Apps for flight coordination.

[Jurassic_Clark]

What apps are we using for coordinating our flights and do we like them?

I have been playing with:
Drone deploy
Pix4d capture

Looking at: maps made easy pilot.

Am i missing any good ones?

How are we managing multi battery missions?

Lets hear it.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[Bigriver]

So far I have used the Pix4D Capture and LITCHI.

The Pix4D has been used mainly for 2D grid missions. Pretty simple to use. I especially like the Safe Mode, that stops the drone at each location prior to taking photo. I have not seen this option available in other apps. Not sure if it produces a better orthomosaics, but I'd think it would. One problem - I wish it was possible to save a mission in Pix4D, for flying again later.

As for the LITCHI, I prefer it for GPS Waypoint missions. Pretty powerful, and with enough settings, you can make it do about anything. It has other modes, but the Waypoints is all I have used.

I have also downloaded the new DJI app (GO 4?) but have not had a chance to use it yet. Same with the MapsMadeEasy Pilot app. I believe the MME Pilot has the capability of performing multi-battery mission, but I have not tested.

 

[kitefiter]

MapsMadeEasy provides us with Map Pilot which is an IOS app only. I use it for irregular shaped projects and for larger projects needing more than one battery. I have never had a problem with it.

I like Pix4d Capture for linear or rectangular projects as it is a little easier to set up the flight on narrow projects.

I am still playing with Datufly. First, it is not free but I like the settings available. It has different settings for different kinds of flights (2d, 3d, corridors, structures, as builts, etc).

I just saw the new DJI GS app that has much more control than any other app I have seen. But it does not do multiple batteries. I need more time with this to properly evaluate.

We have been busy doing end of the year stockpiles for gravel pits and quarries so I have had limited time to play with new options.

 

[Barking Deer]

I use Map Pilot often. It accounts for multiple batteries. It makes a map set that works well for upload to Maps Made Easy. Samples Mapping | Barking Deer℠ Photography

New app is DJI GS. It is iOS only, but I use an iPad. Have not used it.

For just panos, DronePan is an iOS app that is nice.

DroneBlocks, same author as DronePan.

Nose around the App Store. Several new apps there.

 

[kitefiter]

I tried DJI GS yesterday. It has great controls but has a limit of 99 waypoints! Not enough for the aerial missions I fly.

 

[Barking Deer]

Here is a link to a control app review: 5 Apps Every Drone Pilot Should Consider - DRONELIFE

 

[dronie326]

I tried DJI GS yesterday. It has great controls but has a limit of 99 waypoints! Not enough for the aerial missions I fly.

Change Capture Mode from "Hover&Capture at Point" to "Capture at Equal Dist. Interval" and your number of waypoints will decrease drastically. Results are still very good and flight time is substantially shorter.
Multi-battery missions are supported.

 

[kitefiter]

Map Pilot has functions I had not found before. Linear Tracking lets you design a flight centerline and then offsets each side for as many as 9 parallel routes. (I do a lot of this type of projects on streets.) And Terrain Awareness can keep your drone at a fixed height AGL. I live in the mountains so this is also very helpful. Both are In-App purchases of $19.99 and $9..99 respectively. I tried them today and was extremely happy to have some new tools.

@dronie326 Thanks for the info. I enjoy learning in this forum.

 

[r62ewa]

Anyone have issues with images not initiating at the proper intervals in their apps? I use the P4 and an iOS device and always have pictures not initiating along the grid. The first line usually works perfect but all other lines of the grid only have images collected sporatically. This has happened with Pix4DCapture, Map Pilot and DroneDeploy. I cannot map anything as I can never get a mission to initiate the image captures.

 

[r62ewa]

I have just tried the DJI GS Pro app and I have the same results as with all other capture apps I've tried, it took pictures for the first line of the grid until 3/4 the way through then became sporatic with captures, then it completely missed the next 2 lines of the grid and started capturing at the last line. The last line was captured fine until 3/4 the way through where it became sporatic again. Can it be my Phantom 4 as I have now tried, Pix4Dcapture, DroneDeploy, Map Pilot and DJI GS Pro with similar results for all apps.

 

[St. John's]

I tried DJI GS yesterday. It has great controls but has a limit of 99 waypoints! Not enough for the aerial missions I fly.

Yeah, I was surprised to run into this limit with DJI GS Pro. Isn't it a bug? 3D mapping flights are not supposed to have this ridiculous limit.

 

[Richard R]

Yeah, I was surprised to run into this limit with DJI GS Pro. Isn't it a bug? 3D mapping flights are not supposed to have this ridiculous limit.

Apparently something in the DJI apk. Litchi has the same 99 WP limit. That's why mapping specific apps like map pilot and drone deploy are so attractive. I've used both with similar success. Do my map processing in MapsMade Easy. Maps with fewer than 250 points (usually around 100 pictures) are processed free and larger maps are on a 'buy points and pay as you go ' plan. Not enough business to justify the monthly fee for DD and others.

 

[St. John's]

Apparently something in the DJI apk. Litchi has the same 99 WP limit. That's why mapping specific apps like map pilot and drone deploy are so attractive. I've used both with similar success. Do my map processing in MapsMade Easy. Maps with fewer than 250 points (usually around 100 pictures) are processed free and larger maps are on a 'buy points and pay as you go ' plan. Not enough business to justify the monthly fee for DD and others.

I just realized it's probably leaving it on the default "Hover and Capture at Point" Capture mode. This is the implication of point 10 in the DJI FAQ for the app:

10. How many waypoints can be set for mapping?

You can set from 2 to 99 waypoints. There may be more than 99 photo capture points if the aircraft captures without hovering. The maximum number of photo capture points depends on the capacity of the SD card.

 

[Richard R]

Makes sense. If the bird is not pausing to take a photo, there aren't actually any WPs, except perhaps at the turning points. As a side note, I've had Map Pilot report that it was slowing down the aircraft because light conditions were dictating a slower shutter speed. Helps keep the blur down. I've been pretty happy with the results.

 

[r62ewa]

Makes sense. If the bird is not pausing to take a photo, there aren't actually any WPs, except perhaps at the turning points. As a side note, I've had Map Pilot report that it was slowing down the aircraft because light conditions were dictating a slower shutter speed. Helps keep the blur down. I've been pretty happy with the results.

I have liked Map Pilot for this same reason. It uses its first photo to determine light conditions and modify its speed to compensate for motion blur.

 

[doktorinjh]

it took pictures for the first line of the grid until 3/4 the way through then became sporatic with captures, then it completely missed the next 2 lines of the grid and started capturing at the last line.

Did you ever resolve this? I've had the same issue with Pix4D Capture, but only on iOS and not Android. Someone suggested that it could be the result of low card speed, but I didn't see any correlation. Sent all of the data to Pix4D and they responded frequently, until I gave them the data they wanted, then they went radio silent. (Pix4D customer service is awful.)

 

[r62ewa]

Did you ever resolve this? I've had the same issue with Pix4D Capture, but only on iOS and not Android. Someone suggested that it could be the result of low card speed, but I didn't see any correlation. Sent all of the data to Pix4D and they responded frequently, until I gave them the data they wanted, then they went radio silent. (Pix4D customer service is awful.)

I agree about Pix 4D support, less than stellar. What I find confusing is if I use 'Safe' mode in Pix4D Capture all waypoints and image trigger locations should be uploaded to the drone but even using this setting I could not get good capture. I only use iOS, you say using the same drone and Android works? I find that reassuring if it is true because I was thinking I had an issue with my drone.

I have been using Drone Deploy lately and the last mission I flew I did get full capture, truely surprising for me. What I find strange is both Pix4D Capture and Map Pilot would work flawlessly early last year and than they both started giving me problems with irregular image capture. I could not get a full mission at all. Than I saw in one of Drone Deploy's update notes that it addressed image capture issues experienced by some users and that is when I did get full capture after updating their app.

I wish I knew what the issue is as I need to be able to trust the apps to get good consistent captures of grids.

 

[doktorinjh]

I only use iOS, you say using the same drone and Android works?

Yes, that's what we found. I've stopped using iOS Pix4D because there were other issues, like the gimbal would pan up in the middle of the mapping mission and take obliques, which shouldn't happen. The Android version works well, but I don't think you can save and then re-fly the same mission and a few other strange inconsistencies between the two versions. It's like there were two separate teams working on the app, one for iOS and one for Android, but they weren't allowed to talk to each other. The look the same, but behave differently.

I have the Drone Deploy app, but haven't used it in the field. I've been relying on the DJI GS Pro app and I'm using the timed interval setting. That has been working well, with about 1% of the images not being taken or not being taken in the correct spot, which isn't a problem on the processing side of things.

 

[r62ewa]

I have used the Free Flight option in Pix4D Capture where you set how many feet apart you want your images and then manually fly the drone and it has been good at initiating captures using this setting. Harder to ensure correct side overlap but it worked well when I mapped the side of a cliff face.

 

[doktorinjh]

I have used the Free Flight option

That's a good option for obliques or similar areas of interest, but it would be really hard to stick to a lawn mower pattern for bigger jobs. I think I used the timed interval for the last hillside oblique we shot, but I'll have to give distance a go.