Setting up missions mapping

I want to do something similar on coastal erosion on a particular beach on Anglesey - so I am going to take a chance on Litchi as from what I’ve seen on Youtube, it will remember the exact route, so once airborne the drone will just repeat & repeat over the same path ( I hope !! ). I also am led to believe the Litchi app gives a real smooth curve when turning on the waypoints, from what I’ve seen the Go4 is a jerky turn, but I’m sure some members have much more experience.

1 Like

The path is pretty repeatable. The limitation is your aircraft’s GPS accuracy, not the app. And yes, the curves are s-m-o-o-t-h. I’m still learning some aspects of Litchi but feel free to ask me questions and I’ll help where I can.

2 Likes

I just wanted to pick up on two small points here, just in case there was some confusion:

  1. Litchi won’t “remember” a route - you cannot fly the route, and then tell Litchi to to repeat it. Instead, you accurately plan the route (preferably on a computer with a large screen), save this route to the mission hub, download it to your phone/tablet, and then fly it.
  2. Litchi won’t fly it over and over again without further input from the user. You would simply restart the mission. (Dronelink has the ability, I believe, to re-use its modules within the flight plan, but I have too little experience with it to be sure.)

I read the question as wishing to repeat the mission on separate occasions. As for endlessly flying the same path, apart from the battery issue, Litchi has the “Return to waypoint 1” option. User intervention then would be a matter of pressing the go button which would reload the mission and set the aircraft off again.

1 Like

It was the words,
once airborne the drone will just repeat & repeat over the same path (I hope!!)”
that made me want to clarify the position for silverfox682.

1 Like

True, but (possibly) overlooking the rather useful ability to create a mission by flying (manually) to locations, pointing the camera whilst at that location, and save the info at each as a waypoint. This can all then me edited (if needed) later to tweak the mission.

Whilst not necessarily relevant to much of the above, for very precise flying around a feature, and perhaps near to obstacles (trees, power cables, etc) this can be very useful.

1 Like

Thats very useful for planning night time flights. Use Litchi as said in daylight to fly and record the waypoints and then just fly the mission at night. Much safer.

1 Like

I find it strange that this has not been implemented ye, by both go4 and litchi. This was possible with arducopter and mission planner years ago. Go out and fly, then download the log and save as a mission. Then upload it back to the craft and use it as often as you want for an auto mission. :thinking::thinking:

1 Like

I’m currently experimenting with UgCs, or Universal Ground Control System. It’s a software package made to run under Windows, Linux, MacOS, plus the ability to link via Android to some products.

When DJI dropped all support for their PC Ground Station many were left hanging. The hardware would still work on iOS but the APP had limitations especially when used for serious commercial work.

UgCs will work with all the DJI range, including legacy equipment back to the Phantom 2. I’m trialing the software using my F550 Hex, Phantom 2, and Xugong V2 Pro (all with Naza M V2’s) using the DJI LK24-BT Datalink interface. I also intend to try it with my Spark using the Android Interface and my Pixhawk/APM equipped craft via the MavLink radios. It has quite a large number of profiles encompassing many manufacturers and platforms.

The maps are very detailed allowing for terrain following functions.

For full functionality it is subscription based but is also free to use with limited functionality which should suit the hobbyist and semi-pro.

I’m still in the very early days of testing, I’ve only run simulation missions so far, but it does appear to be quite comprehensive.

Nidge.

UgCS Mission Planning

1 Like

I’m going to check that out.:+1::+1:

1 Like

Another interesting and very useful feature I’ve just confirmed is the ability to have two or more craft connected at the same time. I currently have both a Pixhawk Quad and a Phantom 2 connected simultaneously. Both are showing flight in real-time with telemetry. I can see this being useful for cross-platform swarm missions.

Nidge.