Free Google Earth Flight Planner

Joined
Sep 25, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Age
26
Hi all,
I created a free Chrome Extension that allows you to make Litchi flight plans from Google Earth. It works by reconstructing positional information from Google Earth internals.

The current functionality is as follows:
- Add Waypoints from current views
- Delete Waypoints
- Download Litchi flight plan
- Download Virtual flight

How to use:
- Add Chrome Extension
- When in Google Earth (web version), click on round "DH" button in top right corner
- Create flight plan from Google Earth views
- Upload flight plan to Litchi (or view as Virtual flight in Google Earth)

I have tested this with several flights and it is accurate. Essentially, any view that you can see/go to in Google Earth, you can add to a flight plan.

Please try it out and let me know what you think. I plan on continuously developing this flight planner and will focus on features that people want. There are a lot of cool features that are already in the works, but I wanted to get this Beta version released for people to try out.

Link:
DroneHub

Best,
Sam
 
Hi all,
I created a free Chrome Extension that allows you to make Litchi flight plans from Google Earth. It works by reconstructing positional information from Google Earth internals.

The current functionality is as follows:
- Add Waypoints from current views
- Delete Waypoints
- Download Litchi flight plan
- Download Virtual flight

How to use:
- Add Chrome Extension
- When in Google Earth (web version), click on round "DH" button in top right corner
- Create flight plan from Google Earth views
- Upload flight plan to Litchi (or view as Virtual flight in Google Earth)

I have tested this with several flights and it is accurate. Essentially, any view that you can see/go to in Google Earth, you can add to a flight plan.

Please try it out and let me know what you think. I plan on continuously developing this flight planner and will focus on features that people want. There are a lot of cool features that are already in the works, but I wanted to get this Beta version released for people to try out.

Link:
DroneHub

Best,
Sam
Wow Sam, that sounds great. I would enjoy the possibilities of what it can do and how it looks. I never reached the max on DJI go yet. I don't think I'll ever get to Litchi. I still like what you have done and understand it. I just wish my brain would get out of reverse. I don't even dare fly in 4 K. my computer and brain both froze up. LOL
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt KO and seccode
Hi Sam,

What are the benefits over building a flight plan on Litchi's Mission Hub?
The advantage of using this is that the drone will capture the exact view you are seeing in Google Earth, whereas in Litchi you have to estimate what the view will look like from a 2-dimensional map.

There is currently a way to export a Litchi mission as a "Virtual Litchi Mission" which displays the flight in Google Earth. Virtual Litchi Missions only let you see the end result of a mission you've already made. But this flight planner lets you create the mission within Google Earth so that you can see the view before adding it to the flight.

I will be sharing some tutorials on how to use this flight planner that showcase the flight planner's accuracy - it is pretty incredibly how precise it is!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt KO
..............it to the flight.

I will be sharing some tutorials on how to use this flight planner that showcase the flight planner's accuracy - it is pretty incredibly how precise it is!
Very interesting and thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the tutorials!
 
Hi all,
I created a free Chrome Extension that allows you to make Litchi flight plans from Google Earth. It works by reconstructing positional information from Google Earth internals.

The current functionality is as follows:
- Add Waypoints from current views
- Delete Waypoints

Seccode Sam, good luck with your extension. I'll give it a try. If you didn't already know this, Litchi has a DJI Drone Field of View KML file that you can download to plan missions in Google Earth and then fly in Litchi, similarly perhaps to what your extension does. It's located at the bottom of the page here with an instructional video: Help - Litchi
 
I have been using an extension for Chrome for a couple of years now. After you install it, it creates am "export as VLM" option under missions. After it downloads it opens automatically in Google Earth. Then you can "virtually" fly the mission.

I don't know if this is the same extension you made, but one thing for sure, I use it a lot
 
Seccode Sam, good luck with your extension. I'll give it a try. If you didn't already know this, Litchi has a DJI Drone Field of View KML file that you can download to plan missions in Google Earth and then fly in Litchi, similarly perhaps to what your extension does. It's located at the bottom of the page here with an instructional video: Help - Litchi
Yes, this is very similar to what my extension does. However, my extension streamlines the process so that all you need to do is move around Google Earth and click "Add Waypoint." It essentially is a better user-interface for accomplishing a planned mission in Google Earth. When the 1.0.0 version is released (this is just the Beta version), you will also have the ability to plan actions (Take Photo, Start Recording, Stop Recording, etc.)
 
I have been using an extension for Chrome for a couple of years now. After you install it, it creates am "export as VLM" option under missions. After it downloads it opens automatically in Google Earth. Then you can "virtually" fly the mission.

I don't know if this is the same extension you made, but one thing for sure, I use it a lot
This is similar to VLM! However, VLM only lets you see an existing flight plan in Google Earth. My extension allows you to create the flight plan in Google Earth - as well as view it after you have made it.
 
This is similar to VLM! However, VLM only lets you see an existing flight plan in Google Earth. My extension allows you to create the flight plan in Google Earth - as well as view it after you have made it.

I downloaded the extension but the window is so small it is difficult to do anything. Also, I'm not seeing where/how to change the altitude.
 
I downloaded the extension but the window is so small it is difficult to do anything. Also, I'm not seeing where/how to change the altitude.
The window should be small because it is just a display to show you the points you have added. When you click "Add waypoint", it is taking your current position in Google Earth, and adding it to the mission. So to change your altitude in Google Earth, you can either use the arrow keys or mouse to move around
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,354
Members
104,934
Latest member
jody.paugh@fullerandsons.