Autopilot from AutoFlightLogic/Hangar

Tim Pearson · Jan 28, 2017

Hi all,

I snooped around a little in the forum and didn't find much recent activity about Autopilot. It used to be from a company called AutoFlightLogic - but they got bought out by Hangar. So now it's a Hangar product. Hangar seems focused on commercial customers from what I can see on their web site. That worries me a little with respect to Autopilot's future development. I have no real basis for that so far, I'll admit.

I'm a happy Autopilot user. (I actually own both Litchi (2 copies - Android and IOS) and Autopilot.) The learning curve is a little steeper for Autopilot, but once you "get it", boy is it powerful!

Anyway, I got an e-mail from Hangar a while back (Jan 13th to be exact) about an upcoming beta of a product they called "Hangar 360". I replied to the e-mail right away saying "yes" I'd be interested in participating in a beta. Crickets since then.

The two glaring deficiencies I see in Autopilot are:

1) No Android support - and

2) No "Litchi Hub"-like mission design from your nice, big-screen computer. All mission design work on Autopilot has to be done on the IOS device. I love the big computer screen and the mouse support for pointing and clicking (instead of fat-fingers screen touching) that Litchi Hub lets me use to plan missions!

Anyone know anything about "Hangar 360" or the future of Autopilot? I'd love to know that this product has a bright future and that enhancements (maybe to address 1) and 2) above??? Hint hint.) are in the works!

Thanks...

Tim

Tenly · Jan 29, 2017

Tim Pearson said:
Hi all,

I snooped around a little in the forum and didn't find much recent activity about Autopilot. It used to be from a company called AutoFlightLogic - but they got bought out by Hangar. So now it's a Hangar product. Hangar seems focused on commercial customers from what I can see on their web site. That worries me a little with respect to Autopilot's future development. I have no real basis for that so far, I'll admit.

I'm a happy Autopilot user. (I actually own both Litchi (2 copies - Android and IOS) and Autopilot.) The learning curve is a little steeper for Autopilot, but once you "get it", boy is it powerful!

Anyway, I got an e-mail from Hangar a while back (Jan 13th to be exact) about an upcoming beta of a product they called "Hangar 360". I replied to the e-mail right away saying "yes" I'd be interested in participating in a beta. Crickets since then.

The two glaring deficiencies I see in Autopilot are:

1) No Android support - and

2) No "Litchi Hub"-like mission design from your nice, big-screen computer. All mission design work on Autopilot has to be done on the IOS device. I love the big computer screen and the mouse support for pointing and clicking (instead of fat-fingers screen touching) that Litchi Hub lets me use to plan missions!

Anyone know anything about "Hangar 360" or the future of Autopilot? I'd love to know that this product has a bright future and that enhancements (maybe to address 1) and 2) above??? Hint hint.) are in the works!

Thanks...

Tim

I thought that Autopilot released an Android version 6-8 months ago?

I have no information to address any of your questions - but I also received the Hangar360 beta invite and replied immediately. I'm also in the Autopilot beta program and there have been notifications about 2 Autopilot beta updates in the past month - so it appears that, at least for now, Autopilot development is continuing.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Tim Pearson · Jan 29, 2017

Tenly said:
I thought that Autopilot released an Android version 6-8 months ago?

I have no information to address any of your questions - but I also received the Hangar360 beta invite and replied immediately. I'm also in the Autopilot beta program and there have been notifications about 2 Autopilot beta updates in the past month - so it appears that, at least for now, Autopilot development is continuing.

Thanks for the update, Tenly. I looked again just now and can find no Autopilot version for Android. I used search terms "Autopilot DJI" which brings up Litchi, DJI Go, and some less relevant stuff. Searching for "Autopilot" alone yields tons of "noise" about unrelated (to drones) applications.

All that aside... It's very good news to hear that the IOS version is still under active development. Great! Hope that continues well into the future. It's a great product with an amazing array of features.

I really appreciate the separation of waypoints, focus triggers, and camera triggers into individually placeable/selectable/configurable items along the flight path. It makes missions that include even complex "reveals" look amazingly smooth and professional - just as if I knew how to fly that expertly.

Thanks again for the update!

Tim

gmann21133 · Feb 9, 2017

Hey Tim, I am an Autopilot fan. I am unable to do a lot right now, because I lost my computer by trying to process 4K video. The Autopilot app is still under development, and the beta program for 360° panos has been awesome. I was worried when they sold to Hangar, but they seem to be a very friendly company. I hope it is ok for me to post this, here is a link to a pano they allowed me to post to Facebook; Hangar 360 Photo
Admin please remove if I am in any kind of violation for posting the link.

GMack · Feb 9, 2017

Fwiw, I just got a new iOS update for Autopilot today (Feb. 9, 2017).

Alec200 · Mar 24, 2017

gmann21133 said:
Hey Tim, I am an Autopilot fan. I am unable to do a lot right now, because I lost my computer by trying to process 4K video. The Autopilot app is still under development, and the beta program for 360° panos has been awesome. I was worried when they sold to Hangar, but they seem to be a very friendly company. I hope it is ok for me to post this, here is a link to a pano they allowed me to post to Facebook; Hangar 360 Photo
Admin please remove if I am in any kind of violation for posting the link.

Love the 360 photo. How is that created and hosted?

gmann21133 · Mar 26, 2017

Alec200 said:
Love the 360 photo. How is that created and hosted?

The pano is auto taken, once you pick a location. The app is now free in the App Store, not sure about Android. Hangar is the name of the app.

Alec200 · Apr 8, 2017

Thanks. I will take a look.

Tim Pearson · Apr 14, 2017

For the Autopilot fans among us... This latest firmware update from DJI fixes Litchi (which most of us knew) but according to Hangar's Autopilot site, it also fixes issues preventing us from using that app as well. Great news!

Matthias Frommann · May 10, 2017

it's still drifting in cruise mode.

idahopilot · May 18, 2017

DO NOT waste your money on this [Language Removed] software!!!!!!!!!

82dronebug34 · Jul 12, 2017

Hello,
I've downloaded the Hangar software (didn't use it for now) but when opening the main page, at the bottom left hand corner it says "enjoy Hangar 360? Checkout autopilot"
when I open that link it's a paid software at $39.99 , what I want to know, is that autopilot is worth it? and is it any better than the DJI go 4 if I decide to install same would I be better off remove the DJI software? Your help would be very much appreciated. I work with a DJI Inspire 2.

GMack · Jul 12, 2017

82dronebug34 said:
Hello,
I've downloaded the Hangar software (didn't use it for now) but when opening the main page, at the bottom left hand corner it says "enjoy Hangar 360? Checkout autopilot"
when I open that link it's a paid software at $39.99 , what I want to know, is that autopilot is worth it? and is it any better than the DJI go 4 if I decide to install same would I be better off remove the DJI software? Your help would be very much appreciated. I work with a DJI Inspire 2.

Is it worth it is your decision, if you can afford it or not, and have a need for it too. Tantamount to asking "Is my brand of car worth it?"

It does more than DJI GO and why it's used by aerial cinematogrsphers. Learning curve can be very tough though. Only works on iOS too, and preferably on a larger screen iPad so you can plan out your flight. I'd recommend the iPad Pro model for that too as it eats horsepower and the faster A10X chip is a help.

Alec200 · Jul 12, 2017

I have used Autopilot with an Inspire a couple of years ago and I regularly use it with a Phantom 4/pro. It's a very comprehensive flight controller that is all together separate from Go 4. It has a steep learning curve, but the results can be amazing if you take the time to learn it. It's not perfect, the odd glitch here and there - to be expected really given how complex it is. Autopilot has even more potential with the Inspire as it can yaw the camera independently of your manual flight input if you wish.
I would definitely not delete Go 4 - that's still my go to app for general flying. The two apps cannot operate together. Ensure that only one is running at one time.
The biggest issue for me is when DJI update their firmware, Autopilot will often not work until an update is rolled out which can take many weeks. This is the case with many 3rd party apps though and can be avoided by not updating firmware until Autopilot has been updated to work with it.
Personally, I feel it's been money well spent.

82dronebug34 · Jul 12, 2017

Thanks for your inputs, I'm using the iPad pro. It's not the price that tickles me, when I asked if it's worth it I wanted to be sure if it was a good investment for such software. I also have the DJI Spark, but unfortunately the Hangar/autopilot, won't work on it, i'll stick with my Inspire 2.

82dronebug34 · Jul 12, 2017

Hello again.
I just tried to use Hangar on my iPad pro, and when I connect to the craft, I get a warning "aircraft not supported Inspire2" isn't that strange? I did not buy the Autopilot, for I'm afraid it won't work in regards of that warning I got from their Hangar software. As anyone of you ever work that Hangar with an Inspire2?

silvertonephoto · Jul 27, 2017

I couldn't use Autopilot on my p4adv and believe the I2 wasn't yet supported either. I am now on as a tester for the beta app at the moment and have had no issues. Very pleased with it in fact. Even my queries to Hangar re the app have been cheerfully responded to.

DronePro · Feb 7, 2018

GMack said:
Fwiw, I just got a new iOS update for Autopilot today (Feb. 9, 2017).

Hi, don't know if us the right way to do this but I'm new to forums. I have autopilot on my iPad mini but I just got new iPad pro and I can't find the program anywhere. The iTunes store says it isn't available in the store in this country. Where did you get your copy?

GMack · Feb 7, 2018

DronePro said:
Hi, don't know if us the right way to do this but I'm new to forums. I have autopilot on my iPad mini but I just got new iPad pro and I can't find the program anywhere. The iTunes store says it isn't available in the store in this country. Where did you get your copy?

I got mine off the Apple Store website (USA based.). I ported it to my other iPad using the older version of iTunes (Version 12.6.2.20) as it worked with apps, but the newest one they took off that app ability for some reason so I keep using the old iTunes. The older iTunes version moved all my stuff onto the new iPad Pro which made it easy.

Also, I am a beta tester for Autopilot but I haven't downloaded their recent version. You need to download an app called "Test Flight" from Apple Store and then Autopilot's maker (Hangar) will send you the codes to download their beta into your iPad. I see the beta is still showing 4.5 on mine, and I already have the final version 4.5 installed so no need for me to request another beta yet until I get the I2 up in the air again.

I'm also holding off installing the new iOS 11.2.25 in both iPads due to issues DJI warns against. Apple seems to be pushing harder for me to install it as it downloaded in the background and telling me it's ready to update, but I keep refusing to do so until DJI and Apple get their act together.

ravedog · Feb 8, 2018

The latest iOS has a bunch of security fixes. I’m on it and I flew fine on my 20 day roadtrip. Mostly. (The gimbal flipping when pointing straight down drove me nuts)

About the security content of iOS 11.2.5