Using Phone as Controller with Litchi

[Scottalmas]

I've searched the forums and cannot seem to locate the answer to this. My apologies if it's there but I missed it.

My questions: Can I use my iPhone (without the RC) to fly my Mavic Air (v1) using Litchi? I ask because I am looking for a work around to the 100m limit on Active Track when flying without a controller. I was hoping that if I used Litchi, perhaps I could get more than 100m of Active Track without using the RC.

When I connect my iPhone 8 to my MA via wifi and load Litchi, I can see the camera is working, but it says "Disconnected" at the top and I don't have any way to control the MA. Taping the Litchi Takeoff icon asks to confirm, but pressing the confirm button does not cause the MA to take off. :-(

I am using Litchi v2.9 (beta)

Thanks for any help.

 

[lannes]

No, Litchi won't work without connecting to the AC via the remote controller
It will work with the wi-fi of the Spark, but that is still only connecting to the controller via wi-fi instead of a cable
As you mentioned without the controller there is no way to control the MA

The Mavic Pro can use DJI Go4 to fly via a wi-fi connection to the phone without a controller but in this mode the range of the intelligent flight modes are restricted in distance e.g 50m

The DJI Mavic Pro Wifi Control Mode - RC Groups

Mini-HowTo The DJI Mavic Pro Wifi Control Mode R/C Blogs

www.rcgroups.com

 

[Scottalmas]

Thanks for the quick response. That's a real bummer. I was really hoping Litchi would add that ability to the MM in the beta. I seriously don't see the Mini as ultraportable and convenient if you have to use the controller for a simple dronie mission or a quick selfie, etc. I love that about my Mavic Air but hate being constrained to 100m Active Track missions.

 

[lannes]

Actually maybe with Litchi I think the phone can be used as the controller, in the Litchi follow mode settings there is a command to enable "RC joystick" which enables virtual joysticks on the phone
This I believe allows you to control the AC during the follow mode

Help - Litchi

Litchi's manual. Find information on how to use Litchi.

flylitchi.com

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[webvan]

@lannes - did you ever find a way of getting Litchi to work with the Air without an RC ?

 

[webvan]

So I have now found that there was no problem to control the Air without an RC using Litchi. You can toggle the virtual joysticks by tapping on the "RC Battery/Virtual Joysticks" icon on the top left part of the screen.

However "Follow Mode" does not engage when no RC is connected and I also understand that "Waypoints" will not get uploaded to the Air.

Tracking works fine though and the "100 meter" limit present in DJI GO 4 when tracking without the RC is not enforced. Unfortunately there is no profile mode. Even if you place the Air in a side position it will place itself behind the object being tracked.