Mission planning for orthophoto

[skysense]

Hi all,

i have a question about Litchi, and stable versions of software for all devices (tablet, RC, phantom).

There is a need of somewhat complicated mission for producing orthophoto maps. So, after reading posts here i almost have decided to go with Litchi (please advise if there is a better app for Android).

I like the fact that the maps can be pre-planned on PC and uploaded to the app.

My main concern is about stable software versions, and combination of versions for all devices used.
I remember reading here (can't find that post now) about Litchi having some problems when the aircraft is coming back home, it overshoots home location and flies away. After people having this problem software was updated and it was all good, so i have read. Really wouldn't like something like this to happen and lose my Phantom.

Does anybody have good-tested combination of software versions forking with Litchi?

I am currently running:
GO app 2.6.0 (Google Nexus 7 2012 - overclocked and working very nice)
RC 1.5.70
Phantom 1.6.40

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[JBG]

Nexus 7 2012, is not recommended with litchi. I have never had or read about litchi flyaways. Also if you want to plan a mission for aerial photogrammetry, try planning you mission in maps made easy, export to kml, import into litchi mission hub and set your photos to be taken at intervals based on maps made easys recommendations on overlap, I have been meaning to try this myself

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[skysense]

Is it possible to set camera auto intervals in Litchi? Meaning camera take photo every 2 or 5 seconds, not depending on mission waypoints made in MissionHub. Or i have to add manually points of interest in mission?

And whats the lowest interval 5 or 2 seconds if it is possible?

Nexus 7 2012. is what im stuck with for now. Also have Nexus 5, but prefer larger screen, more battery... It is not recommended for P3P also, but i got it working pretty sharp by overclocking it, and running ONLY OS and apps i need.

 

[JBG]

My nexus 5 works, but keep in mind the SDK that drives litchi is more intensive than dji go and you 2012 will have issues. Yea interval photos work but I think 3 seconds is the best it can do and I beleive that is based speed of SD card and phantom read/write speeds

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[JBG]

Have you read the user manual on flylitchi.com, its all there

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[CRCs Reality]

Woohoo, finally a subject I may be able to help with (Long background in GIS finally pays off, lol)

For Orthophoto work I've been using the Pix4d capture app with really good results. Give it a shot, I suspect you'll be very happy with how it handles the flight plans.
I've also loaded (but not yet tried) DroneDeploy, it looks very promising as well.

Both apps have photo collection for GIS applications as their main purpose, so they really are fine tuned to lay out a proper grid-style flight plan and capture the still photos with the correct amount of overlap for Ortho and DEM generation. I had some really nice results using Pix4D with my phantom 1, but the P3P works just great with it.

The files and datasets I've created with Pix4D import quite well into many GIS apps as well if that's your thing. I've had good results from ArcGIS, Erdas, and SocetSet with data acquired from the P3P.

 

[skysense]

Thanks!

Three seconds is more than i need, that is great.

Until now i have worked with Ardupilot APM 2.5 and Mission Planner which is far superior to all this third party software for DJI combined. It has tons of options, and works flawlessly, and it is open source and free. I used it for airplane which is good in terms of mission lengths, and flight times, but suffers from loss of ability to take off and land vertically which is really handy sometimes.
Now i will try to plan my missions according to Mission Planner, and input results in Litchi.

 

[byrne68]

I don't have experience with Litchi, but you could use the mission planning part of the Pix4d Capture App. Even if you don't use their cloud service to construct the orthophoto, the easy-to-use flight planner will do exactly what you are seeking (although keep in mind that their basic cloud service is free and it will let you see directly in the field if you got the data you need to construct a proper ortho).

Just remember to pick a high percentage of overlap (>80%). Then you can grab the images off the SD card and import them into whatever software you want to use.

Attached are a couple of screen grabs from my phone of a test project;

1. the mission planning in the Capture app.
2. processed project on their cloud server (includes orthophoto).

Just an option to consider if you're just looking for an easy way to plan a grid with optimal coverage...

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[JBG]

I am beta testing the ESRI/ pix4d app in arcgis, works great

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[skysense]

I have installed Pix4D on my tablet but at first i didn't like because it gives me so little information to input. For example speed of aircraft goes from slow to fast, i have no idea what exact speed will be. Other thing is i need to plan missions in the hollow (if that is the right word), between two hills, somewhat narrow passage, and it doesn't give me information about ground level heights. Yet another thing is i'm pretty used to pre-plan my missions on laptop and upload them to the aircraft as needed, eg. more mission for one survey. But i see you people have tried it, and say it works great, so i will definitely give it a shot for some projects. It just looks too simple for me at the moment to trust it

 

[CRCs Reality]

I have installed Pix4D on my tablet but at first i didn't like because it gives me so little information to input. For example speed of aircraft goes from slow to fast, i have no idea what exact speed will be. Other thing is i need to plan missions in the hollow (if that is the right word), between two hills, somewhat narrow passage, and it doesn't give me information about ground level heights. Yet another thing is i'm pretty used to pre-plan my missions on laptop and upload them to the aircraft as needed, eg. more mission for one survey. But i see you people have tried it, and say it works great, so i will definitely give it a shot for some projects. It just looks too simple for me at the moment to trust it

Take a look at DroneDeploy.. Pix4d is overly simple, probably (guessing) in part because it's geared towards people who are more GIS professionals and less RC pilots.. Because of that I think they worked to make it as simple as possible.
DroneDeploy has a lot more options, and the mission can be planned much more accurately from a desktop, the uploaded to the app to run it. I've kicked-the-tires (so to speak) but have yet to actually use it.

Also, the ESRI/Pix4d app JBG mentioned above looks quite promising, I haven't installed it yet but it has potential.

 

[byrne68]

Take a look at DroneDeploy.. Pix4d is overly simple, probably (guessing) in part because it's geared towards people who are more GIS professionals and less RC pilots.. Because of that I think they worked to make it as simple as possible.
DroneDeploy has a lot more options, and the mission can be planned much more accurately from a desktop, the uploaded to the app to run it. I've kicked-the-tires (so to speak) but have yet to actually use it.

Also, the ESRI/Pix4d app JBG mentioned above looks quite promising, I haven't installed it yet but it has potential.

Definitely agree that Pix4d is oversimplifying the mission planning, and also that it's geared towards surveyors and not experienced pilots. At least you can do the planning before you're in the field (though it only takes a few seconds to set up a simple grid).

Thanks for the heads up on DroneDeploy... I will have to look at that one too.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[skysense]

Just checking out DroneDeploy, will let you know my opinion

This is what i am used to for mission planning with. Check the right side of the screen, and what options you have. You can upload a sample photo, and it will calculate plans depending on your camera sensor, focal length, etc.


Down on the screen you have calculated output results of planned mission, and it is all done on desktop or laptop pre-flight.

 

[PrecisionAeroworks]

I use DroneDeploy for front-end data capture, (and sometimes data processing), Pix4dCapture for front-end data capture (and Pix4DMapper almost always for data processing). However, I think the best front-end app for data capture at the moment is DJI Map Pilot (by MME), but it is iOS only.

They all have strengths and weakness. I previously used Pixhawk/Mission Planner for this stuff too, and it was great. In the DJI world we have what we have.

If you like the idea of offline PC based mission planning, check out UgCS. It is (AFAIK) the only system that uses a 3D Earth database for mission planning (i.e you can fly "the hollow" and maintain GSD as the waypoints will follow the terrain). I've just started experimenting with it.

 

[NRJ]

Hi all,

i have a question about Litchi, and stable versions of software for all devices (tablet, RC, phantom).

There is a need of somewhat complicated mission for producing orthophoto maps. So, after reading posts here i almost have decided to go with Litchi (please advise if there is a better app for Android).

I like the fact that the maps can be pre-planned on PC and uploaded to the app.

My main concern is about stable software versions, and combination of versions for all devices used.
I remember reading here (can't find that post now) about Litchi having some problems when the aircraft is coming back home, it overshoots home location and flies away. After people having this problem software was updated and it was all good, so i have read. Really wouldn't like something like this to happen and lose my Phantom.

Does anybody have good-tested combination of software versions forking with Litchi?

I am currently running:
GO app 2.6.0 (Google Nexus 7 2012 - overclocked and working very nice)
RC 1.5.70
Phantom 1.6.40

Any help is much appreciated!

Information please. I am not very familiar with photography, but trying to catch up. Can you tell me what orthophotography might be about? Thanks.

 

[skysense]

This might be be most precise answer you are looking for

Orthophoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[CRCs Reality]

Information please. I am not very familiar with photography, but trying to catch up. Can you tell me what orthophotography might be about? Thanks.

Orthophoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[CRCs Reality]

This might be be most precise answer you are looking for

Orthophoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LOL

 

[NRJ]

Orthophoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks, it does help me a log as I had no idea what it was in the first place. Thanks.

 

[NRJ]

LOL

Well at least I can do more research from this point since I new nothing in the first place.