Virtual Litchi Mission

[namirda]

I see ! However I do not understand why I had the same error message ("Elevation Data Missing") at the same waypoints of the two same missions either with the Hub which is supposed to use Mapbox's API and with VLM that uses Google's API.

Hi,

OK - now I think I understand the problem!!

The main panel in VLM which shows the Mission Hub is simply a browser window - what you see in that panel comes directly from Litchi. So any error messages you see when you use the Mission Hub in your browser will also be seen when you run VLM. That explains why you see the same error in both! Having a browser window encapsulated within VLM enables me to interact with it more easily.

The CSV file which is exported from the Mission Hub contains data for each WP of your mission. The elevations provided in this file are relative to either ground level if the AGL option is selected, or to WP1 otherwise.

Google Earth requires absolute altitudes as input and so the elevations from the CSV file need to be corrected - and this requires knowing the ground elevation at each WP. VLM uses the Google Elevation API for this.

Hope this helps

N

 

[Peio64270]

Hi,

OK - now I think I understand the problem!!

The main panel in VLM which shows the Mission Hub is simply a browser window - what you see in that panel comes directly from Litchi. So any error messages you see when you use the Mission Hub in your browser will also be seen when you run VLM. That explains why you see the same error in both! Having a browser window encapsulated within VLM enables me to interact with it more easily.

The CSV file which is exported from the Mission Hub contains data for each WP of your mission. The elevations provided in this file are relative to either ground level if the AGL option is selected, or to WP1 otherwise.

Google Earth requires absolute altitudes as input and so the elevations from the CSV file need to be corrected - and this requires knowing the ground elevation at each WP. VLM uses the Google Elevation API for this.

Hope this helps

N

Hi,
Thank you for this clear answer which confirms what I supposed basically.
When I check "above ground" at a waypoint, it relates in a first instance to the ground elevation provided by Litchi and its Hub. If this elevation is missing (or not retreived) in the Litchi's API, I have no way to use this function, either with the Hub or with VLM.

That's why I wrote to the Litchi support and not in this forum for complaining about this glitch. That's also why I was suprised to read that you used Google's DEM in VLM because when I tested Google's elevations at the coordinates where the Hub (or the embeded hub of VLM) declared they were missing, they were still present as usual in Google Earth.

Anyway, this is reassuring to know that the final .csv file exported from VLM is corrected in accordance with Google's elevations that are easy to check.

 

[OzoneVibe]

Hi,
Thank you for this clear answer which confirms what I supposed basically.
When I check "above ground" at a waypoint, it relates in a first instance to the ground elevation provided by Litchi and its Hub. If this elevation is missing (or not retreived) in the Litchi's API, I have no way to use this function, either with the Hub or with VLM.

That's why I wrote to the Litchi support and not in this forum for complaining about this glitch. That's also why I was suprised to read that you used Google's DEM in VLM because when I tested Google's elevations at the coordinates where the Hub (or the embeded hub of VLM) declared they were missing, they were still present as usual in Google Earth.

Anyway, this is reassuring to know that the final .csv file exported from VLM is corrected in accordance with Google's elevations that are easy to check.

I looked at both your missions - had no problems setting waypoints to Above Ground in either Litchi Hub or VLM.
The only time I get that message is when I'm out somewhere with the laptop hooked up to my phone's Wi-Fi hotspot and the data is a bit slow.
It has to have a good data link each time you set a waypoint to above ground or move one.

 

[Peio64270]

I looked at both your missions - had no problems setting waypoints to Above Ground in either Litchi Hub or VLM.
The only time I get that message is when I'm out somewhere with the laptop hooked up to my phone's Wi-Fi hotspot and the data is a bit slow.
It has to have a good data link each time you set a waypoint to above ground or move one.

Yes, I have no problem anymore too. It seems that either Mapbox or Litchi have fixed this issue at least at the locations where I was planing to use AGL in my missions (what I usually don't do).

 

[marklyn]

Yes, VLM should work with any/all DJI drones which are supported by Litchi.

As you mentioned, VLM does not have an entry for the Mavic 2 in the config options and so you will have to manually enter the FOV and other parameters manually until I get around to releasing a new version.

Your description of the heading errors is new to me. The Litchi Mission Hub is agnostic as far as drone type is concerned - the Hub does not know what type of drone you will be using to fly the mission. VLM only uses the Drone Type in order to set the camera FOV and to do a sanity check on other flight settings and so I do not understand your problem. Can you give more details please.

N

namirda, I agree with what you're saying and I've used VLM over a year now with my Mavic 1 with excellent results when ported to GE, everything was as expected but now I'm flustered as to why it's not behaving for me at all. If you can take a look at the flight mission, particularly between WP 2 & 3 and 13 & 14 (most obvious). The headings on both of those connected waypoints do something very different in GE than what the mission is programmed for. Would appreciate some insight on this when you have time.

Mission Hub - Litchi

Litchi's Mission Hub lets you plan waypoint flights and later execute them using the mobile Litchi app.

flylitchi.com

 

[namirda]

namirda, I agree with what you're saying and I've used VLM over a year now with my Mavic 1 with excellent results when ported to GE, everything was as expected but now I'm flustered as to why it's not behaving for me at all. If you can take a look at the flight mission, particularly between WP 2 & 3 and 13 & 14 (most obvious). The headings on both of those connected waypoints do something very different in GE than what the mission is programmed for. Would appreciate some insight on this when you have time.

Mission Hub - Litchi

Litchi's Mission Hub lets you plan waypoint flights and later execute them using the mobile Litchi app.

flylitchi.com

I can't open your mission - can you please check that it is marked public in the Mission Hub.

Thanks

N

 

[marklyn]

I can't open your mission - can you please check that it is marked public in the Mission Hub.

Thanks

N

How about now?

Mission Hub - Litchi

Litchi's Mission Hub lets you plan waypoint flights and later execute them using the mobile Litchi app.

flylitchi.com

IF that doesn't work I've attached the csv file (zipped).

 

[namirda]

How about now?

Mission Hub - Litchi

Litchi's Mission Hub lets you plan waypoint flights and later execute them using the mobile Litchi app.

flylitchi.com

IF that doesn't work I've attached the csv file (zipped).

Hi,

Good - now I can see it.

I've taken a quick look at your mission and I can't really see much wrong with it. The only strange this that I have noticed is that you have set "Straight Lines" in the Litchi settings and then have used curves at each waypoint?? That is not the problem here but you might want to change that before you fly the mission.

I have looked more carefully at the legs WP2-3 and WP13-14 as you suggested.

A quick way to check the heading at a WP is to double click on the "Waypoint View" (in the diagnostics folder for your mission on GE) for that waypoint. This will show the view at that waypoint using your specified altitude, heading and gimbal angle. You can then look at the little compass that Google kindly provide in the top right hand corner of the GE window and check that the heading is as expected.

I think it looks OK. Am I missing something here? Do you see something different?

N

 

[marklyn]

Hi,

Good - now I can see it.

I've taken a quick look at your mission and I can't really see much wrong with it. The only strange this that I have noticed is that you have set "Straight Lines" in the Litchi settings and then have used curves at each waypoint?? That is not the problem here but you might want to change that before you fly the mission.

I have looked more carefully at the legs WP2-3 and WP13-14 as you suggested.

A quick way to check the heading at a WP is to double click on the "Waypoint View" (in the diagnostics folder for your mission on GE) for that waypoint. This will show the view at that waypoint using your specified altitude, heading and gimbal angle. You can then look at the little compass that Google kindly provide in the top right hand corner of the GE window and check that the heading is as expected.

I think it looks OK. Am I missing something here? Do you see something different?

N

I actually had curved lines before but when it wasn't working correctly in GE, I tried a few things including changing to curved lines. In legs 2-3 the drone makes a clockwise circle right before wp3, and in wp 13-14 the drone faces to the right the whole time instead of forward. So if it works in those legs (and others) for you in GE, should I focus on GE to see what the problem might be?

 

[marklyn]

Hi,

Good - now I can see it.

I've taken a quick look at your mission and I can't really see much wrong with it. The only strange this that I have noticed is that you have set "Straight Lines" in the Litchi settings and then have used curves at each waypoint?? That is not the problem here but you might want to change that before you fly the mission.

I have looked more carefully at the legs WP2-3 and WP13-14 as you suggested.

A quick way to check the heading at a WP is to double click on the "Waypoint View" (in the diagnostics folder for your mission on GE) for that waypoint. This will show the view at that waypoint using your specified altitude, heading and gimbal angle. You can then look at the little compass that Google kindly provide in the top right hand corner of the GE window and check that the heading is as expected.

I think it looks OK. Am I missing something here? Do you see something different?

N

Update... I installed VLM 2.3.0 and GE on my laptop and when exported to GE, it runs as expected and the turns & gimbal angles are correct. I'm not sure why it's different on my PC, but I do know VLM settings are the same on both machines. There must be something different in GE and even updating GE didn't fix it... I don't know where to look though the settings to see what could be the problem there but if you have any ideas, I'd appreciate any suggestions.

 

[namirda]

Update... I installed VLM 2.3.0 and GE on my laptop and when exported to GE, it runs as expected and the turns & gimbal angles are correct. I'm not sure why it's different on my PC, but I do know VLM settings are the same on both machines. There must be something different in GE and even updating GE didn't fix it... I don't know where to look though the settings to see what could be the problem there but if you have any ideas, I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Sorry I have no idea - sounds very strange. If you find an answer then please share!

A small tip which might improve your missions. You will get much smoother camera movements if you set the camera heading to be tangential to the curve at each waypoint rather than pointing directly towards the next waypoint as you have done in this mission. So for example, set the heading at WP2 to be SW rather than W, and at WP3 set it to NW rather than N.

N

 

[marklyn]

Sorry I have no idea - sounds very strange. If you find an answer then please share!

A small tip which might improve your missions. You will get much smoother camera movements if you set the camera heading to be tangential to the curve at each waypoint rather than pointing directly towards the next waypoint as you have done in this mission. So for example, set the heading at WP2 to be SW rather than W, and at WP3 set it to NW rather than N.

N

If I figure it out, I'll post back here. Thanks for the camera heading tip, never thought of that and am anxious to try it!

 

[R1cro]

Hello there.

I tried to setup the 2.3.0 version VLM, and faced with that errors list:

1:59:26 AM    New CSV detected - Paris

1:59:26 AM    Altitudes in this csv file are in Metres

1:59:26 AM    CSV File OK - 10 Waypoints Processed

1:59:26 AM    Number of POI used for this mission is 1

1:59:26 AM    Google Elevation API returned error

1:59:26 AM    OVER_QUERY_LIMIT - You have exceeded your daily request quota for this API. If you did not set a custom daily request quota, verify your project has an active billing account: http://g.co/dev/maps-no-account

1:59:26 AM    Error Getting WP Ground Elevations from Google Earth

1:59:26 AM    Error Correcting Waypoint Altitudes for reference

So, when I tried to "Export as CSV", I got that issue. Seems to be the Google Elevation API query limit have beed exceeded. I didn't find any information about that issue from "Help" section. Maybe I can set up the another key for that API?

Could you kindly take a look, @namirda, please?


Thank you.

 

[RedSoxFan42]

I'm getting same error today. OVER_QUERY_LIMIT . Hoping it's a temporary glitch with Google Earth Pro.

 

[Diott3113]

Ah, I am getting the same error starting mid morning. I’ve never seen this before but I’ve been using VLM heavily this month and thought maybe I hit a threshold that I’ve not reached in the past. I’ll see if I can find any info posted by Google .... I can’t live without VLM :-(

 

[dDub-Mavic]

Same here. Ran several .csv files through VLM V2.3.0 successfully Sat AM 5/25. Ran a couple this morning and got the OVER_QUERY_LIMIT error on both.

Something has changed!!

 

[RodPad]

Hello,

@namirda,
This API thing?
Is it something you had purchased and now needs to be renewed?
Something seems familiar from the past.

Here is what I'm seeing.

Virtual Litchi Mission, Google Earth Pro error?

I have been creating and flying Litchi waypoint missions, and also using Virtual Litchi Mission VLM. Everything has been working fine for several months, and then last night I get the below errors every time I try to analyze, or virtual fly a mission. These are missions that worked OK before...

phantompilots.com

Rod

 

[joeruby]

I have been creating and flying Litchi waypoint missions, and also using Virtual Litchi Mission VLM. Everything has been working fine for several months, and then last night I get the below errors every time I try to analyze, or virtual-fly a mission. These are missions that worked OK before yesterday.

Is google now charging me to get elevation data?

I have looked at the links in the error message below, but still don't know what to do to get VLM working with elevation data again.

Google has an account for me and a credit card, but I still can't get the elevation data. This happens on two different computers, but on my same account.

I am lost as what to do next. The VLM software is/was fantastic.

Error message received when I use VLM to export a csv file to google Earth Pro:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9:34:14 AM VLM Server Status - OK
9:34:14 AM Google Earth Status - OK
9:34:15 AM Watch Folder is C:\Users\JoeRu\Documents

9:34:38 AM New CSV detected - carefree 01
9:34:38 AM Altitudes in this csv file are in Feet
9:34:38 AM CSV File OK - 22 Waypoints Processed
9:34:38 AM Warning - No heading specified for WP22
9:34:38 AM Number of POI used for this mission is 0
9:34:39 AM Google Elevation API returned error
9:34:39 AM REQUEST_DENIED - You must enable Billing on the Google Cloud Projectassociated to this client ID, at Google Cloud Platform more at Maps Platform Migration Guide | Google Maps APIs Premium Plan | Google Developers
9:34:39 AM Error Getting WP Ground Elevations from Google Earth
9:34:39 AM Error Correcting Waypoint Altitudes for reference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[joeruby]

I have been creating and flying Litchi waypoint missions, and also using Virtual Litchi Mission VLM. Everything has been working fine for several months, and then last night I get the below errors every time I try to analyze, or virtual-fly a mission. These are missions that worked OK before yesterday.

Is google now charging me to get elevation data?

I have looked at the links in the error message below, but still don't know what to do to get VLM working with elevation data again.

Google has an account for me and a credit card, but I still can't get the elevation data. This happens on two different computers, but on my same account.

I am lost as what to do next. The VLM software is/was fantastic.

Error message received when I use VLM to export a csv file to google Earth Pro:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9:34:14 AM VLM Server Status - OK
9:34:14 AM Google Earth Status - OK
9:34:15 AM Watch Folder is C:\Users\JoeRu\Documents

9:34:38 AM New CSV detected - carefree 01
9:34:38 AM Altitudes in this csv file are in Feet
9:34:38 AM CSV File OK - 22 Waypoints Processed
9:34:38 AM Warning - No heading specified for WP22
9:34:38 AM Number of POI used for this mission is 0
9:34:39 AM Google Elevation API returned error
9:34:39 AM REQUEST_DENIED - You must enable Billing on the Google Cloud Projectassociated to this client ID, at Google Cloud Platform more at Maps Platform Migration Guide | Google Maps APIs Premium Plan | Google Developers
9:34:39 AM Error Getting WP Ground Elevations from Google Earth
9:34:39 AM Error Correcting Waypoint Altitudes for reference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[RodPad]

I have been creating and flying Litchi waypoint missions, and also using Virtual Litchi Mission VLM. Everything has been working fine for several months, and then last night I get the below errors every time I try to analyze, or virtual-fly a mission. These are missions that worked OK before yesterday.

Is google now charging me to get elevation data?

I have looked at the links in the error message below, but still don't know what to do to get VLM working with elevation data again.

Google has an account for me and a credit card, but I still can't get the elevation data. This happens on two different computers, but on my same account.

I am lost as what to do next. The VLM software is/was fantastic.

Error message received when I use VLM to export a csv file to google Earth Pro:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9:34:14 AM VLM Server Status - OK
9:34:14 AM Google Earth Status - OK
9:34:15 AM Watch Folder is C:\Users\JoeRu\Documents

9:34:38 AM New CSV detected - carefree 01
9:34:38 AM Altitudes in this csv file are in Feet
9:34:38 AM CSV File OK - 22 Waypoints Processed
9:34:38 AM Warning - No heading specified for WP22
9:34:38 AM Number of POI used for this mission is 0
9:34:39 AM Google Elevation API returned error
9:34:39 AM REQUEST_DENIED - You must enable Billing on the Google Cloud Projectassociated to this client ID, at Google Cloud Platform more at Maps Platform Migration Guide | Google Maps APIs Premium Plan | Google Developers
9:34:39 AM Error Getting WP Ground Elevations from Google Earth
9:34:39 AM Error Correcting Waypoint Altitudes for reference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I posted a link to your original posts.

Rod