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App comparison/feedback

Geo_in_KS

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Has anyone used both Litchi and autopilot?
I have litchi but Ive had some small issues here & there, thinking of trying autopilot.
I'm just curious if they are basically the same, or if there are more or less features of one or the other etc.
Thanks.
 
Frankly they are quite different in important ways. First, Autopilot has a much richer user interface and quite a lot more possibilities as they relate to autonomous flight characteristics and actual flight planning. As such, the learning curve for AutoPilot user interface is considerably larger as compared with Litchi.

2ndly, and most important to me, Autopilot is a realtime system - that is the aircraft is controlled at runtime from the app running on your device/controller. Litchi, on the other hand, compiles a flight mode (whether it is created on the Mission Hub offline or on your app in the field,) and loads this instructional package TO THE ONBOARD MEMORY of the ship. I am framing this in the context of waypoint missions, by the way.

What this means is if you should suddenly spontaneously combust, or drop and step on your controller or tablet/phone, the LITCHI flight mission or plan, or sequence will continue to its end (if it has one). Waypoint missions usually have a starting waypoint and and ending one and the mission will fly to successful complete, with or without you, your controller or the running app. Good luck SAFELY landing anything without a controller, though. Should you be in an orbit or other mode, it will continue to fly unimpeded or until the battery craps. Depending on the flight mode, it may also hover based on settings or user control input.

Lastly, there is a considerable cost point discrepancy. Litch = USD20 or so -- AP = USD50 or so ...

BOTH, are awesome and have their place. Autopilot is great for short exacting flight shots and Litch is a great mission tool in my opinion.
 
Thank you! Your comparison was very helpful, I appreciate that.
Are there different versions of AP? The cost doesnt matter alot to me, but I see it on the iOS app store for $29.99.
 
Autopilot does actually allow for "offline" waypoint missions like Litchi does, but by default it functions as a live robot that streams commands directly instead of uploading a pre-programmed flight. As Avocet suggested, Autopilot is "richer"--it lets you control pretty much every aspect that the DJI SDK allows for--in fact (at least to me) it's sometimes overwhelming--especially with the screen clutter; although last time I used it, it had an emulation of the DJI Go app screen in Beta; though with less information than the Go app provides--information I missed having. I find it very hard to make adjustments on some of its parameter windows without inadvertently effecting something else; which leaves me feeling a little insecure when I fly or plan with it; however if you like having the ability to control almost every conceivable aspect of your drone in a very customized way; you can't beat Autopilot.

I much prefer Litchi as the interface is much more straight forward, and it basically does most of everything I'd like to do autonomously--plus I like being able to plan missions with terrain elevation available on their website.

I had a bad experience with Autopilot when I tried adjusting my P3P's follow distance--this was before some parameters could be adjusted with your controller sticks and you had to use screen sliders. I tried decreasing my follow distance from 30 to 15 feet, but as soon as my fat finger hit my ipad screen, the slider jumped to 300 feet instantly, and my drone distanced itself at full throttle and before I could react fast enough to switch out of f-mode; it slammed into a tree trunk--totaling it. Granted, I should have not made any adjustments like this while connected and at low altitude; but it made me wary of using its very cluttered interface after that--where sliders are super sensitive and are hard to adjust precisely. The interface has improved in the last two years or so and you can type in numbers or assign controller sticks to change other parameters; but I'm still scared of it.
 
Hmm. I have bought and used both. My experience was that I could not trust Litchi. In fact the last time I used it, it almost crashed my Phantom. That was it for me. I then found Autopilot which I have found to be very good. I have had little if no problems with it. What's interesting is that I tried to get Litchi to help as to why I was having problems. Never could get a reasonable response to the problems. Now I know there are a lot of guys out there that like Litchi - Great. It just did not work for me. I needed something that worked every time without issues. For me, that was Autopilot. I just finished a 5 month weekly construction time lapse using Autopilot. It worked great. Flew every Sunday same mission. I have not compared it to the DJI's answer for conducting waypoint missions.
 
Ha, I didnt even look close enough to know it was you responding on this thread Mike :)
Like I said on the other thread discussion, Ive had some issues with Litchi also. Ive also heard from others that their support is sub par.
I did a flight the other day and I momentarily lost sight of the drone so I hit RTH, it did that fine but once it was safely over me I tried cancelling RTH and it wouldnt, after 4 tries.
Had to kill the app & restart it.
Thanks for your input.
 
Glad to help. The day I un-installed Litchi, I was doing a small waypoint mission and after I launched the bird, it started to shake violently. I had to switch to anti mode quickly and brought the Phantom down. That was it for me. I do wish that Autopilot would make a "Mission Hub" like Litchi, It makes it easier to plan missions rather than on the Tablet. But no real big deal. :)
 
Yea, its scared me a couple times. I didnt know AP didnt have a mission hub, but I guess that isnt a deal breaker, its often easier/quicker to do it on the spot anyway.
So, what exactly does Dronifi do? (changing the subject a bit). It seems like they are reselling a few different software packages.
 
Dronifi provides a means for DSP (That's us), to do the flying and then upload the aerial data to them. They take that data and stitch it together just like DD does. But there's more. They provide the "Interface" or portal where our clients go to "interact" with the data. In other words, the Dronifi interface allows our clients to work with the data. For example, they can do volumetric, assign action reports, i.e., take inventory of a construction site, complete work assignments, generate reports for stake holders and much, much more. Dronifi is cross platform compatible. By this I could assign you a task (at the construction site), you would get the assignment alert on your phone. You would open up the text assignment, look at the map, and walk to the exact GPS location on the site and complete the action. You would the complete the assignment (Take pics) and send through their interface and it becomes available to all. One of the really great examples is if the flights are done in phases (i.e., foundation) done, but no concrete poured you could then have a before and after map which is like having x-ray vision that consist in layers.

Sorry for the long post, but it's very comprehensive. You can also have it branded with your company name and Logo on all the reports etc. That's what sold me.
 
Dronifi provides a means for DSP (That's us), to do the flying and then upload the aerial data to them. They take that data and stitch it together just like DD does. But there's more. They provide the "Interface" or portal where our clients go to "interact" with the data. In other words, the Dronifi interface allows our clients to work with the data. For example, they can do volumetric, assign action reports, i.e., take inventory of a construction site, complete work assignments, generate reports for stake holders and much, much more. Dronifi is cross platform compatible. By this I could assign you a task (at the construction site), you would get the assignment alert on your phone. You would open up the text assignment, look at the map, and walk to the exact GPS location on the site and complete the action. You would the complete the assignment (Take pics) and send through their interface and it becomes available to all. One of the really great examples is if the flights are done in phases (i.e., foundation) done, but no concrete poured you could then have a before and after map which is like having x-ray vision that consist in layers.

Sorry for the long post, but it's very comprehensive. You can also have it branded with your company name and Logo on all the reports etc. That's what sold me.


While I love the sound of this new application I don't see how it would benefit the majority of us who have just a few sUAS/Operators or even like me we are a Single operator program. I love the potential for collaboration but it sounds like a lot more than I would ever be able to utilize.

I do look forward to learning more about it once it's released to the public.

Safe Flights,
Allen
 
I agree, Ive been thinking of this in every possible scenario and it does sound like a great product, I just think its way too much for only myself.
I also wonder how it would cut into the profit margin, although I think I could figure that out with more research.
 
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I have never used Auto Pilot so I can't say anything about it other than many swear by it. I use to fly lots of Litchi Way Point Missions and still fly Litchi from time to time. I have never had one problem with Litchi, however, I know others who have. I never heard anyone talk about anything catastrophic.
 
Hmm, maybe I did not explain what Dronifi does very well. Dronifi provides a platform (application) for our clients, not us. Yes, we do the flying and acquire all the raw data. That data is uploaded by us (No different the DD), but that's where the similarities end. With DD, you can share a link with the client or send them an invite e-mail to interact with the data, i.e., make volume calculations, DEM, etc. Unless you go with DD enterprise version, their name is all over the reports. Not only that, but the report are singular, no other interaction can be made. With Dronifi platform, they (customer) can interact with the data (map) to conduct not only measurements, but they (customer) can assign tasks to HIS employee's for further followup and completion all via text message on Dronifi phone app. You can't do that with DD. As more flights are made (what we do), they create layers that can then be analyzed by the customer and can create before and after as well as progress reports.

It's like an actual application that uses aerial data that customers can use. Take a construction company for example. They contact you and say I would like progress reports every two weeks. You say ok, and give them a price. You do the flight (map) the site and give them some sort of PDF report or a link to view the 2D, 3D, DEM etc. That's it. That's the deliverable. That's ok, but what if you could tell your construction company that not only can we deliver those maps for progress reports, but you can provide a means (application) for them to interact with that data (map). With that application, the construction company can now produce additional reports, assign tasks, look at completed tasks, create alerts, check inventory, produce management reports for stakeholders and do comparison reports all from one application. You see BigAI07 you are not the one doing the collaboration, the client is. Your just providing the platform that allows them to do so. And because of this, we can charge a lot more than just for maps alone. If this does not clear things up a bit, maybe I should arrange to do a webinar through zoom so that I could show you live how the Dronifi platform is a game changer for even single Drone operators. - Hope this helps.
 
Mike,
Just to be clear, I wasnt discounting the value of Dronifi at all, it just seemed like it was more for a team of people (sUAS pilots), but maybe I'm wrong. Your explanation adds alot to it.
I would be interested in a webinar sometime. It would be beneficial to actually see some examples.
Im busy through the weekend but maybe we could arrange something next week? I can send you a private message.
 
Mike
Thanks for your information on Dronifi, I'm going to get my company to consider it. I have so many people at my job site that are using our mapping, panos, and progressions this sounds like it would be a lot better than Drone Deploy for our purposes.

Thanks for your input.
 
Mike,
Just to be clear, I wasnt discounting the value of Dronifi at all, it just seemed like it was more for a team of people (sUAS pilots), but maybe I'm wrong. Your explanation adds alot to it.
I would be interested in a webinar sometime. It would be beneficial to actually see some examples.
Im busy through the weekend but maybe we could arrange something next week? I can send you a private message.


I know you weren't. I'm not the best sometimes at describing something. We will be in touch next maybe we can arrange something. TTYL.
 
Mike
Thanks for your information on Dronifi, I'm going to get my company to consider it. I have so many people at my job site that are using our mapping, panos, and progressions this sounds like it would be a lot better than Drone Deploy for our purposes.

Thanks for your input.


You can give David Alamillo a call at Dronifi. He have been very good with us, and can arrange a zoom conference online that might help you to determine if Dronifi would work for you.
 
The only thing I'm wondering if the advantages actually justifies the expense, that is a decision the guy that pays the bills must make.
 
The only thing I'm wondering if the advantages actually justifies the expense, that is a decision the guy that pays the bills must make.


Agreed. But when you consider DD just went to $ 129.00 per month for Pro, your almost there. We are all at some point at the mercy of these data providers like DD. They make their money regardless of how many jobs we actually get. We can get nickel and dime to death if we are not careful. That's one reason I bumped my subscription down to basic (no cost), and started using Maps Made Easy (Pay as you go) point system. It may not have all the features that DD has, but I only pay for what I am charging for. My goal is to get enough clients using us through this platform that they not only pay for the flights, but also the monthly usage fee for the interface. The hard part is getting them to buy into it. Time will tell. Good thoughts though.
 
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