Planning and Running a Mission - Workflow Options

Lowest-Budget Mission Planning Options for DJI Mini-Class Mapping

The table compares realistic low-budget workflows for teaching UAV mapping and object flights with DJI Mini-class aircraft. The focus is not maximum comfort, but the cheapest workable setup that still allows meaningful mission planning.

The practical situation has changed since late 2025. Litchi Hub is now the current baseline workflow for many DJI mapping missions. The older QGroundControl / uavRmp / Litchi workflow remains useful, but mostly as a legacy or special-purpose workflow for reproducible planning, GIS-derived flight geometries, explicit DEM logic, Pixhawk workflows, and teaching the internal structure of mission planning.

Workflow Approx. software cost Main role Strength Weakness Lowest-budget suitability
Litchi Hub + Litchi / Litchi Pilot Litchi Hub + paid flight app, depending on platform and aircraft Current baseline workflow for many DJI mapping flights Browser-based planning, area mapping, photogrammetry grids, 3D planning, simulation, KML/KMZ import, direct Litchi ecosystem Depends on exact drone, controller, operating system, Litchi app generation, and elevation workflow Very high
QGroundControl + uavRmp + Litchi QGC/uavRmp free + Litchi app Open planning + conversion + Litchi execution Transparent, reproducible, useful for terrain-aware planning, strong for teaching mission logic Technically fragile, requires file conversion and careful checking; now mostly legacy/special-purpose for standard DJI mapping High for teaching / special workflows
QGroundControl only free Open mission planning for Pixhawk-compatible platforms Mature, open, strong for Pixhawk workflows, survey grid support, terrain following options Not the direct baseline workflow for DJI Mini-class execution High for Pixhawk, limited for DJI
DJIFlightPlanner + Litchi DJIFlightPlanner US$99 + Litchi app Commercial grid planning + Litchi execution Easy grid planning, direct Litchi-oriented workflow, low one-time licence cost Proprietary, Windows-only, less didactically transparent than QGC/uavRmp; less central now that Litchi Hub has mapping tools Medium
Manual flight + interval photos free Manual training / fallback Cheapest possible, works without mission app No reproducible autonomous mission, weak for systematic mapping Medium as fallback
Enterprise tools: UgCS / Pix4D / DroneDeploy etc. usually subscription / high cost Professional mission planning and processing Strong professional workflows Too expensive and often overkill for low-budget teaching Low

Interpretation

For ordinary DJI mapping flights, the first tool to check is now Litchi Hub. It has become the simplest low-budget baseline workflow for many practical mapping tasks because the mission can be planned directly in the browser and synchronized into the Litchi execution environment.

The older QGroundControl / uavRmp / Litchi workflow is still useful, but its role has changed. It is no longer the first choice for simple DJI mapping flights. Its strength is transparency: students can see how flight lines, waypoints, camera geometry, overlap, terrain following, mission files, and conversion steps relate to each other.

QGroundControl only is still highly relevant for Pixhawk-based UAVs. For DJI Mini-class workflows, it is mainly useful as a planning reference or as part of the conversion workflow through uavRmp.

DJIFlightPlanner remains a possible low-cost commercial alternative if the main goal is simple grid planning and Litchi export. However, because Litchi Hub now includes area mapping and 3D planning, DJIFlightPlanner is less central for this course.

Manual interval-photo flights are useful as fallback and for basic pilot training, but they are not a replacement for reproducible autonomous mapping missions.

Practical Teaching Recommendation

For low-budget UAV teaching, use a tiered approach:

  1. Litchi Hub for ordinary DJI mapping workflows.
  2. QGroundControl + uavRmp + Litchi for reproducible planning, GIS/DEM-based workflows, conversion logic, and teaching the internal structure of mission planning.
  3. QGroundControl only for Pixhawk-based platforms.
  4. Manual interval-photo flights as emergency fallback or introductory exercise.
Hinweis

The distinctive strength of the QGroundControl / uavRmp / Litchi workflow is not that it is the easiest solution. Its strength is that it is transparent, reproducible, and exposes the actual planning logic behind mapping missions.

For routine DJI mapping flights, Litchi Hub is now usually the simpler first choice.

Litchi Hub as Current Baseline Workflow

Use Litchi Hub when:

  • the survey area can be drawn directly in the browser,
  • the area can be imported as KML/KMZ,
  • the mission is a standard photogrammetry or mapping grid,
  • overlap, altitude, speed, camera angle, and capture mode can be configured directly in Litchi,
  • 2D/3D visual planning and simulation are sufficient,
  • the selected aircraft can execute the mission through the relevant Litchi app workflow.

Basic workflow:

  1. Open Litchi Hub.
  2. Create a new mission or flight.
  3. Select an area mapping / photogrammetry workflow.
  4. Draw or import the survey area.
  5. Set altitude, speed, overlap, gimbal angle, and capture mode.
  6. Inspect the generated grid and capture points.
  7. Use the 2D/3D preview and simulation.
  8. Save and synchronize the mission with the relevant Litchi flight app.
  9. Check the mission legally using DIPUL and/or TraX before flying.

Relevant links:

Warnung

Litchi Hub is a mission planning tool. It is not a legal approval system. A technically valid Litchi mission is not automatically a legally valid flight.

QGroundControl / uavRmp as Legacy and Special-Purpose Workflow

Use the older workflow when:

  • the mission should be generated reproducibly from R,
  • the survey geometry comes from GIS analysis,
  • the terrain model should be handled explicitly,
  • a Pixhawk-compatible workflow is required,
  • a QGroundControl or Mission Planner file has to be converted,
  • students should understand the technical structure of mapping missions.

This workflow is not obsolete. It is just no longer the simplest route for ordinary DJI mapping flights.

Watch the QGroundControl mission planning video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d23O_RUOmI

Embedded QGroundControl Tutorial

Hinweis

If the embedded video does not render in your browser or on the course website, open it directly using the link above.

Connected Module