I know some of you old hands know how to do this, but to me its amazing. I found that I can load Litchi mission plans as KML files to Google Earth and display them in 3D. This might help around difficult terrain.

Awesome

Woe Posted at 11-29 05:53
Awesome

Thanks! I just loaded a mission over mountainous terrain. What a difference.

I took down the video of the mission I posted above. Youtube spilled beer on the lens or something. It was all but unwatchable. I cast it to my 65" HD TV and it looked pretty good.

Dumbthumbs Posted at 11-29 07:41
Thanks! I just loaded a mission over mountainous terrain. What a difference.

Aloha DT,

     This is where my script says, "Be careful!"  Oh, I already said that.  How tall are the trees on that mountain?

     One other caution, your bird is the P3 Standard.  The P3S does not have object avoidance.  When the P4 first came out, one of the Forum Members flew a Litchi mission and did not notice that two of his waypoints had altitude way too low (he forgot to set them) and another one went straight into the eve of a house (new house, not on the Google Earth photo).  Fortunately the P4 had object avoidance.  His video of the flight was very interesting even though it did not show him washing his pants after the flight - but you know he had to!

     In that flight, the P4 almost came to a stop and then proceeded very slowly over bushes that had not been considered in the planning.  After arriving safely at the waypoint, it then turned toward the next waypoint and right into the split rail of a fence where it stopped and went over The fence and sped into the eve of the house where it stopped again and went over the house to the final waypoint and the very relieved Forum Member.

     Triple check each waypoint and find out the height of any potential obstacles in the flight zone.  Around my house,  I have Norfolk Pines and some of them get over 100 feet.  I took my Phantom and took off from the bottom of the highest and closest, very tall Norfolk and then flew up to eye level of the top of the tree and got the altitude, 95 feet.  I set all my waypoints a minimum of 120 feet higher than the Google Earth altitude of the waypoint.  My RTH altitude is also 40 meters minimum.

     Just some suggestions because this is too much fun!

Aloha and Drone On!

Thanks, Cetacean. That sounds like pucker factor 9. Bet that video was worth a laugh. I hear ya about erring on the side of caution. Here's an initial plan I drew in Litchi and opened in google earth. The 3d feature is nice but it doesn't show the way points. Anyway, in the image you can see the Jeep trail up to an observation point. Thats where I'll land and take off. In this part of the desert the trees are few and far between.

Dumbthumbs Posted at 11-30 04:13
Thanks, Cetacean. That sounds like pucker factor 9. Bet that video was worth a laugh. I hear ya about erring on the side of caution. Here's an initial plan I drew in Litchi and opened in google earth. The 3d feature is nice but it doesn't show the way points. Anyway, in the image you can see the Jeep trail up to an observation point. Thats where I'll land and take off. In this part of the desert the trees are few and far between.

Aloha DT,

     You are right, I totally missed that and the original Litchi flight path - no waypoints!  The mountain path looks a lot smoother and well-rounded though.  Good luck and let us know how it goes.

     Be sure to have a plan to bail on the flight if needed.

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 11-30 22:03
Aloha DT,

     You are right, I totally missed that and the original Litchi flight path - no waypoints!  The mountain path looks a lot smoother and well-rounded though.  Good luck and let us know how it goes.

When you move the cursor over the 3D flight image in google earth, the waypoints do show up as a series of vertical yellow lines. Just select  the curved turns in Litchi and guess what? The curves show up on the Google earth 3D view as a series of waypoints. So, its my thinking that the 'curve' is actually a series of closely spaced waypoints that incrementally bring the bird to its new heading.
Clever devils.

Cool thanks for sharing

jacksonnai Posted at 12-1 08:10
Cool thanks for sharing

You're welcome!

Great info. Thanks for posting.

Sayhelloforme Posted at 12-1 11:28
Great info. Thanks for posting.

Thank you, Say.
I just purchased Litchi last week for $15 and now of course Google Earth Pro is free! I'm still learning about how to use mission planning but everything I've seen so far is impressive.

Dumbthumbs Posted at 12-1 11:39
Thank you, Say.
I just purchased Litchi last week for $15 and now of course Google Earth Pro is free! I'm still learning about how to use mission planning but everything I've seen so far is impressive.

I’ve had the app for about 6 months now.  Used it a few times and really liked it. I need to watch some YouTube videos to be able to do what you’ve done. Do you  suggest any good links for  autonomous fly   And unloading a mission ? Thanks.

Dumbthumbs Posted at 12-1 11:39
Thank you, Say.
I just purchased Litchi last week for $15 and now of course Google Earth Pro is free! I'm still learning about how to use mission planning but everything I've seen so far is impressive.

I’ve had the app for about 6 months now.  Used it a few times and really liked it. I need to watch some YouTube videos to be able to do what you’ve done. Do you  suggest any good links for  autonomous fly   And unloading a mission ? Thanks.

Dumbthumbs Posted at 11-30 04:13
Thanks, Cetacean. That sounds like pucker factor 9. Bet that video was worth a laugh. I hear ya about erring on the side of caution. Here's an initial plan I drew in Litchi and opened in google earth. The 3d feature is nice but it doesn't show the way points. Anyway, in the image you can see the Jeep trail up to an observation point. Thats where I'll land and take off. In this part of the desert the trees are few and far between.

That’s awesome.

Sayhelloforme Posted at 12-1 12:41
I’ve had the app for about 6 months now.  Used it a few times and really liked it. I need to watch some YouTube videos to be able to do what you’ve done. Do you  suggest any good links for  autonomous fly   And unloading a mission ? Thanks.

Here's the link to the manual. https://docs.google.com/document ... W_xWnGaF-IjAa4/edit
And here's the video explaining the method:
Actually, its a lot easier than it looks: Download Google Earth Pro. Download the Litchi 'mission hub' on your PC or laptop, create an account and sign in.  At the bottom left of the Litchi hub page, hover the cursor over missions, select 'export as KML 3d path'. You'll get a dialogue box that asks if you want to open or save the file. Save it, then when its downloaded, click it open. If you have signed it to both apps, the Litchi app will export your current mission to GE.  

Dumbthumbs Posted at 12-1 13:11
Here's the link to the manual. https://docs.google.com/document ... W_xWnGaF-IjAa4/edit
And here's the video explaining the method: https://youtu.be/M9QrXfaX8XU
Actually, its a lot easier than it looks: Download Google Earth Pro. Download the Litchi 'mission hub' on your PC or laptop, create an account and sign in.  At the bottom left of the Litchi hub page, hover the cursor over missions, select 'export as KML 3d path'. You'll get a dialogue box that asks if you want to open or save the file. Save it, then when its downloaded, click it open. If you have signed it to both apps, the Litchi app will export your current mission to GE.

Wow, thank you so much dumbthumbs !!!  I really appreciate it    It does look a bit challenging but I’ll take your word as it looks harder than what it is. Thanks so much again !!!

Excellent work mate!

A CW Posted at 12-2 00:15
Excellent work mate!

Thanks, CW!

Sayhelloforme Posted at 12-1 20:56
Wow, thank you so much dumbthumbs !!!  I really appreciate it    It does look a bit challenging but I’ll take your word as it looks harder than what it is. Thanks so much again !!!

Your welcome! I hope you'll show us some video soon!

Dumbthumbs Posted at 12-2 02:32
Thanks, CW!

You're welcome buddy