Litchi now supports Mavic Air 2!

[wienog]

Decided to give Litchi a try now that it supports MA2, and I'm cautiously optimistic! Here's a comparison of the mission I programmed (left) versus the flight track (right). For such a clearly scientific and highly precise laboratory test, I'd say it did quite well. That said, I did see the pauses at each waypoint that have been mentioned. Is there truly no way with the current setup to avoid that and have a smooth transition from one to the next?

View attachment 138998

Just go to the settings and change the corners from 'straight lines to curved turns

 

[JetM]

I read several of your posts and still don't understand: i use Litchi for 90 % of my flights with my Mavics and Mavic 2 Pro. ALL of these flights lose contact between RC and drone after two or three minutes but nicely go on and follow all the instructions uploaded at the start. I know the expected duration of the flight and just switch off my remote controller and switch it back on a few minutes before the drone is expected back. I Never had any problem with hundreds of these flights.
Smart RTH has occured once, when I forgot to switch batteries for the next flight and the drone came back after half of the trip. I don't know why on earth you would want to switch off Smart RTH ?? Your drone will hover and land wherever it is at that moment. Is that what you want ?

Keep in mind that "Smart RTH" is ONLY available on the Mavic 3. It's very different normal RTH that is available on all other DJI Drones. Concerning Litchi and RTH, I believe there is a setting that you can use to tell Litchi what to do when the connection with the controller is lost during a mission. You can specify "Hover in place" or "Return to home" or "Continue" the mission.

Keep in mind that if you are using Litchi with the Mavic 2 Pro or earlier DJI drones you are using the Litchi version that utilizes the "intelligent" DJI API/SDK. If you are using Litchi with any of the newer DJI drones (e.g., DJI Mini, Mini 2, Air2), Litchi is using the newer crappy/inferior "Virtual Sticks" DJI API which limits the capability of Litchi (e.g., can not continue mission on lost signal, you will likely not get smooth footage on curves it will be very jittery and frankly not useable based on what I've seen from posted videos).
DJI needs to drop the crappy "Virtual Sticks" API and go back to original "intelligent" API that they used in earlier drones. The new crappy "Virtual Sticks" API has crippled 3rd party Mission Planners like Litchi. Maybe crippling those 3rd party option was real their intention?

 

[wienog]

I fear that the real reason for delayed release of a 'crippled' SDK is that 'automated flight' as I described in my previous post where the pilot can just switch off the RC, will be made impossible by DJI or illegal, whatever comes first. That's why I keep my Mavic 2 Pro and the best version of Litchi, while using my Mavic3 in continuous control and contact with the RC.

 

[wienog]

yep...I think we just need to tell them 2 million times Or vote with our $'s which I will do with my next drone. I'm done with DJI at this point. It's time to give Autel a shot.

I fear telling them 10 trillion times will not help. DJI is continuously talking to the authorities in all parts of the world. Authorities tell them that they do not want any (consumer-) drone to do anything that is not a response to a pilot-input at that very same exact point in time. Knowing that, you understand that there will never be waypoints anymore, the way we want them, let alone continuing a flight when contact is lost. What is the point of requiring VLOS if the drone isn't really listening to you but to a list of data in it's memory ? A recipe for disaster. And that's why waypoints are gone for ever and will not come back, not even with virtual sticks. The only movement your drone will make in the near future will be the one that you yourself instruct it to make at that very moment.

 

[maelstrom]

I fear that the real reason for delayed release of a 'crippled' SDK is that 'automated flight' as I described in my previous post where the pilot can just switch off the RC, will be made impossible by DJI or illegal, whatever comes first.

Not sure where you live, but in many countries it's already illegal without a special waiver.

 

[Maverick 007]

I use it for waypoints as well. Newest release is pretty solid and the cost is minimal.

Hi there:

I have a questions about using Litchi with MA2. I started using it, and as soon as I was setting it up, my Mavic Air 2 flew backwards and crashed.... What you you recommend the the settings be before switching to FPV mode to ensure the drone remains stating until I touch the controller?

Any help you could offer will be much appreciated.

 

[Tufargon]

Hi there:

I have a questions about using Litchi with MA2. I started using it, and as soon as I was setting it up, my Mavic Air 2 flew backwards and crashed.... What you you recommend the the settings be before switching to FPV mode to ensure the drone remains stating until I touch the controller?

Any help you could offer will be much appreciated.

You should explain in a lot more detail. From what you posted it sounds like the MA2 was in the air as you were setting up/planning a mission (not a good idea). Also why would you put it in FPV mode?

 

[Maverick 007]

You should explain in a lot more detail. From what you posted it sounds like the MA2 was in the air as you were setting up/planning a mission (not a good idea). Also why would you put it in FPV mode?

You are exactly right. I went to settings to disable “gesture control” in Gimbal Mode. Then I took off. It was hovering at very low altitude, when I was adjusting my VR headset to view things in FPV. I didn’t realize that the drone had moved at all, it flew backwards into an obstacle and crashed . I’m assuming that it was due to the sequence I followed to attemp to use the headset.
I really want to use Litchi to have a “birds eye” view of things while I fly, but it seems I need help on how to go about it. Any suggestions?

Thanks for replying!

 

[spudster]

Do you have a spotter when trying to use FPV mode? Having a spotter is required and may prevented this crash.

 

[Maverick 007]

Do you have a spotter when trying to use FPV mode? Having a spotter is required and may prevented this crash.

Yes, a spotter is definitely a good idea. I would just like to know the steps to follow to ensure that I can fly using the VR goggles

 

[Tufargon]

You are exactly right. I went to settings to disable “gesture control” in Gimbal Mode. Then I took off. It was hovering at very low altitude, when I was adjusting my VR headset to view things in FPV. I didn’t realize that the drone had moved at all, it flew backwards into an obstacle and crashed . I’m assuming that it was due to the sequence I followed to attemp to use the headset.
I really want to use Litchi to have a “birds eye” view of things while I fly, but it seems I need help on how to go about it. Any suggestions?

Thanks for replying!

I've never used fpv mode so i'm definately not the one to ask advice on that. I do think though you probably would be better off not being in the air while you're setting up. That alone would have avoided your crash. You could upload your log here for the pros to go over.

 

[AZDave]

I fear telling them 10 trillion times will not help. DJI is continuously talking to the authorities in all parts of the world. Authorities tell them that they do not want any (consumer-) drone to do anything that is not a response to a pilot-input at that very same exact point in time. Knowing that, you understand that there will never be waypoints anymore, the way we want them, let alone continuing a flight when contact is lost. What is the point of requiring VLOS if the drone isn't really listening to you but to a list of data in it's memory ? A recipe for disaster. And that's why waypoints are gone for ever and will not come back, not even with virtual sticks. The only movement your drone will make in the near future will be the one that you yourself instruct it to make at that very moment.

Exactly this. I can't figure out why so many people here can't understand it.

 

[Maverick 007]

I've never used fpv mode so i'm definately not the one to ask advice on that. I do think though you probably would be better off not being in the air while you're setting up. That alone would have avoided your crash. You could upload your log here for the pros to go over.

Thank you!

 

[alkaye]

I’m using it on my A2 because it works on my iPad mini 4 while the newest FLY app overloads the cpu. I already paid for litchi for my phantoms so it didn’t cost anything to use on my mavic.

I bought it for my IPAD 5 years ago, but no longer use it. Can I move the software to my Android phone?

 

[SkittleBob]

I bought it for my IPAD 5 years ago, but no longer use it. Can I move the software to my Android phone?

You'll need to pay again, as you would with any apps that you had on iOS that you want to use on Android.

You may find they would give you a discount if you asked them.

 

[JetM]

I fear telling them 10 trillion times will not help. DJI is continuously talking to the authorities in all parts of the world. Authorities tell them that they do not want any (consumer-) drone to do anything that is not a response to a pilot-input at that very same exact point in time. Knowing that, you understand that there will never be waypoints anymore, the way we want them, let alone continuing a flight when contact is lost. What is the point of requiring VLOS if the drone isn't really listening to you but to a list of data in it's memory ? A recipe for disaster. And that's why waypoints are gone for ever and will not come back, not even with virtual sticks. The only movement your drone will make in the near future will be the one that you yourself instruct it to make at that very moment.

I wouldn't doubt that this is the reason.

 

[pinballwiz86]

ANY application that controls an MA2 must use virtual stick control. DJI has made it so that the MA2 cannot accept autonomous control commands. If the signal goes away the MA2 will execute whatever failsafe routine you have programmed it to do ... i.e., return to home, land, or hover in place. It will not continue the mission.

That’s lame.

 

[AZDave]

That’s lame.

Did you bother to read the posts above this? They will give you the likely reason why this is.

 

[up&overimaging]

I fear telling them 10 trillion times will not help. DJI is continuously talking to the authorities in all parts of the world. Authorities tell them that they do not want any (consumer-) drone to do anything that is not a response to a pilot-input at that very same exact point in time.

So if this is true why have the hyperlapse function? it is still a auto feature with wayp[oints just flying slower and taking photos?

 

[AZDave]

So if this is true why have the hyperlapse function? it is still a auto feature with wayp[oints just flying slower and taking photos?

What makes you think that hyperlapse doesn't require a signal connection? As far as I can tell, hyperlapse still gets its commands from the controller and is not an autonomous function. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.