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Explain differences of Litchi and Autopilot?

RaWine

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Oct 25, 2017
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Even though people have apparently been using these apps, apparently DJI has officially opened it to developers to make waypoints usable in the Spark. Like within the last couple days.

I'm curious about the differences in the way these different apps work. Or any others for that matter.
 
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Not sure why way points are not part of the system for Spark. It's not like DJI loose anything from alowing us to prgram missions with our Spark.

:mad:
 
I read in another forum that DJI has kept waypoints from Spark because of Sparks limited range.

I just began using Litchi. I got it because it works on my iPad 2 which nothing else works on. This gives me a much larger viewer.
 
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I can confirm that waypoints is working nicely on Litchi using the Spark. You just need to sign up as a beta tester on their website to get the beta version as the waypoints for Spark is still in the beta release.
 
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I can confirm that waypoints is working nicely on Litchi using the Spark. You just need to sign up as a beta tester on their website to get the beta version as the waypoints for Spark is still in the beta release.

Are these autonomous waypoints (mission) or are they guided through the remote?
 
Are these autonomous waypoints (mission) or are they guided through the remote?
It's completely autonomous. The mission is uploaded to the drone at the start and it then proceeds irrespective of whether the remote controller is within range or not.
 
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It's completely autonomous. The mission is uploaded to the drone at the start and it then proceeds irrespective of whether the remote controller is within range or not.

So, in theory, I could set the mission to end a couple miles away from its starting point, as long as I traveled to that point to get it. And didn't badly plan the power consumption of course!

That probably alarms some people, but sounds cool to me. Gives you a lot more flexibility with the battery range.
 
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Yes, you can. It can auto land on the last waypoint you set. Just make sure the battery doesn't run too low on power during the mission. My drone auto landed about 400 metres from where it should have when the battery level became too low. Not sure how it happened, but somehow the return to home feature didn't return the drone at full speed.
 
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I read in another forum that DJI has kept waypoints from Spark because of Sparks limited range.
Seems though that if that limited range situation was an issue, then the Go 4 app could initiate an abort mission scenario during the waypoints app and initiate an auto RTH sequence warning as the app already does with the low battery warnings.

I could see where there are many variables that could affect a waypoint mission but when filming an event or capturing video of a POI it could be very handy. Especially when the mission planning gives a pilot the advantage of where the camera is pointing during the mission as well as pausing during the mission to extend the duration of a particular object or event. So many possibilities with the waypoint capability but there are just as many dangers as well.

I figure that DJI is just covering their behinds by not adding this feature and I really can't blame them in that there are some pilots out there that do not take many things into consideration while flying. Just my two cents worth.
 
I have been a user of Autopilot for a while now and the software and Waypoints functionality for the Spark has been good for some time.

I believe that the kicker to having access to Waypoints for the Spark from the SDK means the ability to have the Spark complete it's mission and then return to home, should a connection loss occur. As it was, the Spark would immediately return to home if a connection was lost.
 
I totally agree to the mission completion thing. My thoughts were aimed at the idea that some pilots would not take battery levels into consideration and try to fly too far and if the waypoint app does not monitor the battery level as does the Go 4 app then that would be a huge problem. Since I have not used or thoroughly researched any third party apps as these, I do realize that I may be making an uneducated assumption as to the capabilities of these apps.
 
Autopilot definitely takes battery life into consideration and will return to home when battery levels are low...even if the mission is still in process. I have sent it out on a planned mission with low battery specifically to see if what would happen and this was the result. It landed closer to it's takeoff point than the DJI Go 4 RTH ever has.

Litchi and Autopilot are both great apps. I picked up Litchi when it was on sale a few weeks back. Autopilot to me seems a bit more polished, from their site to the software.
 
Thank you for your input and information. I will do more research on AutoPilot for sure now.
 
I signed up as a beta tester for litchi but it says waypoints is not working for the spark. you say they work, can you plan waypoints in mission hub save them and somehow import into spark or do you have to manually plan them in the app.
 
I signed up as a beta tester for litchi but it says waypoints is not working for the spark. you say they work, can you plan waypoints in mission hub save them and somehow import into spark or do you have to manually plan them in the app.

 
I get the error about the Homepoint not being set because the Spark has not yet taken off but of course my Spark is in the air with over 8 satellites. It typically connects properly after a few tries.

I am also having issues with repeatability. My Spark is not being tracked properly and it shows in litchi the Spark in one place while in reality the Spark is several feet away. This is why it won’t repeat on an intricate course.

Someone mentioned that I should calibrate the compass in the Litchi app. I tried several times using different Sparks and in both my iPad 2 and on my iPhone 5s but I always get an error. It won’t do a compass calibration. Anyone else having this experience?
 
One thing that's not entirely clear to me, is if some users are experiencing glitches in one or both of these Apps, or lack of some specific knowledge they need to operate correctly.

Or even if the problem is related to specific gear, or the settings of their gear, or the wifi interference specific in their area.

Hard to tell.
 

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