Litchi guide

Thanks very much - interesting reading. I did wonder why there were no updates since Nov 19 - and it doesn’t help that I can’t seem to be able to contact Litchi direct to ask the questions.

I seem to recall they had a facebook group where they used to respond reasonably well. Not used it in a long time, so that may have changed.

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I subscribed to their Facebook page but so far Litchi haven’t responded. One or two members have replied but nobody seems to be “in the know” as to what is happening. It does seem odd though that Litchi haven’t added the Mini to their list of compatible drones as that model has been out for a while.

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It is impossible for Litchi to do this until the SDK is released. It would only be “odd” if DJI had released the SDK for the Mini months ago, and Litchi had still not announced support for it.

In the meantime, the Litchi Mission Hub is free to use, and if your area has good local 3D mapping you can preview your flight via GoogleEarth. You can see here a comparison of the GoogleEarth preview and the real thing (Yet another Virtual Litchi Mission (Chrome/Firefox Extension) | DJI Mavic, Air & Mini Drone Community). There is a later post that provides more examples: #122.

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Hi Thanks for that. I’m still learning and hadn’t heard of the Mavic Pilots forum so I’ve now joined. The 3D mapping preview is excellent. Sadly the Google Earth mapping in my area is really poor so I can’t simulate anything worthwhile. I will have to try using another area to practice with.

I accept that without the SDK it would be impossible (almost) for Litchi to develop the links to the Mini however the Mini was released in Nov 19 so we are now almost 8 months down the line. Generally in software development the developer releases code (usually in Beta form) early to potential add on product developers so they get a head start and are able to release their product updates fairly soon after the launch. We did this all the time with Microsoft. Maybe the Covid 19 pandemic has caused delays. Maybe this has already happened and Litchi are ahead of the game (at least for the Mini) or maybe DJI see Litchi as a potential threat given that the Litchi Waypoint software is sort of in competition with their own Waypoint v2 update. Who knows only time will tell

I’ve had a very quick scan through these posts and haven’t seen any mention yet of Litchi Virtual Mission.

This is an extension for Chrome (and I believe Firefox) that allows you to take a mission planned in Litchi Mission Hub and run it on Google Earth in 3D.

It’s a great way to plan and amend missions before flying, checking camera angles, heights and speeds. Or a way to fly in forbidden airspace such as Heathrow or Windsor Castle :slight_smile:

[Blue Peter voice] Here’s one I made earlier:

You could use the search … either for “Virtual Litchi Mission” or “VLM” … loads of posts!

Virtual Litchi Mission

VML

VLM was originally a Windows program (The original VLM) and there there os also the much later Chrome extension.

Indeed I could but it was a mention in THIS thread that I didn’t see. Confirmed with a Ctrl-F search. Hence my twopennorth.

I shall go back to drawing a mission around my local sailing club in the shape of a penis …

Mentioned in that post.

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The Windows version seems to have either disappeared or development has stalled. The browser extension is far easier to install and allows usage in both Windows and Linux (from personal experience) and probably Mac and anything else running a chrome browser

Still where it’s always been. Recently updated to version 2.5.0

Update notes for 2.5.0

Both simulators (VLM for Windows, and Yet-Another VLM (for Chrome (MacOS) and Linux)) are still:
(a) free
(b) supported by their (amateur) authors

Last week both extensions had a stutter - the authors had not renewed their license with Google to use elevation data - but they are back working now.

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My bad. I will admit to being a novice when it comes to Windows. Once it started to include such things as “My Pictures” and “My Documents” I moved to a less FisherPrice like OS.

It’s only because people like DJI seem to produce various programs that only work on Windows that I have had to build a Windows PC.

Always been a part of Mac that MS copied :wink:

When I started with cpmputers there was none of this My this and My that nonsense, “My Punch Card”, “My Paper Tape” …

And none of your fancy four digit years …

Jesus !, that takes me back to the original CNC Machines we had 30 odd years ago, with tape punched programing !.

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What an excellent video. I watched from beginning to end and thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps it is time to update it with using the VLM software, which I find very useful?

Regards

Steve (from MavicPilots conversation)

Just seen this xkcd:

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Litchi chit-chat … What’s Litchi? Should I use Litchi?