Safe ?

[ninja_geezer]

How safe are these autonomous flight software apps like litchi and dronelink ?
in that i mean do they have a auto return to home if the signal is lost just like in the go fly app .

 

[lannes]

Yes, in manual flight you can trigger the RTH manually or automatically on signal loss.

If your flying a way-point mission, the AC will continue the mission even though the signal has been loss it won't RTH unless you set it to do it.

Some of the settings you can make, same as in DJI Go4 etc.

 

[ninja_geezer]

Yes

Ok thanks i will be looking into one of the above as soon as it is possible for the MA2,i keep reading about why we should trust these software's but if they have the safe return to home feature when signal is lost that is a great comfort.i saw someone on a you tube video prove how good the RTH was on a MA2 by sending a long way out and then just turning off the controller completely after a few minutes it came back and landed in front of him (Big balls ) to do that i say.

 

[lannes]

Ok thanks i will be looking into one of the above as soon as it is possible for the MA2,i keep reading about why we should trust these software's but if they have the safe return to home feature when signal is lost that is a great comfort.i saw someone on a you tube video prove how good the RTH was on a MA2 by sending a long way out and then just turning off the controller completely after a few minutes it came back and landed in front of him (Big balls ) to do that i say.

I guess the only issues you have to worry about are:

• Setting the right RTH altitude for the terrain your flying in so you don't plough in or hit structures, obstacle avoidance should help
• Making sure you have enough battery capacity left to RTH
• Confirming that the home-point has been set correctly
• Making sure you have set RTH on signal loss instead of hover or land

 

[ninja_geezer]

I guess the only issues you have to worry about are:

• Setting the right RTH altitude for the terrain your flying in so you don't plough in or hit structures, obstacle avoidance should help
• Making sure you have enough battery capacity left to RTH
• Confirming that the home-point has been set correctly
• Making sure you have set RTH on signal loss instead of hover or land

Great info thanks ,the way i was reading was the software had no built in beyond VLOS auto return to home on signal loss.

 

[lannes]

Great info thanks ,the way i was reading was the software had no built in beyond VLOS auto return to home on signal loss.

Litchi can do everything DJI Go4 can do and more

 

[maelstrom]

If your flying a way-point mission, the AC will continue the mission even though the signal has been loss it won't RTH unless you set it to do it.

Although some people seem to see this as a desirable feature, the fact is that it's illegal in many countries. Even if you could still see the drone, you have no control over it - you couldn't prevent a flyaway or an unexpected collision, for example.

 

[vindibona1]

I can echo everything @lannes said.

Litchi has a less steep learning curve than Dronelink but they essentially can do similar, if not the same things. I use Litchi so my information is from experience with it.

One of the semi-unheralded strengths of Litchi is it's ability to allow you to program your mission from home on your computer before getting out in the field. Not only that, with the additional program, Virtual Litchi Mission combined with Google earth you can not only see your mission on a 3D model but can export "VLM data" to Google Earth and fly the mission virtually on your computer and make necessary adjustments before getting out in the field, having to fiddle with it on a tiny phone, often in the middle of nowhere.

 

[maelstrom]

they essentially can do similar, if not the same things.

Not so with the Mini. For example, Litchi can't fly waypoint missions with the Mini and Dronelink can't fly follow me (but then neither can Litchi with the iOS version of the app).

 

[Meta4]

Great info thanks ,the way i was reading was the software had no built in beyond VLOS auto return to home on signal loss.

Failsafe RTH is not a feature of Litchi.
It's built-in to the drone's firmware and available with any app.
But Litchi allows for continuing the flight after signal is lost and continuation of the flight on loss of signal is the default setting for Litchi waypoint missions.
You have the option to disable that if you want the drone to RTH on loss of signal.

Litchi is a very reliable flying app.
It's more reliable than some flyers that use it to program missions for their drones.
Litchi will put the drone right where you program it to, (and that might not always be a safe position).

 

[vindibona1]

Not so with the Mini. For example, Litchi can't fly waypoint missions with the Mini and Dronelink can't fly follow me (but then neither can Litchi with the iOS version of the app).

The Mini is an interesting case. Right now I've got the beta version for the Mini in my phone, waiting to be tested (hopefully today). I suspect that a commercial version will be available shortly that will include the Mini.

 

[ninja_geezer]

I can echo everything @lannes said.

Litchi has a less steep learning curve than Dronelink but they essentially can do similar, if not the same things. I use Litchi so my information is from experience with it.

One of the semi-unheralded strengths of Litchi is it's ability to allow you to program your mission from home on your computer before getting out in the field. Not only that, with the additional program, Virtual Litchi Mission combined with Google earth you can not only see your mission on a 3D model but can export "VLM data" to Google Earth and fly the mission virtually on your computer and make necessary adjustments before getting out in the field, having to fiddle with it on a tiny phone, often in the middle of nowhere.

Awesome

 

[ninja_geezer]

Failsafe RTH is not a feature of Litchi.
It's built-in to the drone's firmware and available with any app.
But Litchi allows for continuing the flight after signal is lost and continuation of the flight on loss of signal is the default setting for Litchi waypoint missions.
You have the option to disable that if you want the drone to RTH on loss of signal.

Litchi is a very reliable flying app.
It's more reliable than some flyers that use it to program missions for their drones.
Litchi will put the drone right where you program it to, (and that might not always be a safe position).

Sounds great

 

[ninja_geezer]

i wonder when it will be available for the MA2 not long i would have thought there are a lot of them out there now as well.

 

[vindibona1]

i wonder when it will be available for the MA2 not long i would have thought there are a lot of them out there now as well.

I believe that is dependent on DJI releasing the SDK for the MA2, then Litchi picking up on it, which I'm relatively certain they would do.

 

[Dave Maine]

Litchi has committed to making the app support the new drones when DJI provides the api, which so far they have not done. Rumors fly about it being available this fall.

 

[Amckim2084]

I’ve used Litchi for many flights. Only had one crash with it and that was pilot error. Just make sure that if the waypoints go around a hill or other structures, your RTH is set high enough. I know Mavics have obstacle avoidance but I had a P3S at the time of my crash. Waypoints went around a 600 ft hill and low battery RTH brought it straight back at 400 ft.

 

[EvoJones]

Not so with the Mini. For example, Litchi can't fly waypoint missions with the Mini and Dronelink can't fly follow me (but then neither can Litchi with the iOS version of the app).

I've seen some recent posts of people claiming it can run waypoints for the mini.

 

[maelstrom]

I've seen some recent posts of people claiming it can run waypoints for the mini. That's The main thing I want it for.

You can create waypoint missions in Litchi but they can't be run on the Mini as the app tries to upload then to the drone. Litchi have said that they will look into implementing waypoints at some time in the future. If you want that capability now (along with many other useful features), I'd highly recommend Dronelink which has working waypoints for the Mini using the "virtual sticks" system. The better your mobile device processor, the more smoothly Dronelink will work.

 

[EvoJones]

Thanks for the info. I was kind of stuck deciding between the 2. It seems like I'll need to pay for the $40 dollar version of drone link.