Virtual Litchi Mission

[namirda]

Namirda. I installed VLM v2. These are the error messages I receive when trying to run it. I've uninstalled and reinstalled. Same messages. Your 1st version seems to work. Thanks

Please try the 64 bit version of the software - the link is in post #172 of this thread.

N

 

[Trottstw]

Please try the 64 bit version of the software - the link is in post #172 of this thread.

N

Downloaded. Works like a charm. Thanks

 

[DinoYYC]

Tried this tool today on my work PC and I must say, it's a fantastic application!
Unfortunately, at home I use a iMac and gave up on the Windows emulator. I don't suppose there's a port or Mac version out there? (And no, I have no desire to get into a PC vs Mac discussion.)

 

[Tajino]

I've got these error in the log when a csv is found in the watch folder :

4/7/2018 8:14:02 PM - Error preparing kml
4/7/2018 8:14:02 PM - Application not found

Which application is it referring to?

Upon startup this is the log :

4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Units set to Metric
4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Drone type set to DJI Mavic
4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Found Google Earth Pro - OK
4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Watch Folder is C:\Temp - OK

The same error occurs in both 1.0.5 and 2.0.0 (32 and 64)
This is tested on Parallels VM running Windows 7 Pro 64 on Mac OS 10.13.3

Hope someone can help, thanks!

 

[Tajino]

I've got these error in the log when a csv is found in the watch folder :

4/7/2018 8:14:02 PM - Error preparing kml
4/7/2018 8:14:02 PM - Application not found

Which application is it referring to?

Upon startup this is the log :

4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Units set to Metric
4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Drone type set to DJI Mavic
4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Found Google Earth Pro - OK
4/7/2018 8:13:17 PM - Watch Folder is C:\Temp - OK

The same error occurs in both 1.0.5 and 2.0.0 (32 and 64)
This is tested on Parallels VM running Windows 7 Pro 64 on Mac OS 10.13.3

Hope someone can help, thanks!

got it sorted, there is some conflicting .kml application association, reassociated kml to google earth pro for windows and all is working well.

 

[jctarvin]

I love this application.... BUT, I cannot get it to run on my desktop (win 10 pro). However, it runs just great on my laptop (also, Win 10 pro). Hoping someone here can help me get it going on my desktop.

Here is the error message I get from VLM 2.0 when I export to csv from the VLM application (error is the last two lines):

10:41:09 AM Google Earth Pro detected
10:41:09 AM Watch Folder is C:\Users\John\Documents

10:42:07 AM New CSV Mision File detected - Alabama Hills 01
10:42:07 AM Altitudes in this csv file are in Metres
10:42:07 AM CSV File OK - 22 Waypoints Processed
10:42:07 AM Mission Home Point is WP1 at Altitude of 4565.3 ft
10:42:07 AM Total Mission Distance = 2.38 miles
10:42:07 AM Number of WayPoints after Smoothing is 102

10:42:07 AM Preparing data for Google Earth
10:42:07 AM Smoothed Mission Distance = 2.36 miles
10:42:07 AM Mission Duration = 11.41 minutes
10:42:07 AM Error preparing kml
10:42:07 AM Application not found

Any help would be appreciated!!

PROBLEM SOLVED: Win 10 did NOT have kml files associated with Google Earth, so VLM didn't know what to open.

 

[Tajino]

Tried this tool today on my work PC and I must say, it's a fantastic application!
Unfortunately, at home I use a iMac and gave up on the Windows emulator. I don't suppose there's a port or Mac version out there? (And no, I have no desire to get into a PC vs Mac discussion.)

Have you tried Parallels Desktop VM for Mac running windows in it? Works great on my 7-year-old Mac book pro 2011, it is very easy to setup, performance wise is about 70% compared to running it natively in bootcamp. Very usable IMHO.

 

[sowega]

I am using VLM 64 bit version on my MacBook Pro running Parallels VM too...Works just fine for me...Thanks namirda for the exceptional program!

 

[Scott Bee]

This software is amazing. Thank you for taking the time to develop it!

 

[Pandalus]

Hi - I am trying to run VLM 2.0 on my Win 10 laptop without success, although according to the log it runs all the way to sending the CSV file to GE, without any error messages. GE doesn't open as the help file says it should, nor does it have any new folders (e.g. "diagnostics) in the GE temporary places folder when GE is opened manually. I have a 64 bit machine and have tried both 32 and 64 with same results. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Pandalus.

11:35:49 AM Google Earth Pro detected
11:35:49 AM Watch Folder is C:\Users\SIMBA\Documents

11:36:10 AM New CSV Mision File detected - Lakes
11:36:10 AM Altitudes in this csv file are in Metres
11:36:10 AM CSV File OK - 9 Waypoints Processed
11:36:10 AM Mission Home Point is WP1 at Altitude of 101.2 m
11:36:10 AM Total Mission Distance = 5.24 kms
11:36:10 AM Number of WayPoints after Smoothing is 37

11:36:10 AM Preparing data for Google Earth
11:36:10 AM Smoothed Mission Distance = 4.62 km
11:36:10 AM Mission Duration = 13.87 minutes
11:36:10 AM Mission sent to Google Earth

 

[namirda]

Hi - I am trying to run VLM 2.0 on my Win 10 laptop without success, although according to the log it runs all the way to sending the CSV file to GE, without any error messages. GE doesn't open as the help file says it should, nor does it have any new folders (e.g. "diagnostics) in the GE temporary places folder when GE is opened manually. I have a 64 bit machine and have tried both 32 and 64 with same results. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Pandalus.

11:35:49 AM Google Earth Pro detected
11:35:49 AM Watch Folder is C:\Users\SIMBA\Documents

11:36:10 AM New CSV Mision File detected - Lakes
11:36:10 AM Altitudes in this csv file are in Metres
11:36:10 AM CSV File OK - 9 Waypoints Processed
11:36:10 AM Mission Home Point is WP1 at Altitude of 101.2 m
11:36:10 AM Total Mission Distance = 5.24 kms
11:36:10 AM Number of WayPoints after Smoothing is 37

11:36:10 AM Preparing data for Google Earth
11:36:10 AM Smoothed Mission Distance = 4.62 km
11:36:10 AM Mission Duration = 13.87 minutes
11:36:10 AM Mission sent to Google Earth

Hi,

Please make sure that .kml and .kmz files are associated with Google Earth Pro - the association should have been set automatically by the GE installer but it looks as if that might have gone wrong in your case.

In WIn10 go to - settings/apps/default apps/choose default application by file type

Hope that helps

N

 

[Pandalus]

Hi,

Please make sure that .kml and .kmz files are associated with Google Earth Pro - the association should have been set automatically by the GE installer but it looks as if that might have gone wrong in your case.

In WIn10 go to - settings/apps/default apps/choose default application by file type

Hope that helps

N

Namirda - that fixed it, works great. Thanks so much for your prompt reply, and congratulations on an excellent piece of work

 

[Tajino]

namirda, thanks for this very useful app.

If weren't for the limitation of Google Earth and KML, the mission tour would have been more accurate. Heading and altitude are interpolated linearly between waypoints in the actual flight, but since KML <gx:flyToMode> only allows value of either 'smooth' or 'bounce', there are no option to have linear interpolation. Unless a workaround is to split more segments between waypoints when writing out the Tour section to closer resemble a linearly interpolated heading and altitude.

I've a small request, if possible could you add some options for waypoint flight path lines width and area style fill/outline settings in VLM setup panel would be great. I find myself kept having to manually set the area style to 'outlined' only as I find the fill is too obstructing.

 

[Guy Fuller]

First, thanks namirda for this application. Works fantastic on my Windows 10 Omen machine. I've been waiting for this type of App for a long time.

 

[Flack]

Namirda. Litchi is my go to app even more now with this great addition of yours. Is there anyway we can see what each waypoint speed is set to when viewing the playback in VLM?. Thanks for your efforts.

MJ.

 

[Hauptmann]

I wish the CSV file would record the gimbal angle as well

 

[marklyn]

Agreed hauptmann, that would be sweet. It might be in the csv file but I bet GE can't do anything with it.

 

[namirda]

Namirda. Litchi is my go to app even more now with this great addition of yours. Is there anyway we can see what each waypoint speed is set to when viewing the playback in VLM?. Thanks for your efforts.

MJ.

Sorry - Not much I can do with the playback in GE. I could possibly post the speed as part of the label in the "WP Labels" but I don't think that would be very elegant or useful. Any ideas?
N

 

[namirda]

I wish the CSV file would record the gimbal angle as well

If you mean the gimbal pitch then it does! And of course it is used by VLM to produce the virtual mission. But perhaps you mean the gimbal azimuth which is not really relevant to the Mavic??

N

 

[namirda]

namirda, thanks for this very useful app.

If weren't for the limitation of Google Earth and KML, the mission tour would have been more accurate. Heading and altitude are interpolated linearly between waypoints in the actual flight, but since KML <gx:flyToMode> only allows value of either 'smooth' or 'bounce', there are no option to have linear interpolation. Unless a workaround is to split more segments between waypoints when writing out the Tour section to closer resemble a linearly interpolated heading and altitude.

I've a small request, if possible could you add some options for waypoint flight path lines width and area style fill/outline settings in VLM setup panel would be great. I find myself kept having to manually set the area style to 'outlined' only as I find the fill is too obstructing.

I think the main reason for any inaccuracy in the virtual mission is the fact that the real mission is handled by the firmware onboard the drone and DJI do not tell us exactly how this is done. Litchi made a good guess by smoothing the path between the waypoints with a simple 5 point Bezier function and I have done the same in VLM. The heading, altitude and gimbal pitch are linearly interpolated between the Bezier nodes in VLM - DJI are probably doing something similar but they do not say anything about this anywhere in their API documentation.

I will keep your request in mind for the next release.

N