How hard would it be to simulate litchi missions in google earth?

[torqum]

I think that's it. The first waypoint was at 200ft. I was in a very tree cluttered area and didn't trust Litchi (in combination with my initial launch point) to clear the trees, so I manually flew up to the first waypoint before starting the mission. So if I understand you correctly, I can make a copy of the mission and insert a waypoint at the beginning at ground level and that will correct the angles? I will give this a try later today. It is a little tedious, but I really do like to be able to see the mission fly in the safety of virtual reality before I go out and fly it.

I do hope JTS continues to work on this project. I would certainly pay a reasonable amount for a finished product.

No, what I meant was that this simulation program uses the true ground as its reference plane, whereas litchi uses your altitude at the launch site as its reference plane. They end up being the same thing if you actually launch from the ground. But if you launch from the top of a building, and plan for that in litchi, then the Google earth simulation will be too low.

For example, if you plan to launch from the top of a 70ft building and fly your entire mission from 100 ft above ground, then in litchi you will set all your elevations to 30ft. But running a simulation of that mission through this program will show what it looks like from 30ft above ground, not 100ft.

It doesn't sound like this is your problem though.

 

[MavicFrank]

No, what I meant was that this simulation program uses the true ground as its reference plane, whereas litchi uses your altitude at the launch site as its reference plane. They end up being the same thing if you actually launch from the ground. But if you launch from the top of a building, and plan for that in litchi, then the Google earth simulation will be too low.

For example, if you plan to launch from the top of a 70ft building and fly your entire mission from 100 ft above ground, then in litchi you will set all your elevations to 30ft. But running a simulation of that mission through this program will show what it looks like from 30ft above ground, not 100ft.

It doesn't sound like this is your problem though.

Ah, I see what you are saying. And yeah, taking off from ground level did not resolve my issue. Dunno what is going on then.

 

[rkutch]

A few weeks ago I wrote a Windows program that does almost exactly what you're describing. When you click on "Export CSV" from Litchi mission hub it plays it back as an FPV style animation in Google Earth within about a second. I was using it to browse other people's missions. If you're interested I can post it when I get back from work tonight.

JTS would you be able to provide this executable

 

[rkutch]

Sorry no need I found it

 

[Rene van der Meer]

This is a very interesting topic.
In this thread they are working on it also.

 

[Cdubbs]

Hey JTS, are you still actively working on this? It is a great tool!

 

[badgenes]

Thank you for your work. I have unzipped the exe and executed it, but it immediately closes. Windows 10 Creators Update.
Any ideas? thanks again

Here you go, zip file worked. Give me some feedback (especially if it doesn't work on your machine!)

This is v1, I have some more ideas to include when I have time. If you have any request or ideas I'm happy to include them.

For best results:

In Google Earth:
go to "Tools/Options/3D View" and set "Elevation Exaggeration" to 1.
go to "Tools/Options/Navigation" and set "Fly-To-Speed" to 5.
go to "Layers" on the sidebar and ensure "Trees" under "3D Buildings" is checked.

This program works best if you click "Don't ask again" when prompted in both Litchi & Google Earth.

To see one of my my favorites right now (and to test that trees & buildings are showing up ok)
search Litchi Mission Hub for "B Street Trail" and them zoom out a little bit until you see the yellow blob, click it and export to csv.

 

[Catchyphrase]

It runs and immediately closes for me as well on Windows 10. I've tried compatibility of Win 7 or 8 on the EXE properties, no difference.

 

[davinic]

It runs and immediately closes for me as well on Windows 10. I've tried compatibility of Win 7 or 8 on the EXE properties, no difference.

Same here. Windows event log has the following entries:

Fault bucket 129366440488, type 5
Event Name: CLR20r3
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: MissionVisualizer.exe
P2: 1.0.0.0
P3: 58a4fe9e
P4: MissionVisualizer
P5: 1.0.0.0
P6: 58a4fe9e
P7: 3e
P8: 33
P9: System.NullReferenceException
P10:

Attached files:
C:\Users\ndavis\AppData\Local\Temp\WER6A2.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
C:\Windows\Temp\WER9F0.tmp.csv
C:\Users\ndavis\AppData\Local\Temp\WERA0E.tmp.appcompat.txt
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERA1E.tmp.dmp
C:\Users\ndavis\AppData\Local\Temp\WERAFA.tmp.WERDataCollectionFailure.txt

These files may be available here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_MissionVisualize_4b0da7bb31a10d8e73bd721e1acbb10f0331e3_069b957a_0bc60b07

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 1d627b5e-84ab-4667-92a7-f28fbb760ef9
Report Status: 4104
Hashed bucket: 9d288216638b8fbe7857906e1658a0ee​

 

[dwallersv]

A few weeks ago I wrote a Windows program that does almost exactly what you're describing. When you click on "Export CSV" from Litchi mission hub it plays it back as an FPV style animation in Google Earth within about a second. I was using it to browse other people's missions. If you're interested I can post it when I get back from work tonight.

This would sure beat the much more cumbersome method I use described in this thread Litchi: New terrain-following workflow

I have had a project to do exactly what you have done on the back-burner for some time. The kludgy method I use above doesn't implement many key aspects of the mission, like heading and gimbal tilt, speed changes, etc. Looking over the Google Earth "Tour" feature, and the KML to describe a tour, I believe I can implement these features using the "camera" object.

Anyway, I'd love to try your tool out. And if you haven't implemented some of those viewing direction/angle features, I'd be interested in collaborating, if you wanted to donate your code to a github open-source project we could get set up.

 

[maviccoder]

This would sure beat the much more cumbersome method I use described in this thread Litchi: New terrain-following workflow
Anyway, I'd love to try your tool out. And if you haven't implemented some of those viewing direction/angle features, I'd be interested in collaborating, if you wanted to donate your code to a github open-source project we could get set up.

I'm also a software developer by trade. I'm overbooked on projects right now, but I'd like to try and help at some point if an open source effort gets underway. I have both Macs and PCs here, but much prefer the Macs, so I'd love to find a cross platform solution eventually.

 

[Dombev]

I downloaded the Mission Visualizer but when I click on it nothing happens. I am using Win 10.
Did I do something wrong?

 

[ashcanpete]

I can't get this to work for me. When I double-click the application, nothing visible happens. Then, I tried dropping a litchi_mission.csv in the downloads folder and nothing happened. Am I doing something wrong? I didn't see any instructions at any point, was there supposed to be some after I launch the .exe?

 

[xXGRAMMATONPXx]

This may be a bit longer in process, but it works well. Opening up in Earth visualizes nicely. You can increase wall transparency to further better the view.:

Convert Litchi .csv file to .kml with elevation

 

[dDub-Mavic]

JTS, does your program work with Windows 10? I downloaded the program as is, executed MissionVisualizer.exe, exported my mission into the "download" directory, and nothing. Since the Hub does not give you a chance to name the .csv file, I moved the .csv, re-executed the .exe, , renamed it to litchi_mission.csv and copied it back in the download directory but still nothing. Maybe try running it in Windows 7 compatibility mode? Each time Google Earth was available and running.

 

[Captain Jack]

JTS - I am one who cannot get the prog to open - brings up an error report. Running win 7 pro. Your exe is

Here's a screen grab of the error and prog properties - hope you can help - it's a fantastic tool to have.

 

[BD0G]

It looks like this program has been "orphaned" . I get nothing when running it and dropping lichti_mission.csv either.
Windows 7 here.

 

[kidroc]

Wow thanks for sharing this is really cool..

 

[Brojon]

BTW - y'all should know that Litchi Mission Hub now exports KML 3D which can be directly imported into Google Earth...

 

[BD0G]

I noticed that recently and that is a nice feature addition! Really wish we could do the FPV fly through in Google Earth. That would be awesome.