Drones UAVs - thomaspingel/advanced_remote_sensing GitHub Wiki
Weather
Check the weather carefully when planning your flight! Some favorite sites and apps to check the weather include:
- Pingel recommends windy.com which has apps as well.
- You can get METARs and TAFs from the NWS Aviation Weather Center. You can browse these graphically.
- The NWS forecast discussion for your area is also a great place to get a text but highly detailed aviation forecast.
- Sarah Macey recommends foreflight.com and Weather Underground.
- Jack recommends looking at the forecast models at Tropical Tidbits directly.
Drones
Beta FPV
The Beta FPV Cetus Pro is a small drone we use for indoor flight training. It is moderately difficult to fly, and so trains the pilot to react to drifting and yawing of the drone, and flying "first person".
Getting Started
- This drone is for INDOOR USE only. It CAN fly outside, but is easily lost.
- Batteries and controllers charge with USB. Batteries only last a few minutes.
- Before arming: Make sure throttle is down and all switches (SA to SD) are back/down. This is common to all transmitters of this type.
- To arm: Flip "SA" switch up to arm, down to disarm.
- Speed: Speed is controlled with the 3-position "SC" switch. Down is slow, up is fast.
Battery charging
- Batteries are small 1S, single-cell, nominally 3.3 volts per cell. They charge via a USB-C charger.
- Place used batteries in the used controller until they can be charged.
- Charging batteries should not be left unattended.
- Controller is charged via USB-C.
Resources
- Controller setup and calibration: https://youtu.be/UBjvndOpHzQ
- Long press Setup button on the back to enter calibration mode. Set throttle to middle and press setup again. Rotate the sticks several times through their maximum travel. Center the throttle and press setup again to save. Power off and back on.
- Manuals: https://support.betafpv.com/hc/en-us/articles/900007036063-Manual-for-Cetus-FPV-Kit
DJI Avata
A small, sub 250 gram drone useful for pilot development and FPV flying. It cannot be used to fly between waypoints.
Preparing to fly
- Download and install DJI Fly. You'll need a DJI login (free).
- Review the DJI RC Motion 2 controls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MjFLYnJKkQ
Getting Started
- DJI drones and controllers start with a short followed by a long press on the power button.
- Plug your phone to the goggles and start DJI Fly.
- In order, turn on the controller, goggles, then drone. Always be sure to turn on your controller before your drone!
- Press the "lock" button two times to arm. Long-press to take off to a height of 1.2 meters. Long press again to land.
- Pressing the Lock button once in flight freezes it in position; press again to release. Tilting the controller rotates the craft. Trigger moves forward and back. Joystick moves up and down, and left and right. Tilting forward in flight moves the drone up or down. It can also move the camera gimbal up and down. Press and hold Mode button to initiate RTH. If landing from altitude, use joystick to adjust position if needed.
Other Controls
- Mode button toggles Normal and Sport modes.
- Shutter button: press once to take a photo, hold down to take video. Press again to stop.
- FN dial controls camera settings, viewable in goggles. Press and hold to save setting.
- Speed settings can be controlled in the Goggle menus.
Pairing / Linking
Controllers should be paired already, but if new controllers are needed you can initiate pairing on a graphical controller using a menu. On the drone, turn it on, and then hold the power button for 5 seconds to complete pairing. On the RC Motion 2, power on and hold the power button for 5 seconds to initiate pairing. Googles are linked the same way.
Resources
- DJI RC Motion 2 User Manual: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/DJI_RC_Motion_2/DJI_RC_Motion_2_User_Manual_EN.pdf
- DJI RC Motion 2 - First Use video tutorial
- A Beginner's Guide to DJI Avata
Autel Evo II V3
Autel produces small consumer drones commensurate with DJI's Mavic drones. We use the Autel Evo II V3 for training, which includes smart controller for mission planning. The Autel features a 1 inch CMOS imaging sensor, 40 minutes of flight time, 15 km transmission range, and 360° obstacle avoidance.
Operation
- Power on the controller and drone with a single long-press of the power button.
- Arm the drone by pushing both sticks in and down.
- The charging hub can charge four batteries and the controller simultaneously. The LED indicates the charge mode, and the button at the top changes the mode. Blue is parallel charging mode meaning it will charge the lowest battery first then charge two batteries (at half rate) at a time until both are 100%. When it is green it is in Sequential charging mode which means it will start charging the battery with the highest level first then move to the next one. [source]
Mavic 3T
- RGB Camera Specs: DFOV 84%, 4000x3000 (12 MP), 1/2 CMOS sensor
- Thermal Camera Specs: DFOV 61%, 640x512 (0.3 MP)
Academic References
- Giordan et al. 2018. Review article: The use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) for natural hazards monitoring and management. [academia.edu]
- Isibue and Pingel. 2020. Unmanned aerial vehicle based measurement of urban forests. [archive]
- Nesbit and Hugenholtz. 2019. Enhancing UAV-SfM 3D model accuracy in high-relief landscapes by incorporating oblique images. [archive.]
- Pingel et al. 2021. Deriving Land and Water Surface Elevations in the Northeastern Yucatán Peninsula Using PPK GPS and UAV-Based Structure from Motion. [archive]
- Prior et al. 2021. Estimating Floodplain Vegetative Roughness Using Drone-Based Laser Scanning and Structure from Motion Photogrammetry.
- Rogers et al. 2020. Comparing the spatial accuracy of DSMs from four unoccupied aerial systems - photogrammetry vs lidar. [archive]
- Resop, Lehmann, Hession. 2019. [Drone laser scanning for modeling riverscape topography and vegetation - comparison with traditional lidar].
- Stark et al. 2021. From consumer to enterprise grade: How the choice of four UAS impacts point cloud quality.
Old Links
- Some nice additional weather tools at e6bx.com. Airport codes: Roanoke is KROA, Blacksburg is KBCB.