is stopping after I attempt to upload. I've done this many times before MME turned the filter on. Unfortunately, I can't process with the Classic workflow because Dronelink doesn't take a ground image before taking off.

This is the last time I'm shooting Rowan. Is there any way that you can force this one to get processed? Would save me 2.5 hours...

I can look at my other maps in DJI Pilot 2 and Dronelink to see if I might hit that 60% threshold and just make the map larger.

The Classic workflow does not require a Ground Reference image. The Flat Map workflow does, but the Classic does not. It will process your 20 image dataset without a problem. 

Apologies, Zane, I misspoke. It wasn't a ground reference image. The workflow closes out because I'm not using the DJI Workflow.

I upload my 20 images.

I point to one of the single images to give the browser access.

Then I get this message: "Images from this camera should be uploaded through the DJI Specific workflow if possible."

Then this message: "Data from DJI's M3E should be uploading using the DJI Specific Workflow so the tags can be checked."

Then the workflow closes and restarts from the beginning. So, unfortunately, I can't use the Classic method to process these images.

Just try using the regular DJI workflow again. We made some changes that should let more images through. You can see red dots on the images that it things are not taken while moving forward. 

The Classic workflow does not allow images from the M3E because we had too many cases of people using some new setting that took images looking forward, nadir and backwards while traveling forward. 

Zane/Tudor,

Thanks so much for your help on this. I was able to successfully process my map. You've saved me 2.5 hours of wasted time not having to travel and shoot it again.

I'm going into my smaller maps and expanding the footprint so that I'll take more images, since I can't change how Dronelink captures images.

Thanks again!