DSAR attendees; were you happy with Litchi?

[Former Member]

Now that the 1st meeting is in the history books, I'm just wondering how happy everyone was flying their SAR missions with Litchi? Is there anything you would have done differently prior to the meeting if you had the chance to do it again? Also, what did you learn today that you didnt know before?

We had a great turn out, and I tried to get around to helping everyone, but it seems like I wasn't able to get to everyone and I apologize.

I was really impressed with all the mission planning that every member put into it. I hope everyone left today with a better understanding of Litchi and its capabilities, and that you are a llitle more comfortable in actually using the app to fly an autonomous mission.

At one point we had 5 or 6 drones in the air, and it was great to watch. There were very few equipment failures, no crashes or flyaways, and I think everyone who wanted to fly actually got to fly.

 

[Former Member]

Some pics from today.

 

[TR Ganey]

We had a great time! I was particularly impressed with the "Sparks", I'm sure I'll end up with one in my arsenal sooner or later. The missions were an eye opener for several different reasons. As always it is harder than you think. The drones are powerful tools and I look forward to seeing them used more often. Thanks for all you guys do!

 

[BrucenYvette]

FYI, my daughter in Hopkinsville KY has begun raising / breeding / training SAR-tracking dogs (shepherds). She would have LOVED to have attended something like this. Her husband is a Detective on the Hopkinsville police force and she's a homeschooling Mom with 14 year-old twin daughters and 10-year old son...all of whom involved in the care and training activities. My daughter is a uniform-wearing voluntary of the Montgomery County Sheriffs Dept canine unit and participates in their canine training functions.

All that to say, we traveled to Hopkinsville for Christmas and did some exercises tracking with my Mavic Pro in my daughter's dog training. The girls with their little brother would make a track out in the fields and find a place to hide. I would follow them with my Mavic. One two-way radios, the kids would announce they were hidden. I'd fly my drone back to "home". Then my daughter would set out with one of their two shepherds and I'd follow the dog with my drone. The video from the drone showed clearly the actions of the dog following the ground and airborne scent trail while the GPS created a breadcrumb trail that we could later compare with the path taken by the kids.

My daughter found this extremely useful as she was able to see the differences between the dogs and how they tracked as well as other factors that influence how well the dogs performed...or were distracted and why, etc. In the end, she was able analyze both the video and the tracking data in order to help with later training. It was really cool stuff.

 

[TR Ganey]

FYI, my daughter in Hopkinsville KY has begun raising / breeding / training SAR-tracking dogs (shepherds). She would have LOVED to have attended something like this. Her husband is a Detective on the Hopkinsville police force and she's a homeschooling Mom with 14 year-old twin daughters and 10-year old son...all of whom involved in the care and training activities. My daughter is a uniform-wearing voluntary of the Montgomery County Sheriffs Dept canine unit and participates in their canine training functions.

All that to say, we traveled to Hopkinsville for Christmas and did some exercises tracking with my Mavic Pro in my daughter's dog training. The girls with their little brother would make a track out in the fields and find a place to hide. I would follow them with my Mavic. One two-way radios, the kids would announce they were hidden. I'd fly my drone back to "home". Then my daughter would set out with one of their two shepherds and I'd follow the dog with my drone. The video from the drone showed clearly the actions of the dog following the ground and airborne scent trail while the GPS created a breadcrumb trail that we could later compare with the path taken by the kids.

My daughter found this extremely useful as she was able to see the differences between the dogs and how they tracked as well as other factors that influence how well the dogs performed...or were distracted and why, etc. In the end, she was able analyze both the video and the tracking data in order to help with later training. It was really cool stuff.

I have a history in training and using scent trailing dogs in L.E. and I can definitely understand how beneficial it would have been to have this ability. It's another tool that can be added to the arsenal.

 

[Aviator]

Thanks Rob, had a really great time, meeting with all of you, flying missions and learning. Looking forward to ATL meeting.

 

[JakeRobinson]

First, kudos for the three of you forming DSAR. It was a lark that I happened to see the notice of last-minute openings and I made the snap decision to make the two-hour drive - convenient. As I read the description of the exercises being presented and then applied with hands-on I was sold that learning waypoint missions with Litchi was a no brainer.

My mission went off without a hitch. I was able to pause the mission and take a couple of photos and zoom in to determine if the object I spotted was indeed the target object of interest. Then, simply hit "play" and continue the mission where it left off.

I flip raw land for fun and profit and purchased my M2Z with the express purpose of videoing parcels and creating an "info video" to market when in sales mode. Litchi is the answer to quick and easy pre-planned missions to create, record and highlight powerful videos. Sure, I'm no cinematic photog pro but Litchi is the answer to a rookie who wants to save time and get usable footage

Next, I am now considering Part 107 in order to be able to volunteer for DSAR missions in the future.

I look forward to the next training in Atlanta in June!

If I had learned about this earlier I would have been able to set up my mission ahead of time. However, I did dive into YT for Litchi and was surprised how easy it was to set up a mission. AND, you can do it on your laptop, desktop (or other devices) BEFORE you arrive at the flight location. I had set up a mission and could have flown it once I arrived. How much time saving and efficiency can you ask for when you can go to the satellite view and design intricate missions with altitude + speed + orientation?

If I had changed anything I would have paid more attention to the orientation and focus of the camera views.

Thanks for the help and training provided!

 

[zappy54]

All said and done Litchi jus wipes the floor with DJI GO4 and some

 

[BigAl07]

@Thunderdrones how did you utilize Litchi for this training? Did you create search grids within Litchi?

 

[Former Member]

@Thunderdrones how did you utilize Litchi for this training? Did you create search grids within Litchi?

Thanks for asking.

1. Charile @FatherXmas was kind enough to provide us access to his church, across from which was an open field with a few dozen acres of land. That was to be our search area, where our "mannequin" victim, and our lost truck were positioned.

2. A few weeks before training day, Bob sent out a message to all SAR attendees, stating what the search mission parameters were, what the volunteers were looking for, and general direction the test victims were thought to be located. Attendees were given homework to create their own Litchi search grid based on the information that Bob @RCdancer gave them beforehand. Missions were limited to 1 battery, and altitude of 150'. For the actual training day, Bob @RCdancer put together a pretty comprehensive slideshow with an intro to Litchi and its features pertinent to SAR operations. Bob ended up doing the slideshow after the flights due to weather concerns.

3. During training day, I reviewed all members Litchi flight plans prior to flight to make sure they fell within the search parameters, and were within limitations of battery, and were at safe altitudes.

The majority of members had developed a horseshoe shaped flight plan, flight duration was between 4 and 9 minutes, and a few members actually found the vehicle during their flights.

It will be easier the next time around, and I will review each members flight plan online before flight day on Mission Hub, so there will be little left to work out the day of training. It took a little while to review everyones flight plans, so next time each member will have time to fly multiple times. A big hurdle was members who preplanned their flight plan using mission hub, and their flight plan needed tweaking. What we had to do was tweak it on the app. Next time, before they download it to their device and days before the mission, I will approve it on Mission Hub, and then when they download it to their device, I will ask that they lock it, so no alterations of waypoints can be made, except by me, for safety.

 

[Former Member]

@RCdancer sent this email to members one month prior to the training date:

"On (March) 30th, you will be tasked to search Moon Lake School and Moon Lake Church North/NorthWest of the church for a specific vehicle. The school is not visible from the church with trees in between. You should use a waypoint flight with POIs to circle the school and church examining different areas. If you understand enough about Litchi now, it's a good idea to go ahead and plan your flight now on Litchi Mission Hub. There is a house with an orange roof east of the church seen in the screenshot below. Your flight plan MUST stay west of this house because there will be drones east of the house searching for an unconscious individual in the field north of the church. In addition, you must keep your flight 150 ft AGL and higher as the drones to the east will be 125 ft AGL and lower."

On training day, the vehicle was described in type, color and special features, and the members were given that information.

 

[Former Member]

@RCdancer sent this to members:

Our introductory brief on Drone Search & Rescue is now available here. Future updates to the brief will always be at the same link. Please review the briefing in entirety before you come to Mentone on 30 Mar as the briefing will lay a good foundation for your understanding of Drone SAR operations. We will expound on some of the slides in Mentone, taking no more than the first hour to maximize your time outside. thanks,

Bob

 

[Former Member]

@RCdancer sent this to mebers:

Everyone,



In preparation for the forthcoming Drone SAR training on 30 Mar, it's important that you download the Litchi app to your smart device that you use to fly your drone with and familiarize yourself with the app to the extent that you can fly your drone with Litchi instead of the DJI Go app. Litchi provides important capabilities that are not currently available in the DJI Go app.



To help you, here is the link to the user manual for the Litchi app. The more comfortable you are with Litchi the more you will get out of the training. At a minimum you should be able to fly your drone in FPV mode with Litchi.



thanks,



Bob

 

[FatherXmas]

FYI, my daughter in Hopkinsville KY has begun raising / breeding / training SAR-tracking dogs (shepherds).

As I mentioned Saturday, I was a member of CAESAR (Canine Assisted Emergency Search and Rescue) for several years. Dogs are amazing for SAR! Good luck to her, that is a very noble thing to do.

 

[BrucenYvette]

As I mentioned Saturday, I was a member of CAESAR (Canine Assisted Emergency Search and Rescue) for several years. Dogs are amazing for SAR! Good luck to her, that is a very noble thing to do.

I see that you are actually in Mentone. Couple of snapshots, me with my daughter at the rodeo just outside of Menlo, GA; and her policeman hubby enjoying a cold drink in Mentone.

Bruce shared 2 photos with you

www.amazon.com

We came up from St. Augustine and met them in Menlo over Labor Day, 2018 and spent a day walking around your little town. BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL!!!