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Ivan Gayton edited this page Sep 24, 2024 · 5 revisions

How to Test the Drone Tasking Manager with a DJI Mini 4 Pro

DroneTM is currently in alpha testing. It is NOT complete, NOT safe for unsupervised use, and can NOT necessarily be used in the way it will once completed (we estimate that the safe, working, public-facing version should be ready before February 2025).

The only drone currently supported by the DroneTM is the DJI Mini 4 Pro. Many other drones, including several DJI models other than the Mini 4 Pro, are compatible with commercially available flight planning applications such as Pix4D Capture, DroneDeploy, DroneLink, Litchi, and others. We intend to support other drones in the future, but for now the Mini 4 Pro offers the best combination of low cost, high image quality, light weight (important for safety and compliance with laws), so it is our main testing/development platform. If you have a DJI Mini 4 Pro and wish to test/try the DroneTM, please contact our team for support.

Project and Flight Plan Creation

Sign up to the DroneTM platform as a project creator.

SCREENSHOT

Navigate to the dashboard and create a new project.

SCREENSHOT

Draw a project Area of Interest (AOI) where you wish to fly

SCREENSHOT

Enter the parameters of the imagery you wish to collect, and submit the project.

SCREENSHOT

Navigate to the task you wish to fly and download the KMZ flight plan onto your computer

SCREENSHOT

  • The site waypointmap.com, which also provides flight plans for the DJI Mini 4 Pro, has created a Windows program that takes care of the file replacement. You can download it here(BROKEN LINK, FIXME).
  • For added safety and learning, you can also download the GeoJSON flight plan if you wish to inspect the flight in QGIS or other GIS software SCREENSHOT

Drone Preparation and Uploading Flight Plan

This assumes your DJI Mini 4 Pro is already working; you've unboxed it, put a compatible SD card in it, gone through DJI's registration/account process, and flown the drone manually at least once (if you're not at this stage yet, or if you can't yet do a basic manual flight, please stop now and get some help or training in basic drone operations, the DroneTM is not a tool for beginners.

Create a waypoint file on the drone.

  • While flying the drone, enter Waypoint mode.
  • Record at least one waypoint before landing.
  • Land the drone, and open the loading screen for the waypoint mode. Ensure that there is one (and ideally only one) waypoint mission visible and loadable.

Upload the flight plan onto the drone using a USB cable from your computer

Using a USB cable from your computer to the RC2 controller (or the Android phone connected to the RC-N2 controller) navigate to the directory /android/data/dji.go.v5/files/waypoints/, where you'll see a folder with a complicated alphanumeric name. Inside this folder you'll find a KMZ file, with the same type of complicated alphanumeric name. Delete it, replace it with the flight plan from the DroneTM, and rename the flight plan from the DroneTM with the same name as the deleted file.

Executing the Flight Plan

Prep the drone

  • Move to as near to the center of the flight plan as you can.
  • Turn on the drone and controller as usual. Wait for the drone to get a GPS position.
  • Set the photo mode to timed, 2s.
  • Enter waypoint mode. Hit the load button, and select the flight plan. It should load up on the controller screen, with waypoints visible around your location.
  • Hit "Next"
  • If there aren't any warnings, push "Fly." The drone should take off and head toward the first waypoint.

For wayline flights

  • When the drone approaches the first waypoint of the flight plan, press the "take photo" button on the front right shoulder of the controller. The camera should visibly and audibly start snapping photos every 2 seconds.

For waypoint flights

  • Don't press the "take photo button

Stay safe in flight

  • Keep an eye on the camera and map view. If possible (strongly, strongly recommended) have another person with you to keep the drone itself in sight at all times (this can be difficult; once you lose sight of the drone it can be tricky to find it in the sky again).
  • If the drone seems to be going further than the edge of the flight plan, or if it seems to be coming near obstacles, or there's any other danger, abort the flight by pressing the "Return to Home" button on the controller.
  • The drone should land quite precisely on the location it took off from. If not, or if that location is no longer safe, wait until you can see the drone very clearly, and move the control sticks to take manual control. Land in a safe place.

Process the imagery

  • Remove the SD card from the drone and put it into a card reader to access it from your computer
  • Transfer the photos onto your computer
    • (ADVANCED) You may need to remove some of the photos which aren't part of the flight plan (in case of wayline flights)
  • Upload them for processing (ADD INSTRUCTIONS)
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