Propeller’s powerful tools rely on consistent, globally accurate data. When surveying your site, the only way to obtain accurate data is through good ground control distribution and consistent flying practices.
Following these settings using a Mavic 3 Enterprise and AeroPoints should yield good results for basic data capture.
Certain edge cases require more thought and preparation.
Pre-flight preparation |
Check flying restrictions for your site and follow the law.
Resources:
Charge the batteries for your drone and controller using the battery charger that came with your drone.
Ensure you have a recommended SD card in the camera.
Check for firmware updates that may be available by turning on and connecting the controller to the internet.
- Open the DJI Pilot app, then select the Status button in the top right corner to access the Health Management System to see which components need firmware updates.
Set the units and maps for your region.
- Switch to the sensor view by tapping the camera view in the bottom right corner.
- Tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner and select the three white dots at the bottom below the RTK settings.
- Change the units to your preference and the map type to “MapTiler.”
Power down the drone, followed by the controller after adjusting your settings and updating firmware.
Before leaving the office: Mission Planning |
Plan your mission
- Using the on-screen map on the controller, or
- Importing a KML file of the survey area into the app
1. Find out what coordinate reference system (CRS) your site is using.
You'll require additional information if the site has a local calibration. If you aren’t sure, the project surveyor or engineer should be able to provide the CRS used.
2. Plan where you are going to launch the drone.
Launch from a higher elevation to avoid having insufficient overlap over the elevated parts of your site, which can result in holes in your model.
3. Plan your AeroPoint placement.
- AeroPoints need a clear view of the sky and not be in the path of vehicles or machinery for the entire flight.
- If you’re using a local grid system or are not covered by the Propeller Corrections Network, an AeroPoint must be placed on a known point.
- The known point still needs a clear view of the sky and should rest on a flat surface (not sitting on/near a ledge).
- Using a site rover, you can create a known point by recording the center of the AeroPoint (once it’s placed on the ground).
- When processing the AeroPoint survey, you can input the rover recordings as the known point.
The Propeller PPK solution requires at least one AeroPoint to be placed.
If you have more than one AeroPoint in your survey, you can select which are used as ground control points (GCPs) and which are used as checkpoints to validate the model’s accuracy.
4. If you’re using the controller to plan your mission, tap
- Flight Route
- Create a Route
- Area Route (for most sites)
For linear missions, such as corridor surveys, tap Flight Route, Create a Route, followed by Linear.
5. Locate your site by panning around the map and using two fingers to adjust the zoom.
6. Find your site by panning the map screen. Then tap the screen to add a boundary point.
To move a pin, tap on it again to select it, then either use the lat/long adjuster on the right or drag it around with your finger.
You can also delete the selected pin by tapping the trash icon on the left side of the screen.
7. Display and adjust the mission settings by tapping the "Mapping Area" check mark.
8.Select the Aircraft Model, Camera Model, and Lens. Tap OK.
9.Select the Ortho Ground Sample Distance (GSD).
We recommend not changing this setting.
The Ortho GSD will change depending on your mission height. Once you set the Route Altitude, the Ortho GSD will be set accordingly.
Changing the GSD setting will automatically change your mission height settings and may cause the drone to fly above the legal limits.
10. Once your mission parameters are set, save your mission. Tap on the Save icon in the top-left of the screen.
| Ready to save: | NOT ready to save: |
11. Make sure the drone is powered on.
Press the battery button twice (long hold on the second press) to turn on the drone.
Switch to the sensor view by tapping the camera view in the bottom left corner.
12. Adjust your camera settings by pressing the appropriate settings at the top.
Before leaving the office: Drone and camera settings |
Setting |
Set to |
Question to ask yourself |
Reason |
| Aircraft Model | M3E Series | Which drone am I using? | DJI Pilot 2 uses the same interface for the M3E Series, M300/M350 RTK, and M30 Series. |
| Camera | M3E |
Which camera are you planning to use for this mission? |
The mission parameters will differ for different cameras, so ensure this is set accurately. |
| Lens | WIDE | Which Lens am I using? |
The mission parameters will differ for different lenses, so ensure this is set accurately. |
| Ortho | Ortho Collection | Am I performing a 2D photogrammetry mission? | In a 2D photogrammetry mission, the camera should only face straight down for the entire mission. |
| Ortho GSD | *default | *The Ortho GSD will change depending on your mission height. Once you set the Route Altitude, the Ortho GSD will be set accordingly. Changing the GSD setting will automatically change your mission height settings. | |
| ASL/ALT |
Relative to takeoff point |
What elevation is your target altitude referenced to | Unless you are referencing to altitude above sea level (ASL) in the EGM96 geoid model, set this to ALT. |
| Route Altitude | 200–400ft (60–120m) | How high should I fly compared to the take-off point? | The height balances how fast you would like to complete the survey (higher makes it faster) and the ground sampling distance you need (lower makes it better). |
| Elevation Optimization | Disabled |
Is the terrain or altitude expected to vary during the flight? |
When enabled, the drone will take a few oblique images at the end of the flight. You do not need these to process your data with Propeller. |
| Safe Takeoff Altitude | User preference | What is the height of the lowest potential obstacle in my survey boundary? |
The drone will take off vertically to that height and then fly at a diagonal to the start point for the rest of the ascension to the start point. We recommend setting it to the same altitude as the mission. |
| Speed | *Max Speed Allowable | How fast should I fly? | *Unless you’re trying to reach the required 10 minute flight time, increase speed to minimize the overall flight time. In low light conditions, reduce the speed and the shutter speed to ~1/800. |
| Course Angle |
User preference.
Adjust the flight direction with the slider. |
What direction should I fly to cover the survey area? |
Fewer turns mean more area covered per battery. For linear/narrow surveys, use the Linear Flight Mission mode instead of Mapping. |
| Upon Completion | Return To Home |
What should I do after completing the mission? |
Using this setting is safer and prevents losing your drone. Once completed, the drone will go back to the home point automatically. |
| Terrain Follow |
Disabled
|
Do you want your RTK-connected drone to follow the terrain? |
This setting can only be used when using an RTK connection. We will leave this disabled since PPK corrections and processing will be used. |
|
Target Surface to Takeoff Point |
0 |
Is the terrain I want to survey at a different altitude than my home point? |
Unless the terrain that you are surveying is at a much different height than your home point, leave this at 0. |
| Takeoff Speed |
User Preference |
How fast should the drone take off? |
Faster takeoff speeds
will slightly reduce the battery life but may be necessary on active sites. |
| Go to Advanced Settings | |||
|
Side and Front Overlap |
~80% |
How much should each of the images overlap? |
This provides enough overlap for some
images to be missing or of poor quality while still building a contiguous model. The lower the detail on the surface below, the higher your overlap should be. If you have a large area to survey, you can reduce the horizontal overlap (no lower than 60%) to increase the area you can cover per battery. |
| Margin | 0 |
How much margin do you want to leave around the survey area? |
Provided you have covered the entire area you would like to survey accurately, you don’t need any margin. |
| Photo Mode |
Distance Interval Shot |
What metric is used to capture images? |
Distance shooting allows the drone to capture images with consistent overlap. |
|
Camera settings |
| Camera setting | Set to | Question to ask yourself | Reason |
|
|
S (Shutter Priority) |
How should the exposure be controlled? |
S is shutter priority mode. Shutter priority tells the camera that a fixed shutter speed must be used. The camera can adjust the exposure and ISO. |
|
Auto Exposure (AE) |
Unlocked | Can the camera auto-adjust exposure? | This must be unlocked for the camera to adjust the exposure with aperture and ISO. |
|
Shutter speed |
1/1000 |
What should I set my shutter speed at? |
To avoid motion blur. 1000 is usually a good place to start for sunny conditions. In low light conditions, reduce the shutter speed to ~800 and decrease the flight speed. |
|
Focus Mode |
AFC (Auto Focus Continuous) |
How do I want my camera to focus on my site? |
PLEASE NOTE: The M3E will automatically switch to Manual Focus (MF) at the start of each mission. This is expected, and no user input is required. |
|
Go to Camera Menu (Slider icon) |
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Camera Slider Bars |
Set to | Question to ask yourself | Reason |
| Image ratio | 4:3 |
How much of the image should be cropped? |
4:3 deletes nothing, utilizing the whole sensor. Other settings will crop the images. |
| Image Format | JPG |
What file format should I choose to save the photos? |
Images must be saved in JPG format for processing. |
|
Overflow settings |
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Lock gimbal while shooting |
Enabled | Do you want the gimbal to lock in place while it takes a photo? | Leave this on the default setting. This will help prevent blurry images. |
| Mechanical shutter | Enabled |
Do I want my camera to use the mechanical shutter? |
A mechanical shutter uses conventional front and rear shutter curtains at the front of the sensor. Leaving this turned off can introduce distortion. |
| Dewarping | Enabled |
Should the camera apply dewarping? |
This will help improve the accuracy of your data. Disabling this setting can lead to lower accuracy. |
| All other settings | Default setting | ||
Verify
Verify the mission settings in the Mapping Checklist. Ensure you set the correct parameters for the mission and that Dewarping is turned on.
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Lay out ground control and checkpoints. If you are using AeroPoints, we recommend laying them out before conducting your preflight checks.
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If you need to place an AeroPoint on a known point
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Tip: Ensure you are far from metal objects or magnets.
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If you need to pause your mission for any reason, you can quickly do so by pressing the red pause button on the controller or the gray and white pause button to the left in the mapbox. You can then resume the mission from the DJI Pilot app. |
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Please refer to this tutorial for more detailed information on uploading images from your Mavic 3 Enterprise to the Propeller Platform. |
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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