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Smart Controller and Orthomosaic Mapping

Heed

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I think I've figured out that the Smart Controller just isn't going to work for this angle in my business.

I've searched threads on multiple forums as well as dug some holes in the interwebs.

I gave Litchi a try today and it "may" work with some effort. I used Mapsmadeeasy.com point estimator to develop the routing based on the M2P camera, location and height.

I then exported that file and imported into Litchi. I had to add the extra waypoints in between the main route points as that is all MME showed and exported. MME easy showed 5 legs, 35 photos. I calculated the distance between points to match the MME points estimator for 7 photos per leg.

I flew the mission and stitched the images in MME.

There were some holes and gaps. Manually looking at the images, it looked like I had sufficient overlap, but admittedly I am quite new to this. With time I might be able to perfect this technique and really reduce the time to develop the mission.

I think the limitation was the MME points estimator as it developed the routing somewhat lopsided with more coverage on one side than the other. I am knew to MME as well.

As I don't think there are any apps I can install on the Smart Controller, it looks like I will need to purchase the standard controller.

I've seen the Drone Deploy in action via interweb videos and it looks to be simple and easy to use for the automation and image capture portion of the mission.

Am I missing a solution out there for the Smart Controller?

Thanks.
 
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One of the major drawbacks with the smart controller and crystalsky monitors are their lack of accepting 3rd party apps. Litchi is about as much as you will get, Dronedeploy & Pix4D which are the staple apps in the industry are a no go and I have not seen any effort on DJI's part to open up the SC or Crystalsky's to accept them as add on apps.
 
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One of the major drawbacks with the smart controller and crystalsky monitors are their lack of accepting 3rd party apps. Litchi is about as much as you will get, Dronedeploy & Pix4D which are the staple apps in the industry are a no go and I have not seen any effort on DJI's part to open up the SC or Crystalsky's to accept them as add on apps.
Thanks. This is what I figured.

Shame, the SC is a great controller for flying the drone, adjusting settings on the fly and capturing videos and photos.

I'll keep it for that, but I wouldn't have bought it if I had known I was limiting myself like this.

I guess I need to start shopping for the standard controller.
 
Well send me an email and I will get you a standard controller if you like we have a lot of them that were open boxed due to a shortage of smart controller combos.

$250 each

[email protected]

I personally do use both. I use the standard controller as a backup and for Maps Made Easy, Drone Deploy, and Pix4d. The latter of the two can be put on the smart controller, via a download to Sd Card and such, but it is just easier to use the standard controller with an Ipad.

Mike D
 
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One of the major drawbacks with the smart controller and crystalsky monitors are their lack of accepting 3rd party apps. Litchi is about as much as you will get, Dronedeploy & Pix4D which are the staple apps in the industry are a no go and I have not seen any effort on DJI's part to open up the SC or Crystalsky's to accept them as add on apps.
What about the Tripltek tablet. Looks pretty nice.
 
What about the Tripltek tablet. Looks pretty nice.
The reviews I have seen on youtube and a couple of people I know that have one loves it. You just have to find a mount that can handle the size (thickness), it has 1200 nits (brightness) which puts it at the same level as the SC and crystalsky monitors and the cost is about the same.
 
As much as I love the Tripletek tablet I still use my Ipad for mapping. I use have used Dronelink, Map Pilot(MME Solution), and pix4d software. I have gone to MME and use Map Pilot Business for all of the mapping solution. It has repeatable results and just works well. It is IOS only so will not work on the tripletek. If you are already using Maps made Easy why not use their software. On the map page you can see the result of the overlap and make sure you are getting enough coverage
 
As much as I love the Tripletek tablet I still use my Ipad for mapping. I use have used Dronelink, Map Pilot(MME Solution), and pix4d software. I have gone to MME and use Map Pilot Business for all of the mapping solution. It has repeatable results and just works well. It is IOS only so will not work on the tripletek. If you are already using Maps made Easy why not use their software. On the map page you can see the result of the overlap and make sure you are getting enough coverage
When I finally get my standard controller, which is turning out to be a saga, I will be trying Map Pilot along with the others.

I am looking to use this application for roofing initially, so MME looks like a great solution from a cost perspective for at least the imagery. I just need figure out which of the flight path and automation solutions works best.
 
I think I've figured out that the Smart Controller just isn't going to work for this angle in my business.

I've searched threads on multiple forums as well as dug some holes in the interwebs.

I gave Litchi a try today and it "may" work with some effort. I used Mapsmadeeasy.com point estimator to develop the routing based on the M2P camera, location and height.

I then exported that file and imported into Litchi. I had to add the extra waypoints in between the main route points as that is all MME showed and exported. MME easy showed 5 legs, 35 photos. I calculated the distance between points to match the MME points estimator for 7 photos per leg.

I flew the mission and stitched the images in MME.

There were some holes and gaps. Manually looking at the images, it looked like I had sufficient overlap, but admittedly I am quite new to this. With time I might be able to perfect this technique and really reduce the time to develop the mission.

I think the limitation was the MME points estimator as it developed the routing somewhat lopsided with more coverage on one side than the other. I am knew to MME as well.

As I don't think there are any apps I can install on the Smart Controller, it looks like I will need to purchase the standard controller.

I've seen the Drone Deploy in action via interweb videos and it looks to be simple and easy to use for the automation and image capture portion of the mission.

Am I missing a solution out there for the Smart Controller?

Thanks.
Found this on YouTube. Hope it helps.
 
This is why the power of the interwebs is awesome. I searched and searched and came up empty.

While I did run across the Pilot App on DJI's M2EA page, it of course said it was for the enterprise only addition.

Who knew they had a "PE" version hiding on their website!

I've got a standard controller on the way, but I will be adding Pilot PE to my SC and giving it try for the route automation for gathering mapping images as well.

I will say that I like Litchi and see some other uses for it as well. The ability to use Google Earth Pro to build your photo mission is fascinating as they have camera profiles built that show what the framed image will look like using Google Earth. You build the shots there and upload the mission to Litchi and run it. I will be trying that soon too.
 
A quick update on DJI Pilot PE on the SC.

I followed the directions in the video above and it loaded no problem.

After getting it fired up, I went into settings. M2P is not one of the cameras listed. It looked like all of the Phantom drones were there. I am not sure if one of the Phantoms or other drones has the same camera as the M2P, so maybe that is a solution. You can manually set all of the camera settings as well if you can locate the camera specs.

Missions have to be planned from the SC - so that's a negative for me. I played with it and I suppose I could get good with it, but the other solutions out there allow mission planning from computers.

There is no manual - huge negative. While it appears mostly intuitive, there are settings in there that I am not sure what exactly they do. I discovered through some searching that there is some limited documentation for the Pilot App in the Enterprise drone manuals that Pilot states it officially supports. It is very limited and I downloaded one drone manual and looked through it. It didn't even contain a mapping example, just a linear waypoint example.

If I didn't have a standard controller on the way, I might dive further into this as a solution and figure out the camera and other settings in the app. At this point I don't plan to invest much more time into this as a solution.

For those that stumble on this thread following the same journey I did as well with the smart controller, I think the kinks could be worked out if you don't want to invest in a standard controller.
 
A quick update on DJI Pilot PE on the SC.

I followed the directions in the video above and it loaded no problem.

After getting it fired up, I went into settings. M2P is not one of the cameras listed. It looked like all of the Phantom drones were there. I am not sure if one of the Phantoms or other drones has the same camera as the M2P, so maybe that is a solution. You can manually set all of the camera settings as well if you can locate the camera specs.

Missions have to be planned from the SC - so that's a negative for me. I played with it and I suppose I could get good with it, but the other solutions out there allow mission planning from computers.

There is no manual - huge negative. While it appears mostly intuitive, there are settings in there that I am not sure what exactly they do. I discovered through some searching that there is some limited documentation for the Pilot App in the Enterprise drone manuals that Pilot states it officially supports. It is very limited and I downloaded one drone manual and looked through it. It didn't even contain a mapping example, just a linear waypoint example.

If I didn't have a standard controller on the way, I might dive further into this as a solution and figure out the camera and other settings in the app. At this point I don't plan to invest much more time into this as a solution.

For those that stumble on this thread following the same journey I did as well with the smart controller, I think the kinks could be worked out if you don't want to invest in a standard controller.
I fly the M series with Crystal sky using Pilot App. Correct, not a lot of documentation on it. I had to manually add the Flir XT2 sensor's specs in to use it. The CS allows me to import KML files which allows for mission planning on a pc ahead of time. Not sure if the smart controller allows for KML imports? It is a solid app for what I need if for. 75 + missions last year. 1 to 30 acre scans. Multiple battery swaps. No issues.
 
I fly the M series with Crystal sky using Pilot App. Correct, not a lot of documentation on it. I had to manually add the Flir XT2 sensor's specs in to use it. The CS allows me to import KML files which allows for mission planning on a pc ahead of time. Not sure if the smart controller allows for KML imports? It is a solid app for what I need if for. 75 + missions last year. 1 to 30 acre scans. Multiple battery swaps. No issues.
You can import a KML on the SC Pilot App - I saw the option there. I haven't test drove the app. So it's possible to plan elsewhere and import.

Besides the solutions out there that only run non-Crystal Sky/SC controllers, I am unaware of a desktop mission planning software solution that builds the routes for orthomosaic maps.

What software are you using to produce the KML file?

My standard controller is on the way, so the next step is test driving the planning/automation software once it gets here.
 
You can import a KML on the SC Pilot App - I saw the option there. I haven't test drove the app. So it's possible to plan elsewhere and import.

Besides the solutions out there that only run non-Crystal Sky/SC controllers, I am unaware of a desktop mission planning software solution that builds the routes for orthomosaic maps.

What software are you using to produce the KML file?

My standard controller is on the way, so the next step is test driving the planning/automation software once it gets here.
I have been trying to find a way to easily create a KML file myself. My Client usually provides a KML for the job and I just import into CS. Maps on the CS are frequently out of date and don't include the PV Arrays I am scanning.
 
A quick update on DJI Pilot PE on the SC.

I followed the directions in the video above and it loaded no problem.

After getting it fired up, I went into settings. M2P is not one of the cameras listed. It looked like all of the Phantom drones were there. I am not sure if one of the Phantoms or other drones has the same camera as the M2P, so maybe that is a solution. You can manually set all of the camera settings as well if you can locate the camera specs.

Missions have to be planned from the SC - so that's a negative for me. I played with it and I suppose I could get good with it, but the other solutions out there allow mission planning from computers.

There is no manual - huge negative. While it appears mostly intuitive, there are settings in there that I am not sure what exactly they do. I discovered through some searching that there is some limited documentation for the Pilot App in the Enterprise drone manuals that Pilot states it officially supports. It is very limited and I downloaded one drone manual and looked through it. It didn't even contain a mapping example, just a linear waypoint example.

If I didn't have a standard controller on the way, I might dive further into this as a solution and figure out the camera and other settings in the app. At this point I don't plan to invest much more time into this as a solution.

For those that stumble on this thread following the same journey I did as well with the smart controller, I think the kinks could be worked out if you don't want to invest in a standard controller.
X7 camera is 24 mm closest to M2P
 
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I fly with DJI Pilot PE, Pix4D, DroneHarmony, and DroneDeploy all on the CS monitor with my Mavic 2 Pro.

The first step is to install something like APK Pure or sideload Google Play Services (do NOT run) and Google Play. Once you have that working, you can use pretty much all the other apps easy.

If anyone is interested I can post the camera settings I use for the DJI Pilot PE custom camera I've configured for the M2P, never had any issues after I set it up.

Using WebODM and P4D to generate my Orthomosaics. Occasionally do full 3D's of industrial/commercial spaces, but that usually ends up with an external point cloud combined with Laser/LIDAR ground based stationary scans (I use a Leica and push out E57s) into RealityCapture.
 
I would be very interested in your camera settings, as I am about to use Pilot PE with M2P for first time.
Also, how does it work for swapping batteries?
Are you able to force the files to the SD card instead of the internal storage?
Thx!
 
I would be very interested in your camera settings, as I am about to use Pilot PE with M2P for first time.
Also, how does it work for swapping batteries?
Are you able to force the files to the SD card instead of the internal storage?
Thx!
Hello DroNation,
I'm sorry I don't have the information you are looking for. Mapping is an area I wanted to get into to expand my business, but I have been too busy with my normal work to even give it a try.
I would suggest getting in touch with Multicopter Warehouse since they were the ones who made the video I posted.
I would like to get into mapping and orthomosaics, but it seems to difficult to do with the MP2 and the SC. I would probably just get another controller that works straight away, or buy another drone that would work better for that like a Phantom 4 Pro.
Sorry again, I wish I had the information you wanted.
Happy flying!
 
If you look up the specs for the M2P, you can manually enter the information into the Pilot PE app and save that info as a custom camera. I have had to do that for the XT and XT2 on pilot. Pilot PE is basically a version for the smart controller. You need to get the sensor size in MM for the height and width, and the focal length. As far as mapping and having holes, anything with less than 60% overlap will have data holes and not stitch well. I recommend 75% overlap on RGB and with Thermal I run 80% front and side overlap since the resolution is lower.

I use Maps Made Easy a lot and its a great program for stitching RGB data. There is no need to use their app, it can be flown in pilot. Also once the camera is added you can make a flight profile very quick. I have an Air2s and love my SC but I do have a standard remote for it, just for mapping. Pilot PE is not compatible with the Air2s.
 

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