Manual Control

The Manual Control feature allows an operator to directly pilot the aircraft using a supported control device. It also provides access to camera controls, live video feeds, and camera operation tools during flight.

Enabling Manual Control

To begin manual flight:

1. Select Manual Mode.

   

2. Click Manual Control.

   

3. Enable Manual Mode.

   

4. Select the preferred Controller Type.

   

5. Click the Settings (gear) icon to view the controller key mappings or button assignments for the selected controller.

   Available controller types include Gamepad, Joystick, DJI FPV, and Keyboard.

   Gamepad:

   

   Joystick:

   

   DJI FPV Controller:

   

   Keyboard:

   

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Manual Flight with Virtual Stick

Manual Control uses Virtual Stick to fly the aircraft from your computer using a keyboard or a physical game controller, without needing a physical DJI remote. It is useful for inspections, repositioning, and test flights.

When enabled, the dashboard sends continuous velocity commands to the aircraft over MQTT using the DJI MSDK virtual stick API. The drone responds as if being flown by a real remote controller, subject to the speed and altitude limits set on the device.

warning

Virtual Stick requires a stable, low-latency connection. Do not use it in high-latency network conditions. Ensure a failsafe action is configured before enabling it so the drone can recover if the connection drops mid-flight.

Supported input devices

Controller	How it connects
Keyboard	No hardware needed — uses your computer keyboard
Gamepad (Xbox)	Xbox One or Series X/S via USB or Bluetooth
Joystick (ThrustMaster)	ThrustMaster T.16000M joystick via USB
DJI FPV	DJI FPV Remote Controller via USB

Physical controllers are auto-detected when plugged in. The dashboard reads the gamepad ID from the browser and selects the correct input mapping automatically. If a connected gamepad is not recognised, select the controller type manually from the dropdown.

Gamepad auto-detection requires a browser that supports the Gamepad API (Chrome and Edge are recommended).

Enabling and disabling

1. Ensure the drone is airborne and connected.
2. Open the Virtual Stick / Controller panel from the sidebar or control bar.
3. Select your input device from the controller dropdown if it was not auto-detected.
4. Toggle Manual Mode on. The drone is now under your manual control.

To disable, toggle Manual Mode off. The drone transitions back to hover mode. If you triggered it from an E-Stop action (Take Manual Control), disabling it returns command authority to the dashboard.

note

Keyboard control is disabled automatically while an active waypoint mission is running — the mission takes priority.

Keyboard controls

When Keyboard is selected, the following keys are active whenever Manual Control is enabled:

Flight:

Key	Action
W	Fly forward (pitch forward)
S	Fly backward (pitch backward)
A	Fly left (roll left)
D	Fly right (roll right)
Q	Rotate left (yaw counter-clockwise)
E	Rotate right (yaw clockwise)
Shift	Increase altitude (throttle up)
Space	Decrease altitude (throttle down)

Gimbal:

Key	Action
Arrow Up	Tilt gimbal up
Arrow Down	Tilt gimbal down
Arrow Left	Pan gimbal left
Arrow Right	Pan gimbal right

Hold K for at least 0.5 seconds to return to dock, or L to land at the current position. Releasing the key early cancels the command.

DJI FPV controller quick reference

The DJI FPV controller supports dual-mode operation — switch between flight and gimbal control on the fly with B7.

Button	Function
B1	Capture — take photo or start/stop recording
B2	Short press: reset gimbal / Hold 6s: Return to Home (cannot be cancelled)
B3	Toggle photo / video mode
B4 + B5	Lens select — none/WIDE, B4/ZOOM, B5/IR
B7	Mode toggle — released: Flight, pressed: Gimbal

In Flight mode Axis 2 = throttle and Axis 3 = yaw. In Gimbal mode Axis 2 = gimbal pitch and Axis 3 = gimbal yaw, with throttle and yaw automatically zeroed to prevent unintended movement.

warning

Roll and pitch remain active in Gimbal mode. Keep hands off Roll/Pitch while adjusting the camera, and always confirm the active mode before touching the sticks.

The controller definition screen displays all available flight controls and their corresponding keyboard keys or controller buttons.