Three Q's about Drone Deploy....

[Lindsaybev]

I have pored over the website at Drone Deploy, and I have two questions I hope someone can help me with:

1. The starting point of the mission and the take-off point: Say I am a few yards off of where the mission begins...like across a street or creek. Do I put the drone in the air, at the altitude of the mission, and then begin the mission? How does it handle returning to home? Does it return at the mission altitude to above the take off point and then land? I ask because I am wondering about trees and powerlines that may be in between the take-off point and the mission-start point.

2. Their website mentions using the DJI Go4 app, but not Litchi. I don't really use DJI Go4 on the tablet I use to fly the P4. I have DJI Go4 on my phone to update with, but I read a few stories about Litchi and DJI Go not working well together at times, or both engaging, and it scared me enough to keep them separate. Do I need to put DJI Go4 on my tablet with which I fly to communicate with the Drone Deploy APK?

3. If the connection to the drone is lost, does it continue the mission or initiate return-to-home on its own? And is the RTH done using the parameters that are placed in my DJI Go4 app? Litchi app?

Thanks all! I am excited to get moving on this mapping project. My first one.

Ok....one more! Do I need to worry about camera settings or is the auto setting best?

-Lindsay

 

[Ansia]

1. No. Just upload the mission from the ground and the drone will do it's job. When it finishes, it will land from the point it took off. Mine goes to the set altitude in the DJO Go 4 app, but do testing yourself, just to make sure.

2. I fly with both apps and they are both in the same Android tablet. So can't answer your question.

3. Yes it continues the mission and yes.

Extra: This really depends on preference. Some will say that manual settings is best if you know what you are doing, but in many scenarios I find Auto to do a well enough job.

 

[Housspin]

Sorry guys I'm new in this area. Can pls tell me what Litchi is for and drene deploy for to thx.

 

[Housspin]

*drone

 

[Ansia]

Sorry guys I'm new in this area. Can pls tell me what Litchi is for and drene deploy for to thx.

Drone Deploy is for mapping and Surveying. Really useful if you work on construction, agriculture, or similar industries.

Litchi, well here is a list of some of the many things you can do.

 

[Meta4]

1. The starting point of the mission and the take-off point: Say I am a few yards off of where the mission begins...like across a street or creek. Do I put the drone in the air, at the altitude of the mission, and then begin the mission? How does it handle returning to home? Does it return at the mission altitude to above the take off point and then land? I ask because I am wondering about trees and powerlines that may be in between the take-off point and the mission-start point.

You start the mission on the ground.
The program goes through its own checklist and will launch, climb to altitude and fly to the start point and commence the mission.
It returns to above home and descends.
You can cancel the mission at any time by flicking to atti mode and back and then resume control manually.

2. Their website mentions using the DJI Go4 app, but not Litchi. I don't really use DJI Go4 on the tablet I use to fly the P4. I have DJI Go4 on my phone to update with, but I read a few stories about Litchi and DJI Go not working well together at times, or both engaging, and it scared me enough to keep them separate. Do I need to put DJI Go4 on my tablet with which I fly to communicate with the Drone Deploy APK?

You can only fly with one app at a time.
You can have multiple apps installed on your phone/tablet - but don't try to run them together.
DroneDeploy is a stand-alone app. You don't have to run anything else.

3.is the RTH done using the parameters that are placed in my DJI Go4 app? Litchi app?

RTH is whatever you have set in your settings for the Phantom.

Do I need to worry about camera settings or is the auto setting best?

I find that the auto settings work very well.
Do some experimenting and see what works for you.

 

[Housspin]

Drone Deploy is for mapping and Surveying. Really useful if you work on construction, agriculture, or similar industries.

Litchi, well here is a list of some of the many things you can do.View attachment 108197

Thank you for your reply it was very Helpful. Appreciated.

 

[Lindsaybev]

You start the mission on the ground.
The program goes through its own checklist and will launch, climb to altitude and fly to the start point and commence the mission.
It returns to above home and descends.
You can cancel the mission at any time by flicking to atti mode and back and then resume control manually.

You can only fly with one app at a time.
You can have multiple apps installed on your phone/tablet - but don't try to run them together.
DroneDeploy is a stand-alone app. You don't have to run anything else.

RTH is whatever you have set in your settings for the Phantom.

I find that the auto settings work very well.
Do some experimenting and see what works for you.

Love it! Very helpful!

My question #2 is regarding something such as RTH altitude (or even manual camera settings, which I don't think I will use at the moment). If I have BOTH Litchi and DJI Go4 on my tablet, and they have different RTH altitudes because I have used them in different places....which will Drone Deploy pull from? And right now I DO NOT have DJI Go on the tablet, so from where will it get the information?

Looking again at the settings for the mission itself, Drone Deploy has the toggle for "getting camera settings from DJI GO". So I am assuming I must have that specific app on my tablet so DD knows my RTH height? I do know not to run them at the same time.

Thanks, Meta4! You da bomb!

 

[Bigriver]

Do not overlook Litchi as a mapping app. Not as easy to use as some of the specific mapping apps like MME, DD, and Pix4D Capture. But it allows serious customization in defining your missions. I define most missions in CAD and GoogleEarth and export back to Litchi mission hub. All apps have their benefits and drawbacks. Test them all! Heck, that's half the fun.

 

[Lindsaybev]

Do not overlook Litchi as a mapping app. Not as easy to use as some of the specific mapping apps like MME, DD, and Pix4D Capture. But it allows serious customization in defining your missions. I define most missions in CAD and GoogleEarth and export back to Litchi mission hub. All apps have their benefits and drawbacks. Test them all! Heck, that's half the fun.

Thanks, Bigriver. I wasn't going to. I was just recently disuaded from using Litchi for the mapping, mostly because of the battery swap. But I do plan on trying both several times. It was the ease in which I did not have to worry so much about height and overlap that I am choosing DD at the moment. Plus, I needed the Geotags on the end product.

If I used Litchi to collect the data, who would be the best at processing the map into 2D? 3D?

I also use AutoCAD at work. How would I utlize this to make a mission? Just for making the pathways?? I am very interested in your workflow. Do you have tutorials or YouTube vids up??

I know! Fun! I love all of this.

 

[Meta4]

My question #2 is regarding something such as RTH altitude (or even manual camera settings, which I don't think I will use at the moment). If I have BOTH Litchi and DJI Go4 on my tablet, and they have different RTH altitudes because I have used them in different places....which will Drone Deploy pull from? And right now I DO NOT have DJI Go on the tablet, so from where will it get the information?

If you were flying and lost signal, your Phantom uses whatever RTH settings it has stored in its memory to come home.
It won't matter what app you have set them with or how long ago.
Whatever was last set into the Phantom's memory is what it will go with.
It has to be that way since the Phantom can't communicate with any app or your controller if it loses signal.

Looking again at the settings for the mission itself, Drone Deploy has the toggle for "getting camera settings from DJI GO". So I am assuming I must have that specific app on my tablet so DD knows my RTH height? I do know not to run them at the same time.

Perhaps? I'm not sure. I haven't seen that setting.
Maybe it's a new one?

 

[Bigriver]

I'll admit, Litchi is not made to make mapping easy. Where it may take a few seconds or minutes to program a mission in MME, DD, etc. It usually takes me an hour to program a similar mission in Litchi. BUT, the mission is flown exactly the way I want it flown.

Basically, compute the side overlap, based on altitude. In CAD, draw your mission, offest your paths, connect them into a single polyline, and export as a .kml file. Open in Litchi, Mission Hub import mission, make adjustments to altitude, curves, etc. Save file, then go fly. Determine photo interval (2s., 3s., etc.) based on speed to provide good frontal overlap. BTW, you must be in the right coordinate system in CAD before exporting to Litchi.

After typing the above, I realized how "overly complicated" this method really is. For starters and basic mapping, I'd recommend MME, DD, or Pix4DCapture. They are all good apps and a good place to learn. If your needs get more complicated, maybe take a look at Litchi.

 

[Ansia]

I'll admit, Litchi is not made to make mapping easy. Where it may take a few seconds or minutes to program a mission in MME, DD, etc. It usually takes me an hour to program a similar mission in Litchi. BUT, the mission is flown exactly the way I want it flown.

Basically, compute the side overlap, based on altitude. In CAD, draw your mission, offest your paths, connect them into a single polyline, and export as a .kml file. Open in Litchi, Mission Hub import mission, make adjustments to altitude, curves, etc. Save file, then go fly. Determine photo interval (2s., 3s., etc.) based on speed to provide good frontal overlap. BTW, you must be in the right coordinate system in CAD before exporting to Litchi.

After typing the above, I realized how "overly complicated" this method really is. For starters and basic mapping, I'd recommend MME, DD, or Pix4DCapture. They are all good apps and a good place to learn. If your needs get more complicated, maybe take a look at Litchi.

I was about to ask you to make a video on how exacly you do this in AutoCAD. Making a flight using the CAD's coordinates, will make things smoother in the end, that using MME, DD, etc and trying to match it within the drawing later on.

 

[Lindsaybev]

If you were flying and lost signal, your Phantom uses whatever RTH settings it has stored in its memory to come home.
It won't matter what app you have set them with or how long ago.
Whatever was last set into the Phantom's memory is what it will go with.
It has to be that way since the Phantom can't communicate with any app or your controller if it loses signal.


Perhaps? I'm not sure. I haven't seen that setting.
Maybe it's a new one?

Or they probably mean the "last setting" which the UAV used. I get it now, and am grateful for your response!

 

[Lindsaybev]

I'll admit, Litchi is not made to make mapping easy. Where it may take a few seconds or minutes to program a mission in MME, DD, etc. It usually takes me an hour to program a similar mission in Litchi. BUT, the mission is flown exactly the way I want it flown.

Basically, compute the side overlap, based on altitude. In CAD, draw your mission, offest your paths, connect them into a single polyline, and export as a .kml file. Open in Litchi, Mission Hub import mission, make adjustments to altitude, curves, etc. Save file, then go fly. Determine photo interval (2s., 3s., etc.) based on speed to provide good frontal overlap. BTW, you must be in the right coordinate system in CAD before exporting to Litchi.

After typing the above, I realized how "overly complicated" this method really is. For starters and basic mapping, I'd recommend MME, DD, or Pix4DCapture. They are all good apps and a good place to learn. If your needs get more complicated, maybe take a look at Litchi.

I use Litchi all the time. I love it. I love to be able to do it all at the computer, on a big screen, run it in GE...etc. Very helpful. I had recently posted a thread about using Litchi and asked how to determine overlap:height. But, for now, as I need to get this done as soon as my battery gets here, and because the planning part is also free to use....I am going to stick with DD.

But, very curious, where do you get your map processed? ICE? MapsMadeEasy? Upload to DD? I am curious who would do a good job with just the photos?

Thanks, much!

 

[Ansia]

I use Litchi all the time. I love it. I love to be able to do it all at the computer, on a big screen, run it in GE...etc. Very helpful. I had recently posted a thread about using Litchi and asked how to determine overlap:height. But, for now, as I need to get this done as soon as my battery gets here, and because the planning part is also free to use....I am going to stick with DD.

But, very curious, where do you get your map processed? ICE? MapsMadeEasy? Upload to DD? I am curious who would do a good job with just the photos?

Thanks, much!

In my case my firm pays for the subscription of Drone Deploy. When I fly for personal use, I use Agisoft Metashape. The bad part of Metashape is, it takes days to process a big highly detailed map.

 

[Meta4]

The bad part of Metashape is, it takes days to process a big highly detailed map.

Either they are extremely big map projects ... or a rather slow computer?

 

[Ansia]

Either they are extremely big map projects ... or a rather slow computer?

A little bit of both, I guess. I am doing the research for my next PC, since my work is twisting my arm to start drawing in Civil 3D (which I loathe) and going to take the opportunity to use that one for image processing as well.

 

[Meta4]

A little bit of both, I guess. I am doing the research for my next PC, since my work is twisting my arm to start drawing in Civil 3D (which I loathe) and going to take the opportunity to use that one for image processing as well.

I think the longest any have taken for me was about two hours for 120 acres/400 photos.

 

[Ansia]

I think the longest any have taken for me was about two hours for 120 acres/400 photos.

I'm nowhere near that. I usually do 10-20 acres, but I fly at the lowest altitude possible to get better resolution on my photos.