Litchi observation

[Tomcat II]

I am new to the forum and the hobby. Thanks for having me. I am finding this thread extremely helpful in my learning process. I found the nerve today to do a full Litchi waypoint flight. The software and video confirmed the mission was 22 minutes long. What I find interesting is at the end of this 22 minute mission the bird ( Phantom 4 Pro ) returned with 50% battery left. The mission was 17,000 total feet at 10 miles per hour miminal gimbal adjustments. Is the lack of battery usage because the mission is so controlled and smooth?

 

[LarBear360]

I am new to the forum and the hobby. Thanks for having me. I am finding this thread extremely helpful in my learning process. I found the nerve today to do a full Litchi waypoint flight. The software and video confirmed the mission was 22 minutes long. What I find interesting is at the end of this 22 minute mission the bird ( Phantom 4 Pro ) returned with 50% battery left. The mission was 17,000 total feet at 10 miles per hour miminal gimbal adjustments. Is the lack of battery usage because the mission is so controlled and smooth?

Wow, are you sure it ran 22 minutes? You have 22 minutes of video? If so you got lucky! Certainly the lack of gimbal movement will save some battery life, but I don't think it's going to knock off 50%. My best guess is the wind was working in your favor, and/or your battery reading is not accurate.

 

[Tomcat II]

Wow, are you sure it ran 22 minutes? You have 22 minutes of video? If so you got lucky! Certainly the lack of gimbal movement will save some battery life, but I don't think it's going to knock off 50%. My best guess is the wind was working in your favor, and/or your battery reading is not accurate.

My bad , or should I say litchi bad. I just got home and started post. The litchi mission still reads 22 minutes however actual footage on the memory card is more like 14 minutes. Kind of weird the Litchi Aprox flight time would be so off.

 

[Meta4]

I am new to the forum and the hobby. Thanks for having me. I am finding this thread extremely helpful in my learning process. I found the nerve today to do a full Litchi waypoint flight. The software and video confirmed the mission was 22 minutes long. What I find interesting is at the end of this 22 minute mission the bird ( Phantom 4 Pro ) returned with 50% battery left. The mission was 17,000 total feet at 10 miles per hour miminal gimbal adjustments. Is the lack of battery usage because the mission is so controlled and smooth?

The gimbal uses almost no power and isn't a consideration.
22 minutes at 10 mph would give about 3.2 miles travelled so that time/distance would be correct.
The drone is capable of more than 7 miles on a battery so I don't see anything unusual in the numbers you've posted.

 

[MassDrone]

I’ve noticed that Litchi consistently overestimates travel time. Usually my drones return several minutes ahead of the predicted time.

 

[mdowney58]

The only way that the length of the video would provide any value, is if the video were on for every second that the Phantom was flying. Was it?

 

[Tomcat II]

Yes it was. That was my point. I took 1 video and the card had 3 on it with missing footage when the mission was complete.

 

[Meta4]

Yes it was. That was my point. I took 1 video and the card had 3 on it with missing footage when the mission was complete.

The Phantom's camera has a file size limitation and records in 4GB blocks.

 

[Tomcat II]

Thanks. That explains it.

 

[clarkent]

The Phantom's camera has a file size limitation and records in 4GB blocks.

The limitation is in the filesystem, not in the camera. It works in FAT32. And that system are limited to 4GB blocks.

 

[skiptv]

Dont ever fly a mission that estimates a flight time of more than 20 minutes if you value your drone. Taking a battery to the very end of its charge is a great way to loose your drone.

 

[Deezbs]

I’ve noticed that Litchi consistently overestimates travel time. Usually my drones return several minutes ahead of the predicted time.

Yep

 

[Deezbs]

I am new to the forum and the hobby. Thanks for having me. I am finding this thread extremely helpful in my learning process. I found the nerve today to do a full Litchi waypoint flight. The software and video confirmed the mission was 22 minutes long. What I find interesting is at the end of this 22 minute mission the bird ( Phantom 4 Pro ) returned with 50% battery left. The mission was 17,000 total feet at 10 miles per hour miminal gimbal adjustments. Is the lack of battery usage because the mission is so controlled and smooth?

It's not unusual at all. I've literally done hundreds of litchi missions. It always overestimates. What I believe it does is estimate the mission time based on the slowest it travels during the mission. Or your cruising speed for the entire flight.

 

[Brojon]

The limitation is in the filesystem, not in the camera. It works in FAT32. And that system are limited to 4GB blocks.

Actually it would be easy for DJI to support exFAT.
However there's another factor at play - the EU has a high tax on "video equipment" which it defines as the ability to record a video longer than a specified time.