DJI Spark Flyaway while testing litchi!
- Thread starter Rocco Germani
- Start date
Testing an unknown (to you) software in a playground... and over heavily populated areas.... over major roads.... so safety is not your thing eh!
I fly Litchi a lot, and never have problems, so I would say operator error, has a lot to do with it! Read the online manual and practice a lot more, then do another video!
Thanks for the feedback! My friend had never really used the app, his father just uses it with his Mavic two.
Same here, I guess it was a operator error. Not for nothing Litchi has a good reputation, especially at waypoints. And just a note / tip:
If the drone behaves strangely after the waypoint mission has been started, this mission can be interrupted at any time with the Litchi app or by pressing the red pause button on the controller.
If the drone behaves strangely after the waypoint mission has been started, this mission can be interrupted at any time with the Litchi app or by pressing the red pause button on the controller.
Watch out for Litchi or any other 3rd party software. I just lost my Spark when it decided to leave the mission and fly into oblivion. dji support told me they won't support me when using Litchi.
That's really bad to hear. I'm sorry for your loss. DJI never likes it when anyone uses third party software or anything...
I used Litchi with a Spark and was initially very impressed with the ability to use waypoints. I ran a few small missions with the drone in sight and everything did as it was supposed to. I then planned a longer mission but the drone lost signal and RTH. There is an option in Litchi that allows for the drone to continue with a waypoint mission when signal is lost, i.e. it will run the mission and then RTH if this is what you have selected to occur at the end of the mission. I tested this on a short in sight mission by launching the drone and then turning off the Remote Controller. The Spark performed the mission flawlessly and RTH at the end, even with the Controller turned off. OK, so I sent it on a longer mission, well within the drones capabilities but I knew that signal loss would occur, the drone took off and followed the waypoints and went out of sight until i received a warning that signal loss had occurred. This is the last that I saw of it, never returned, even low battery failsafe did not work. My advice is be very cautious when using third party apps like Litchi, advice that is frequently given out by the DJI moderators in this forum.
Barbara
Well-Known Member
Could be any number of reasons your Spark did not make it back that are totally unrelated to the software (litchi). Loss of satellite, ran into an obstacle, incorrect altitude settings, magnetic interference, sensor failures...etc. The software is pretty bullet-proof as far as running missions, if they are planned properly and no unforseen circumstances interrupt the mission. This is a problem with planning missions that take you out of "line of sight". You don't know whats happening to your drone if you can't see it and have no signal, and thus can't take control. This is one of the main reasons most regulations insist on line of sight operation.
Just sayin....
Problem has been solved. My post stated signal loss not leaving line of sight as you have assumed and lectured me about. Problem revolved around incorrect altitude relative to ground. I did find the drone, it had crashed due to incorrect altitude settings. Litchi is good but requires a high degree of understanding and input from the person using it. The instructions provided by litchi could be a bit clearer and provide examples of the various settings. In regards to “bullet proof” perhaps you can explain why sometimes after signal loss, litchi does not reconnect with the drone when signal is restored. I have found it does this sometimes with no obvious explanation. Mission has completed wth the from RTH and landing without reconnecting with the drone.
Barbara
Well-Known Member
Sorry, don't mean to lecture. However, your original post said....."the drone took off and followed the waypoints and went out of sight until i received a warning that signal loss had occurred. " Maybe I misunderstood what you meant by "went out of sight".
Barbara
Well-Known Member
I agree with Homevale about quality of the instruction Litchi, and DJI for that matter, provide for their software. Having written technical manuals myself I know it is difficult to write instruction manuals. Assumptions about the knowledge level of the end user have to be made and you can never please everyone. Being a newbie, I need Litchi for Dummies. If I were an experienced drone pilot, I would probably want a less detailed set of instructions.
Personally I'm still not sure what some of the entries in the "Waypoint" window of the Mission Hub do, and how some settings transition from one waypoint to another. My approach is, simple missions with specific settings, and see what happens. Change some settings and see what the difference is.
Personally I'm still not sure what some of the entries in the "Waypoint" window of the Mission Hub do, and how some settings transition from one waypoint to another. My approach is, simple missions with specific settings, and see what happens. Change some settings and see what the difference is.
The drone went over the brow of a hill and behind some trees, technically it was out of sight and radio range, but I knew it would return to my sight and radio range in a few seconds. Unfortunately it collided with one of the trees due to miscalculations of altitude and never reappeared. I could not locate a signal when I walked to the spot so assumed the drone had flown away. It had not, a closer look found that the drone had landed in a disused mine shaft. If you are interested the whole episode is discussed in this forum. Litchi Vs. DJI Go
The mistake that I made was that I planned the mission in Google Earth and exported the .KML file. I had set an altitude in this file (35 metres) and mistakenly believed that this would translate to an altitude in Litchi. Litchi did use the altitude Relative to home until the drone flew towards rising ground and 35 metres was not high enough, therefore it hit the tree as described. I now know that Google earth can be used to plan way points etc. but all the fine tuning for a mission must take place on the app.
Barbara
Well-Known Member
I've been using Google Earth Pro, a stand alone desktop App to help plan missions. (Not sure if that's what you're using or not) But only to get the elevation profile for my planned track. Do all my actual track creation on Litchi's Mission Hub.
Correct. I use Google Earth Pro to lay out the basic waypoints, all other planning uses mission hub and the phone app.
