Autonomous flight using Litchi

[shawnski451]

I took the Sparkplug out for a quick sunset mission last night and used Litchi app. I still have much to learn about it but, I have to say that the Litchi app is awesome. Let me know what ya think.

 

[Jim Goddard]

Very cool! Interesting subject matter of traffic moving and beautiful sunset.

 

[graywoulf]

Nice smooth flight. Was that completely a waypoint flight? And did you have a good signal throughout the flight? I just purchased Litchi but I have not tried it yet.

 

[shawnski451]

Yes, it was a complete autonomous waypoint mission that I made using the Litchi Mission Hub on my computer. I was without signal for about 50% of that flight due to the houses, buildings and trees. Once it made it's last turn and started heading back, I picked up signal again. It's a little nerve wracking but it worked flawlessly.

 

[shawnski451]

Here is a screen shot of the mission. It was 3 miles round trip with roughly 9 minutes flight time.

 

[Jim Goddard]

I have been using Litchi for three flights and it works very well so far. The only thing, how do you disengage the waypoints at the end and land Spark?

 

[shawnski451]

Honestly, I have control once it's done with the mission. I believe that you can take control any time that you want as long as you have signal.

 

[mik]

You can tell it what to do in mission settings - RTH, Land, or back to first way point.

Or switch it into sport mode then back. That seems to disconnect it and give you control

 

[Haggi]

I have been using Litchi for three flights and it works very well so far. The only thing, how do you disengage the waypoints at the end and land Spark?

I allways set first WP just above me, and set mission to return to first WP when finished.
To take over craft I just flip Sport-mode switch on/off and do a controlled landing.
When near water or other hazards I place first WP on solid and safe ground.

 

[TangoMango]

I have been using Litchi for three flights and it works very well so far. The only thing, how do you disengage the waypoints at the end and land Spark?

Once the Waypoint Mission ends, you're back in control and can fly it as normal.

A) fly manual back to you, push the down attitude stick until it lands.
B) Switch to FPV mode, get over where you want to land, and press the icon at the bottom left which is landing.
C) Use Mission Hub, set Mission Settings to RTH or Land at completed mission (make sure you've it where you want it at the mission end by setting a Waypoint where you want it landing if you choose that option)

Fly with care!

 

[Jim Goddard]

Thanks so much. I will give this a try later on today.

 

[ZPARK]

Very nice. Were there any concerns about the potential for any emergency type helicopter traffic that could cross your path?

 

[shawnski451]

I allways set first WP just above me, and set mission to return to first WP when finished.
To take over craft I just flip Sport-mode switch on/off and do a controlled landing.
When near water or other hazards I place first WP on solid and safe ground.

I do the same exact thing. [emoji106]

 

[shawnski451]

Very nice. Were there any concerns about the potential for any emergency type helicopter traffic that could cross your path?

I was only at 200ft. It better be an emergency if they're flying that low lol.

I think the chance of running into that situation is pretty slim even tho you make a valid point.

 

[Pabloevaristo]

Wow. If that was 1x speed video, the spark's flying speed is amazing! Do you have info about that??

 

[DingDangKid]

I've been working on some longer autonomous flights too. Do you get anxiety about having it out of site and contact for so long?

 

[shawnski451]

Wow. If that was 1x speed video, the spark's flying speed is amazing! Do you have info about that??

I have the cruise speed set to 20mph (32km/h) while it's going around the loop... which is a little faster than what I would like to go. I would usually go between 10 and 15 mph but being that I had such a great distance to cover in such a short time frame, I found that spark was still pretty stable flying that pattern at 20mph.

My maximum speed is set to 31 mph ( 50km/h) which it's going on the straight runs in the video.

 

[shawnski451]

I've been working on some longer autonomous flights too. Do you get anxiety about having it out of site and contact for so long?

Indeed I do. Lol. I have faith in how this works. The Spark has it's own computer and GPS built inside of it. Once the fight plan is downloaded to the spark, it should execute that flight plan without any issues providing that there is good weather and the aircraft is in good working order. I also try to avoid flying near things like power lines or large antennas.

Other things I do is a thorough inspection of the props and aircraft itself, and also look at the status of the sensors on DJIgo4 (I also use AirData, which I highly recommend to everyone).

And... For ultimate peace of mind, I always always always use a battery strap/clip while flying. I've heard way too many horror stories about batteries falling out of these things while in flight and I don't chance it even with the newer batteries.

When I first write up a flight plan on my computer, I set the altitudes pretty high in order to avoid any potential collision issues and run the mission. When the aircraft comes back, I'll watch the video and see where I can "trim" the altitude and edit the flight plan. I then re-run that same mission. That's the nice benefit to having multiple batteries.

 

[Dave woods]

I took the Sparkplug out for a quick sunset mission last night and used Litchi app. I still have much to learn about it but, I have to say that the Litchi app is awesome. Let me know what ya think.

Good stuff

 

[pmshop]

On your long runs near the highway, try speeding those up.
Then you would have some cool hyperlapse vids!