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Litchi Pilot and binding questions

rwilliam99

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I've done some searching and done some experimenting with using Litchi Pilot and I'm hoping someone can clarify a few things for me.

First, some background - I have a Mini 3 Pro with the RC controller. Since I wanted to experiment with Litchi and you can't install it on the RC controller, so I purchased a used RC-N1 controller. I first purchased and installed the "regular' Litchi app, and then found that the Mini 3 and newer SDK compatible drones won't work with it - you have to use Litchi Pilot which is in beta. I downloaded it, installed it, and after some playing around, got it to connect to the Mini 3 successfully. I got a warning that the controller was not bound to the drone and I could only use it 5 times. Well, in playing around with a simple Litchi mission, I flew 5 times and then could not fly any longer with Litchi Pilot. I went thru the pairing/binding and bound the RC-N1 to the drone. I then proceeded to do a few more litchi missions. After that, I tried to connect the RC controller to the drone and it told me it was not bound (same message) - I went thru the pairing process and re-bound the controller to the drone (which is kind of a PITA).

With that said, I have a few questions:
  • Is there a simpler/better way of using two controllers with one drone? For "normal" flying I want to use the RC - If I want to play with Litchi, I obviously need to use the RC-N1, but I really would prefer not to have to go thru the pairing/binding process every time I want to change controllers. To complicate matters, most of the places I fly I won't have cell service, so I won't be able to re-bind the controller if I forget to check before I leave home.
  • If there isn't a simpler/better way of changing the bound controller, is there any negative consequences of doing it relatively frequently?
  • When playing with Litchi missions, I was having trouble getting waypoint actions to work. I watched some videos and noticed a comment on an older version of Litchi waypoint mapper that actions would not work on Curved Turn missions. That is the default (and what I'd prefer), but to test it out, I changed the default to Straight Lines, and the actions worked as expected. Is there any way/trick to get actions to work on curved turn missions?
  • Is there a good tutorial on some of the "gotchas" with Litchi? The ones I've seen thus far are pretty basic. Creating a mission is pretty easy, but things like the actions listed above would be nice to know without having to learn it the hard way thru a bunch of testing and experimenting.
If you've read this far, thanks for reading. I'm hoping someone can provide some assistance with these questions. Thanks in advance.
 
Is there a simpler/better way of using two controllers with one drone?
With regards to pairing, that I know of, not with fly app using drones.
If you want to swap controllers then you must pair the new controller with the drone and that displaces the old controller.
That said there are probably two methods of triggering pairing in the controller.
One will use the App and its menus and the other, if available, will use a button sequence on the controller.
I find the latter the easier of the two but you will have to go through your drone's manual and perhaps the RC's manual to find their button sequences.
It takes me 10 to 20 seconds to swap controllers with a mini 2.

With regards to binding, at each swap you must unbind the old controller from the drone and then bind the new one to the drone and that process needs WiFI, as you have already noted.

If you do not bind the new controller to the drone then at least your flyaway insurance is invalidated whilst the controller is unbound.
I do not know what happens to care refresh.

I would also check whether or not use of Litchi invalidates care refresh and or fly away insurance.
are there any negative consequences of doing it relatively frequently?
I recollect that there was a moderator post on the DJI forum that, with regards to binding, states that you can swap controllers as often as you want but I would suggest you ask that question on the DJI forum, just in case I am wrong.
 
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With regards to pairing, that I know of, not with fly app using drones.
If you want to swap controllers then you must pair the new controller with the drone and that displaces the old controller.
That said there are probably two methods of triggering pair in the controller.
One will use the App and its menus and the other, if available, will use a button sequence on the controller.
I find the latter the easier of the two but you will have to go through your drone's manual and perhaps the RC's manual to find their button sequences.
It takes me 10 to 20 seconds to swap controllers with a mini 2.

With regards to binding, at each swap you must unbind the old controller from the drone and then bind the new one to the drone and that process needs WiFI, as you have already noted.

If you do not bind the new controller to the drone then at least your flyaway insurance is invalidated whilst the controller is unbound.
I do not know what happens to care refresh.

I would also check whether or not use of Litchi invalidates care refresh and or fly away insurance.

I recollect that there was a moderator post on the DJI forum that, with regards to binding, states that you can swap controllers as often as you want but I would suggest you ask that question on the DJI forum, just in case I am wrong.

Thank you - I don't know how much I'm going to use Litchi but I'm having fun playing around with it. If I had a mini 4, I probably wouldn't need to as it pretty much has a similar functionality, but I'm not ready to drop the $$$ on a new mini 4 at this point.
 
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Is there any way/trick to get actions to work on curved turn missions?
No.

but things like the actions listed above would be nice to know without having to learn it the hard way thru a bunch of testing and experimenting.
Read & study Litchi's Online User Guide.
 
No.


Read & study Litchi's Online User Guide.

This is for "regular" Litchi - Since I have a mini 3 I have to use Litchi Pilot which is similar but not the same - I think that is part of the issue - there is a lot of stuff for regular Litchi, but very little for Litchi Pilot since it is still in beta. If it happens to work the same then you are in luck, but if not, it seems you just have to experiment to figure out how it works. I get that is part of beta testing, but it has been in beta testing for over a year now - seems like there should be a bit more info on it by now.

I'm wondering if because DJI has put waypoint missions into the newer drones if Litchi isn't really investing much in Litchi Pilot at this point?
 
seems like there should be a bit more info on it by now.
There is: the Online User Guide.
From this User Guide:
"Important Waypoint actions are ignored when the mission "Path Mode" is "Curved Turns" as the aircraft will not stop at waypoints then."

For me, your arguments are just another excuse for not reading manuals.
 
There is: the Online User Guide.
From this User Guide:
"Important Waypoint actions are ignored when the mission "Path Mode" is "Curved Turns" as the aircraft will not stop at waypoints then."

For me, your arguments are just another excuse for not reading manuals.

That is the point - there is no manual for Litchi Pilot, only Litchi. Some things cross over, but I've not seen anything saying where things do cross over and where things are different.
 
The ONLY difference is the user interface of the app.
 
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The ONLY difference is the user inreface of the app.

Although I don't know a lot about either app, I do know that is not a true statement. Litchi Pilot does not have all the functionality of regular Litchi. If it did, it wouldn't have to be in beta mode.

Example, in the upper left of Litchi, you can chose one of 6 or 7 flight modes - if you choose the same icon in Litchi Pilot you get "More Flight modes coming soon!" They are NOT the same.
 
They are NOT the same.
That's just nitpicking.

Yes, the only mode so far in Litchi Pilot is Waypoint Mode, but the User Guide for both apps is the same.

again: Just another excuse for not reading manuals.
 
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