Litchi: mission startup prediction ...

[Avocet]

Having designed and flown scores or Litchi missions, I've begun to wonder something. I have always had waypoint 1 very close to me and the VO. If waypoint 1 is located far astream, I know litchi will fly right to it as the mission starts, going to its location and altitude, but just what parameters is Litchi using from mission start to wp1? I'm wondering about obstacles, speed, ascent etc. I realize I could solve this question with a wp close by, but I'm wondering about my mission design habits were that initial point not necessary immediately nearby.

Any thoughts?

 

[LarBear360]

Having designed and flown scores or Litchi missions, I've begun to wonder something. I have always had waypoint 1 very close to me and the VO. If waypoint 1 is located far astream, I know litchi will fly right to it as the mission starts, going to its location and altitude, but just what parameters is Litchi using from mission start to wp1? I'm wondering about obstacles, speed, ascent etc. I realize I could solve this question with a wp close by, but I'm wondering about my mission design habits were that initial point not necessary immediately nearby.

Any thoughts?

I recall reading another thread to be sure your altitude is sufficient to clear anything between your launch point and WP1. If not, it will fly at an angle all the way to WP1 gradually gaining altitude. Don't know what speed it would use.

 

[RodPad]

Something else to think about, I was messing around with a low and slow mission, the goal was to test battery efficiency and make a neat video around my house, etc.

Because of where I live I have never found a good take of point. I live on a hill and have many trees. (Fir Mountain Road)

What I noticed, it maybe obvious to some.
You set WP#1 at (8') then your WP#2 etc at 8' above ground level. Where the home point is set at zero, yep.

But then I start the phantom in a different location like 30' away and now the elevation home point is now 10' higher. Then WP#1 is not 8' above ground level, it is now 28'. Anyways I think you got my point.

I was also getting enough GPS variances, to scrap the plan. I would stop the flight for a tree, move a couple of way points, try it again, then its headed for a tree before I get to the waypoints that I moved.

I did get a mission that is 15 mins long at 1.5 mph, not at all what I wanted, I would still see a variation of 10' GPS, I had to follow it around and still cancel it at times. Before I had going around trees and sometimes it would be under them, not on purpose.

Agreed with above, if I use auto take off and auto landing in the mission. It lifts about 4-6' then it heads to the first WP. My first WP for a real mission I use 100m, and stay at 100m AGL, then fine tune later.

My P3S found a Phantom Magnet, (220' Pine Tree). When the magnetism quit. The working Phantom that I could see the camera view, start and stop motors until the battery died. It was in five pieces.

When it lands I set up the last three way points over near the landing spot. 100m, 50m, 25m, 10m. It comes down really fast until it goes into Auto Land which is a much slower speed, it still can be entertaining to hand catch.

Rod

 

[sar104]

Something else to think about, I was messing around with a low and slow mission, the goal was to test battery efficiency and make a neat video around my house, etc.

Because of where I live I have never found a good take of point. I live on a hill and have many trees. (Fir Mountain Road)

What I noticed, it maybe obvious to some.
You set WP#1 at (8') then your WP#2 etc at 8' above ground level. Where the home point is set at zero, yep.

But then I start the phantom in a different location like 30' away and now the elevation home point is now 10' higher. Then WP#1 is not 8' above ground level, it is now 28'. Anyways I think you got my point.

That's a common issue when the ground elevation at the takeoff point is not the same as the ground elevation under the first waypoint, because the profile uploaded to the aircraft relates all altitudes to the takeoff elevation.

 

[RodPad]

That's a common issue when the ground elevation at the takeoff point is not the same as the ground elevation under the first waypoint, because the profile uploaded to the aircraft relates all altitudes to the takeoff elevation.

Common Problem?
When you figure it out what went wrong.

It still freaks me out on missions that takes it below the take off point.
I must have done 50+

Rod

 

[TAG-DRONES]

I've flown many Litchi missions and my experience is that same as stated above with the drone flying directly to the first waypoint. I did notice that Litchi added the option for turning on obstacle avoidance during flight and while I have it active, I haven't tested it to see how it works in flying to the first waypoint.

My tried and true solution is I always start up in Go 4, verify everything, set my manual settings, if that's how I'm flying the mission, and then fly close to the first waypoint location. I then kill Go 4 app and then start Litchi, load the mission and fly. This has worked well for me.

 

[Avocet]

Tag, how much battery loss does this initial process see?

 

[TAG-DRONES]

Tag, how much battery loss does this initial process see?

That really depends on how long I take to set up in the Go 4 app. Typically it is very small because I've gotten fast at the initial set up. For me, it's worth the small amount of battery to know how many satellites I have active and all the other camera settings are correct before I start Litchi. My suggestion would be to try it and see if it fits your process.