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Potogrammetry with Litchi

nuzhet

New Member
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Mar 13, 2019
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4
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71
Hi,
I just bought a DJI Spark and I am interested in doing some mapping/photogrammetry. It seems that DJI's app doesn't support that kind of mission planning. I am considering buying Litchi. Can I use to plan picture taking missions for photogrammetric use?
 
I've not used Litchi with my Spark but I have used it with several other DJI aircraft with GREAT success.

The reason I've not used it with Spark is because I fly using the OTG cable and Litchi doesn't recognize my Spark when using the OTG cable so I use other aircraft for Litchi purposes.
 
Drone mapping is a problem with the Spark. The spark don't save the whole GPS information in the exif data. (when I remember it don't save the last numbers from the GPS coordinates). Look for pix4d or mapping in this forum for more information.
 
That’s really interesting that Litchi doesn’t work with an OTG cable. Is that a known fact?


I didn't know that it didn't until after I tried it. When it wouldn't work (works great with DJI Go) I came here and found several threads talking about no Litchi with OTG.
 
Litchi is working fine with OTG. I never had any problems.

Well that stinks. I can't get Litchi to acknolwedge my Spark but I take the exact same set-up (iPad and Cable) and it connects right up to my Mavic Platinum right away.

Did you have to adjust any settings etc initially to get it to connect?
 
Hi,
I just bought a DJI Spark and I am interested in doing some mapping/photogrammetry. It seems that DJI's app doesn't support that kind of mission planning. I am considering buying Litchi. Can I use to plan picture taking missions for photogrammetric use?
The Spark is probably not the most ideal drone for mapping. I have tried it (for fun) using AutoPilot and it did work, however since the Spark gimbal can only pitch down to -85 degrees the drone has to tilt the other 5 degrees. When I tried it, for every photo it took the drone would stop, tilt adbruptly, take the picture and move on to the next. I couldn’t help think that this could not be good for the drone.

Chris
 
Most everyone seems to like OTG cables but I really don't think using the Wifi connection between controller and phone is bad. Even without OTG I've gotten over a mile of distance with still decent video.

My only comment on Litchi and the Spark is the Spark seems to "crab" a lot when it's at all breezy. In other words it is moving towards 12 o'clock but points at 1 o'clock .
 
Most of the times, I don't use an otg cable with spark, and it's fine.

Video feed is ok with all my iOS devices, regardless of the go4 version (otg and WiFi).

With my androids, things are different.
Seems that latest versions of Go4, are problematic for spark, but older versions work flawlessly (otg and WiFi).

I don't use Litchi with my spark, because it disables forced FCC mode. In CE mode, Spark is useless, with disconnections even in 200m distance.

Finally I think that Spark is very limited for mapping job.
 
Well that stinks. I can't get Litchi to acknolwedge my Spark but I take the exact same set-up (iPad and Cable) and it connects right up to my Mavic Platinum right away.

Did you have to adjust any settings etc initially to get it to connect?
No, I connect it regular way: first Spark and remote, then I plug in OTG and wait for pop-up window on my cellphone to choose what app to use.
 
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No, I connect it regular way: first Spark and remote, then I plug in OTG and wait for pop-up window on my cellphone to choose what app to use.


I have the OTG connected 100% of the time so maybe that's my issue.

If the Tx and Tablet connect via WiFi does plugging the OTG cable in even do anything? I don't have it with me here in the office today but I'll try and test different scenarios tonight when I get home.
 
I have used my spark for mapping smaler areas in several time and can say that results are pretty acceptable. For waypoint mission i use litchi, for ground control points i use a leica gps900, and agisoft photoscan to creating orthophoto. The flight time is the real limit, but 2-3 battery helps me a lot.
 
That’s really interesting that Litchi doesn’t work with an OTG cable. Is that a known fact?
I just purchased Litchi because the blurb about Spark not working with otg was gone. And, indeed it does work with my Spark using my otg cable.
 
I just purchased Litchi because the blurb about Spark not working with otg was gone. And, indeed it does work with my Spark using my otg cable.

I think Litchi still works on iOS but not Android. DJI GO 4 with OTG works on Android.

ETA: Android Litchi OTG was broken last year but now works with the current version of Litchi at least.
 
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Except for the fact that all I use is Android devices. Won't own Apple devices. So it definitely works with Android. I'm using a Galaxy S7.

Litichi wasn't working with OTG on my Galaxy Note 4, but I don't usually update my apps. My reasoning is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but in this case it was broke so I updated Litchi and it is now working.
 
Litichi wasn't working with OTG on my Galaxy Note 4, but I don't usually update my apps. My reasoning is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but in this case it was broke so I updated Litchi and it is now working.
I think they updated the app to work with Android and otg without specifically calling it out. They took the disclaimer out of the app description though. Kind of a strange way of announcing a new feature in my opinion. I guess I'm just happy they did it! Hopefully the weather in Michigan turns soon so I can actually go fly instead of just connecting to the Spark and dreaming about it in my basement!
 
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