Following Propeller's recommendations when surveying with your Mavic 3 Enterprise (M3E) or Matrice 4 Enterprise (M4E) drone is important for consistent, high accuracy data capture. This article will walk you through each step of the data collection process so you can fly with confidence.
While the workflows below are broadly applicable to the majority of sites, certain edge cases may require adjustments.
If you have questions about how the specifics of your site will impact data collection, please reach out to Propeller support for further assistance.
Pre-flight preparation
Perform these steps in the office, before heading on-site to fly.
- Check the site's airspace for restrictions and ensure you're authorized to fly by your local airspace authority.
- Charge the batteries of your drone and controller.
- Check for firmware updates and ensure both your drone and controller are on the latest version.
- Ensure that a compatible SD card with a high read / write speed is installed in your drone and format the SD card through your controller.
- Plan your mission in DJI Pilot 2 and confirm your camera settings.
- Determine your AeroPoint processing method. If using the known point method, ensure that you have access to the known location's northing, easting, and elevation values.
- Determine the number of AeroPoints needed for your site. One AeroPoint is typically sufficient for sites 100 acres or smaller. We recommend at least one additional AeroPoint for every additional 50 acres of survey area.
On-site: setup
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Place your AeroPoint(s) in a clear, flat area and turn them on, ensuring they are in Logging mode. When using multiple AeroPoints, ensure they are distributed evenly across the site.
- Unpack your drone and controller. Check your drone for damage and ensure the frame arms are securely unfolded.
- Place your drone in an unobstructed, flat area free of obstacles and traffic.
- Power on your drone and controller. Confirm that they are connected successfully.
- Monitor the DJI Pilot 2 app and confirm that no warnings or errors are present after the drone completes its start up process. If you encounter any persistent warnings, follow the on-screen prompts or refer to our knowledge base to resolve them. It's not uncommon to need to perform a compass calibration or IMU calibration after transporting the drone.
On-site: flying the mission
- From the home page of DJI Pilot 2, tap flight route and select your mission plan.
- Tap the blue play button at the top left corner of the screen.
- Review your settings on the pre-flight checklist, then tap next and confirm your settings on the mapping checklist.
- Check your site for any obstructions or aircraft and confirm it's safe to launch the drone.
- Tap upload flight mission to start flying.
- Monitor your drone and maintain a visual line of sight during the flight. If you need to take manual control of the drone at any point, first tap the pause button to stop the mission.
- If your mission requires a battery change, power down the drone after it returns home and before swapping the battery. Once the drone reconnects to the controller, tap the play button to resume the mission from its breakpoint.
On-site: post flight
- Power down your drone and controller, removing the drone's battery and SD card before packing up.
- Verify the quality of your mission files on a computer. Open a couple of images and confirm they are sharp and clear. Check that your MRK and BIN(M3E) / RTK(M4E) files are present. If you have an internet connection, start a new dataset upload and drop your mission files into the validator to confirm no warnings or errors are present. If your data looks good, you can complete the upload back at the office.
- Collect your AeroPoints in reverse order. Tap the power button to end the capture before moving the AeroPoint and ensure that the first AeroPoint down is the last one up.
- If you're uploading AeroPoint data over a mobile hotspot, you can do so while picking them up or wait until you're back at the office.
- That's it! Once you've collected all your hardware, it's time to head back and start your PPK survey upload.
I still can't do it!
We wrote these articles to equip you with everything you need to get the job done on your own, but we understand that sometimes this isn't sufficient.
If you're stuck, the Propeller hardware support team may be able to help. You can contact them by emailing hardwaresupport@propelleraero.com.au.
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