Litchi out of sight waypoint missions

[markymark1177]

Can I just say iam [EXPLETIVE REMOVED] myself with my first out of sight mission waypoint.
So what iam asking is it reliable enough to do so.
This will be done in total open ground on marsh land.
Many thanks guys.


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[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Yes, but make SURE the altitudes are high enough!! Set RTH high enough!! Inspect google maps on pc first. Look for any power lines cell towers. (cell towers/power lines are hard to see)

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Also make sure from one waypoint to next, path will clear objects. If there's a tree, make a waypoint to climb before proceeding to next.

 

[markymark1177]

Thanks guys I will be around 200 ft up so no obstacles
Just will panic when it loses signal


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[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Keep antennas straight up, pointed towards drone, if confident with paths, keep calm and shoot any zombies attempting to reach for it. It'll be ok...

 

[alokbhargava]

Also check the total mission time, don't exceed 15minutes until you have better confidence. This is to ensure your craft has enough juice to complete the mission in moderate winds.


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[Pharm]

Once the mission starts, the orientation of the antennas is irrelevant as the mission will continue even if contact is lost. Make sure your "end action" is either RTH or back to the first waypoint.

Two things to be aware of:

If/when you get the scary message, "Warning! Disconnected!", don't panic. Don't hit the RTH button because it won't work anyway since you're disconnected. Do NOT flip to P mode (if by chance it reconnects, the mission will cancel and it will hover). Just wait. You'll have no telemetry telling you where your bird is. Your screen will be a static display with nothing changing. Just wait. Curse if you want to. Jump up and down. Cry like a schoolgirl. Then, just wait. The pucker factor will be very high. If you planned everything well, your bird will return. When you finally see/hear it and your video and telemetry flash back to life, you can stop sobbing and exclaim, "It worked! It $*%#ing worked! It's coming back! This is SO awesome!"

If at anytime during the mission you hear, "Mission Ended" (and you know it hasn't), don't touch anything. Don't DO anything. Just wait. All will be fine. This is due to an issue with the DJI SDK (Software Development Kit) that Litchi has no control over but it will not affect the flight and the mission has NOT ended far away from you. Just ignore it. I wrote Litchi about it because the first time it happened to me while my bird was far away, I came perilously close to soiling my Fruit of the Looms. They gave me the info above and told me it was safe to ignore.

Addendum: If you have your path set to straight lines instead of curved paths, the bird will stop briefly at each waypoint before continuing. This is only important because the calculated time of the mission will NOT include the additional time for this. The calculated time is based on continuous flight.

Addendum 2: Make sure your first and last waypoints are less than 2000 meters apart. If they're not, the mission won't load.

Good luck, happy flying and please reply back and let us know how it went. We expect a full journal, including all your feelings and emotional insights during this momentous occasion in your life. Ok, we'll settle for just a simple report.

 

[markymark1177]

Well I have done it and only a small one around 5500 feet distance but even stock with a £10 windsurfer it still had connection for 3500 feet so only lost connection for a couple of minutes still scary though.
Many thanks for all your help and advice guys.


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[Richard R]

Once the mission starts, the orientation of the antennas is irrelevant as the mission will continue even if contact is lost. Make sure your "end action" is either RTH or back to the first waypoint.

Two things to be aware of:

If/when you get the scary message, "Warning! Disconnected!", don't panic. Don't hit the RTH button because it won't work anyway since you're disconnected. Do NOT flip to P mode (if by chance it reconnects, the mission will cancel and it will hover). Just wait. You'll have no telemetry telling you where your bird is. Your screen will be a static display with nothing changing. Just wait. Curse if you want to. Jump up and down. Cry like a schoolgirl. Then, just wait. The pucker factor will be very high. If you planned everything well, your bird will return. When you finally see/hear it and your video and telemetry flash back to life, you can stop sobbing and exclaim, "It worked! It $*%#ing worked! It's coming back! This is SO awesome!"

If at anytime during the mission you hear, "Mission Ended" (and you know it hasn't), don't touch anything. Don't DO anything. Just wait. All will be fine. This is due to an issue with the DJI SDK (Software Development Kit) that Litchi has no control over but it will not affect the flight and the mission has NOT ended far away from you. Just ignore it. I wrote Litchi about it because the first time it happened to me while my bird was far away, I came perilously close to soiling my Fruit of the Looms. They gave me the info above and told me it was safe to ignore.

Addendum: If you have your path set to straight lines instead of curved paths, the bird will stop briefly at each waypoint before continuing. This is only important because the calculated time of the mission will NOT include the additional time for this. The calculated time is based on continuous flight.

Addendum 2: Make sure your first and last waypoints are less than 2000 meters apart. If they're not, the mission won't load.

Good luck, happy flying and please reply back and let us know how it went. We expect a full journal, including all your feelings and emotional insights during this momentous occasion in your life. Ok, we'll settle for just a simple report.

Just one caveat to your first paragraph. Keep in mind that if you loose link, you have no idea where the gimbal will be pointing! Litchi specifically states that the gimbal action is 'undefined' if 'lost link' during a mission.

 

[Pharm]

Just one caveat to your first paragraph. Keep in mind that if you loose link, you have no idea where the gimbal will be pointing! Litchi specifically states that the gimbal action is 'undefined' if 'lost link' during a mission.

Good point. I forgot to mention that.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

That's why a POI mission may be useful.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

And keeping the antennas upright and facing the drone as it starts a mission is not irrelevant as keeping video feed is always desirable, and if you notice something amiss or mis-planned mission and still have contact, you can either pause or cancel it.

 

[StingFlight]

I use my P4 almost exclusively with Litchie and Waypoint missions. I research every mission to ensure as safe a return as possible: [For UK].

1. Check OS map 1:25K, these show masts, pylons and most high rise structures and are the most detailed maps available in the UK. Also check terrain elevation and make sure you have plenty of altitude clearance (don't put all your trust Obstical Avoidence).. (on OS 1:25k the lines are at 5m intervals)

2. Check App - Drone Assist - this marks NFZ and sensitive areas not to fly over. Tall masts and Pylons are also marked on this.

3. Flight Radar24 - checks for low flying aircraft in the area.. this is not an exhaustive check, but checks most and is pretty good... there is a slight delay on what is shown on the map of a minute or so.. so take that into account.

4. Walk the route.. IF possible I will walk the route and visually inspect the sky path.

5. Start and End waypoint is above home position and at a safe altitude.

6. Get a sense of where the Drone is heading and keep the attends pointed/facing in the general direction of the drone.

7. 15 Minutes is my 'Safe' time.. all missions fall within this time unless I feel daring!!! - If I have a large area to cover, I will split the flight into multiple missions, and do the rest in post!

 

[Pharm]

Also check the total mission time, don't exceed 15minutes until you have better confidence. This is to ensure your craft has enough juice to complete the mission in moderate winds.


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In addition, if you have the waypoints set to "straight lines" instead of "curved paths", be aware that the Phantom will stop briefly at each waypoint. This additional time is NOT calculated into the estimated mission time reported by the app so don't push the time limits.

Just realized what an old thread this is AND I already said this!

 

[alokbhargava]

I prefer curved paths as it gives smoother shots.

 

[Jive]

I did my first long waypoint mission on Saturday. I flew from my house to a friends house, and had the Phantom tilt the camera straight down, hover for 30 seconds above his house, tilt the camera back up, and continue on the mission. It worked great, with no issues, but it seems you can only do waypoint actions if you have it set for straight lines. Is there not anyway to have curved lines until the action waypoint?

Video here:

 

[alokbhargava]

You are right actions can't be initiated if you select curved paths. Logically a curved path doesn't touch the waypoint and actions can be done only when it reaches a waypoint.

 

[Jive]

You are right. It would be nice to have the ability to have curved waypoints up to, say waypoint 6, and then from 6 to 7, have a straight line so you could do actions @ waypoint 7.

 

[bsartist]

Make sure failsafe RTH is turned on. So if something does go wrong and it hovers out of range, it'll come back when batt gets low.

One more thing, speed changes won't happen while you have loss of signal. Let's say you drop the speed down during the mission at one waypoint and bump it back up at, say, the next waypoint. If you lose signal after the speed drop but before it bumps back up, it will keep flying the mission at the slow speed. This could give you an unexpectedly longer effective mission time.

 

[dug611]

All great advice, up to 16 minutes @16mph about 3.3 miles. I've notice that my camera icon starts to jump around and the % climbs when its starting to get close even though I may not get a video connection on the return trip.