Drone Harmony - Creating Missions by flying them first

[Logger]

Let s have a Drone Harmony Specify thread

I posed the following Q about another Mission app

One trap with pre flying routes and recording WPTs is it is very easy to overlook the drones flight path between WPTs. It only records WPTs and POIs and not the path that you fly.

So if you put a WPT at a tree you want to look at beside a building , then fly around the building to another tree and drop a second WPT, the mavic will fly directly across or into the building instead of following your flown path around it. Fine if you consider this and place appropriate WPTs. Not fine if you forget!

The Drone Harmony team have kindly explained how their app offers a solution.
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Hello pilots,

We love your interesting discussion! Hope you don't mind us joining in and learn from your experiences so that we can further improve the Drone Harmony Mission Planner. We certainly will put efforts into providing a better solution for farm scans and your feedback will help us tremendously in doing so. Thanks for that!

Logger, in your post you mention the problem of recording a flight path between WPTs for which we offer a solution:

1. Record the manual flight (for explicit WP's take a picture at each WP location)
2. Transform the recorded flight with the magic wand tool (appears on the left side once you select your recorded flight) - it provides you with three options for the flight plan creation:
   • Use only the pictures (WP's): DH will create a smooth path that goes through your recorded WP's. On that smooth path DH will create new WPs and it will also include your recorded WPs.
   • Use the recorded path: DH will distribute new WPs on your recorded path.
     
   • Use the recorded path and WP's: DH will distribute new WPs on your recorded path and make sure that your recorded WPs are included.

If you have questions on the process, we're here to help.

Thanks again and happy flying!

DH Team

 

[Logger]

Thats sounds like an excellent feature to have and one that is well and truly missing from Litchi. So create the flight plan path using your REC module (The last option in your planner.) I assume it records the flight by taking note of position at a high sample rate like every half second or so. Then choose the option from the three you list to create the plan to save.

Will you system ultimately allow for mission continuation after signal loss and disconnect?

 

[Logger]

@dwallersv said


@droneharmony, nice! By recorded path, do you mean the .TXT log file data, or the more detailed .DAT logs taken from the drone via DJI Assistant 2?

I was unaware of this feature, and as soon as I understand how to get the recorded path and import it into DH, I'm heading out to give it a shot.

 

[guest112]

Hi Logger,

Yes exactly, you would use the REC (record) manual flight option. Your assumptions are correct, but I can't disclose the details on how it is done.

The mission continuation is dependent on the flight mode you have chosen. Here is an extract from of our FAQ:


We can't currently improve this part, as we are bound to what the DJI SDK offers. Simply put, some mission commands DJI uploads to the drone at mission start while others can be sent to the drone during the mission (of course only if you have a RC connection).

Happy flying,

DH Team

 

[guest112]

@droneharmony, nice! By recorded path, do you mean the .TXT log file data, or the more detailed .DAT logs taken from the drone via DJI Assistant 2?

I was unaware of this feature, and as soon as I understand how to get the recorded path and import it into DH, I'm heading out to give it a shot.

Hi dwallersv,

We made a tutorial video on this feature: From manual flights to smooth videos

For this feature you do not need to import anything! Use the greenish + button in the bottom right of the screen and chose "Record a manual flight". The planner will log "behind the curtains" your flight. Once you stop the recording (simply tap on the "stop" on the bottom right) and your recorded flight will appear at the top as a new icon (just below the status information bar). You can then select this recorded flight and convert it to a new flight plan with the options we described in the previous post.

Happy flying,
DH Team

 

[Logger]

Perfect. Thanks for jumping over here and not muddling with the other app..


So I just took it for a spin and recorded a flight. That all was very straight forward. Nice job.

The completion options



do not match in order or nomenclature with with your description so was a bit confusing which one to use. Ended up hitting all three to get three different plans. the last option Smooth plan using photos seems not to have worked.

plan 1 has straight lines between images. Plan 2 seems to be a curved version of same. Plan 3 created a single wpt at home point and nothing more?

 

[Logger]

It is a great interface you guys have. Well done



See how the last plan does nothing. Just a single WPT at/near home point. Also note the middle two plans omit the idiosyncasies of the flown route which will be an issue for me. I take it if "Smooth plan using photos" had produced a route as intended it might be the one to meet my needs

 

[guest112]

[..]
The completion options
[..]
do not match in order or nomenclature with with your description so was a bit confusing which one to use. Ended up hitting all three to get three different plans. the last option Smooth plan using photos seems not to have worked.

plan 1 has straight lines between images. Plan 2 seems to be a curved version of same. Plan 3 created a single wpt at home point and nothing more?

Hi Logger,

I am sorry for using the wrong description which was in use in an older version. Let me reformulate:

1. Plan Using Photos: Connects your recorded WPs (Photos) with straight lines nothing more. Your recorded WPs (Photos) are part of the new flight plan.
   
2. Plan Using Trajectory: Creates a mirror of the recorded flight by placing new WPs along the recorded flight trajectory. Your recorded WPs (Photos) are part of the new flight plan.
   
3. Smooth Plan Using Photos: Creates a smooth flight plan through the recorded WPs (Photos). Your recorded WPs (Photos) are part of the new flight plan.

Great that you did test flights! From your screenshots we think that you created flight plans in the following order:

1. Plan Using Photos
2. Smooth Plan Using Photos
3. Plan Using Trajectory

1. & 2. look fine and do what they are supposed to do. For "3. Plan Using Trajectory" it seems that we have a bug in our code. We will investigate and include a fix if possible with the next update.

Thanks again for your test flights and feedback!

Is there any other "conversion mode" of manually recorded flights that you would require? Let us know!

Happy flying,
DH Team

Update: We added a section on auto-refly of recorded manual flights to our FAQ.

 

[dwallersv]

@droneharmony, just wanted to give you guys big props and strongly encourage you to keep doing what you're doing in terms of interacting with and engaging the community in your development and Beta efforts. You WILL succeed if you can keep up the energy to stay engaged and responsive.

As one with software development in my career history, as well as project management, R&D management, etc., I know the huge effort it takes to connect like you're doing, be responsive, and show the users you're really listening. Don't get exhausted! Stay with it, and you will outpace everyone else.

Good Job, and keep it up! Your app, like no one else's, will evolve into what everyone wants.

 

[Jalarupa]

Is there a way to set the recorded flight to repeat in the same way it was recorded...? Speed, drift, tilt ect?

Exactly the same... Mirror image...

This would be handy for quick cinematic selfie shots without the controller...

 

[Jalarupa]

And is there a way to record a negative altitude? Because when I fly the drone of a cliff with record, it stays on a flat horizontal plane when I replay...?

 

[Logger]

Hi Logger,

I am sorry for using the wrong description which was in use in an older version. Let me reformulate:

1. Plan Using Photos: Connects your recorded WPs (Photos) with straight lines nothing more. Your recorded WPs (Photos) are part of the new flight plan.
   
2. Plan Using Trajectory: Creates a mirror of the recorded flight by placing new WPs along the recorded flight trajectory. Your recorded WPs (Photos) are part of the new flight plan.
   
3. Smooth Plan Using Photos: Creates a smooth flight plan through the recorded WPs (Photos). Your recorded WPs (Photos) are part of the new flight plan.

Great that you did test flights! From your screenshots we think that you created flight plans in the following order:

1. Plan Using Photos
2. Smooth Plan Using Photos
3. Plan Using Trajectory

1. & 2. look fine and do what they are supposed to do. For "3. Plan Using Trajectory" it seems that we have a bug in our code. We will investigate and include a fix if possible with the next update.

Thanks again for your test flights and feedback!

Is there any other "conversion mode" of manually recorded flights that you would require? Let us know!

Happy flying,
DH Team

Update: We added a section on auto-refly of recorded manual flights to our FAQ.

Thanks for the detailed response and for taking the time to detail the correct procedure in your FAQ as well. Will check it out again once you fix the Trajectory recording,.

 

[guest112]

Is there a way to set the recorded flight to repeat in the same way it was recorded...? Speed, drift, tilt ect?

Exactly the same... Mirror image...

This would be handy for quick cinematic selfie shots without the controller...

Hi Jalarupa,

Thank you for your interest and your question.

The current functionality Plan Using Trajectory will be an approximation to what your manual flight was, it will not be exactly the same and differ in a few notable things:

• The speed is not recorded, instead you can set the desired mission speed when you refly the mission automatically.
• The drift of the drone is dependent on speed, wind etc. thus there will be a notable difference to the manual flown mission.
  
• The trajectory is transformed into a sequence of connected waypoints. It will be almost the same, but not to a precision of 100%
• The same holds for gimbal tilt and yaw angle: The waypoints will contain the the mirrored tilt and yaws but in between the waypoints the precision will not be 100%.

Our approach to this functionality was, that you want to transform a shaky unsteady flight (too fast drone or gimball movements) into a steady automatically flown flight to improve the quality of cinematic footage. So far we did not see value in flying with exactly the same speed. If this is a feature the community is deerly interested in we could certainly work on such a solution in the future. Can you elaborate a bit more on the usecases for such a feature?

I'd also like to point out that there are two ways to manually control the speed when you automatically fly a waypoint mission:

• You can use the speed slider in the app when flying (tachometer icon on the left appears when flying, press and you can use the slider to adjust speed or even move backwards along the path)
• Or you can use the right (by default) joystick to adjust the speed.

Finally note that there might be currently a bug as pointed out by logger in this functionality. We are investigating and if necessary add a fix in one of the next updates.

TL;DR: When converting a recorded flight into a mirrored flight plan, the mirrored flight plan approximately follows the recorded trajectory, gimbal and yaw angles but does not have the same speed. The speed when flying the mission automatically can be adjusted manually in the app or using the RC.

Thanks and happy flying,
DH Team

 

[guest112]

And is there a way to record a negative altitude? Because when I fly the drone of a cliff with record, it stays on a flat horizontal plane when I replay...?

Hi Jalarupa,

You raise a valid concern that we also realized when we wanted to fly in a pit, namely the support for negative altitudes.

In the coming weeks we are looking into adding elevation data into the planner and we will combine these coding efforts with adding support for negative altitudes. Unfortunately for now you can not fly below liftoff altitude with our mission planner (when using automatic waypoint missions).

Thanks for confirming to us the need for this feature and happy flying!

DH Team

 

[Oglo]

I too would like negative altitudes. I want to be able to be on the side of a hill/cliff and fly lower or higher controlled flights.

Thoroughly agree with dwallersv:
"Good Job, and keep it up! Your app, like no one else's, will evolve into what everyone wants"

 

[cirrusly]

I'll totally agree with two replies that have already been made:

1. Negative altitudes are VERY important. I live in the mountains, and it's just as common for me to fly below my takeoff point as it is above.
   
2. Keep soliciting feedback for the forums. You don't have to incorporate everything that you hear, but it's very important to listen to what the market wants.

 

[guest112]

I'll totally agree with two replies that have already been made:

1. Negative altitudes are VERY important. I live in the mountains, and it's just as common for me to fly below my takeoff point as it is above.
   
2. Keep soliciting feedback for the forums. You don't have to incorporate everything that you hear, but it's very important to listen to what the market wants.

Hello cirrusly,

Thanks, we will do our best. The negative altitude is on our high priority list now.

Happy flying,
DH Team

 

[CreativeBR]

Hello.

Great idea in draw the volumes and let the app make the survey. Nice!

One thing that i didn't find in the app was a flight time / battery control function.

If i generate a site scan with a big area or far from de liftoff point the app identifies that?

{}s
CreativeBR

 

[CreativeBR]

I have created a site mission to a 15m squared struture and seems that each of 3 flight plans created have it's own takeoff and land command. Is that right?

 

[jimmybbq]

I'm trying this tomorrow.. There's an old school I've been wanting to video like this. I always use Litchi, but it doesn't have this functionality.