Terrain Awareness

Flight - Discussion and Q&A
41

Welcome aboard, Al. Yes. This was a big surprise to me as well. No actual practical standard ?! Crazy considering the FAA. But it is what it is. Most larger companies have their own program like @MichaelL 's outfit. But so many get their part 107 and really have very little understanding of actual operation which is not great for the community. I’m guessing the FAA went this route because they were falling way behind the technology and there were no good established training facilities or even any kind of certification to be a flight (operation) instructor. They could certainly revisit this. The first step would be a 107 CFI certification which I have not heard any whisper of at this point.

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| MichaelL Industry Expert: Construction
December 6 |

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Right on! We use the DJI Flight Simulator for the first 5 hours of our training followed by 2 hours of visual observance, 2 hours of project controls (surveying) and 1 hour of observed flight. This is all before we look at anything to do with the data.

Hey Michael Thank You for your reply…It’s Nice to FINALLY be on a site with Professionals! I’m out here “Flying Solo” and sure could use some helpful advice from Pilot’s who are already Established in this Part of Aviation.

For 20 years I flew under Part 135 & then 121 using Flight Safety for both Initial on new Aircraft and then 6 Month Recurrency & Checkride, so formal training is just how it is supposed to be in my mind! The Training that you just described is Exactly what I am looking for…I’m assuming that your Training Program is “In House” at your Company…Are you Aware of a Drone Flight Training Program or Flight Instructor who is Familiar with the DroneDeploy Applications that I could get some “Dual” from? I am Currently going through the DroneDeploy Academy and while the material it is Very Well Presented, I would be a lot more at ease incorporating flying lessons into it. My deal is that I’m planning on doing Sub-Contract Work through DroneUp, get some time & Experience & Ultimately get hired by a good company that has a Drone Operations Flight Department. Any Advice would be greatly appreciated! Your Insignia tells a great deal… Here is the “Star” on my Father’s Airplane that I am very Fortunate to still have!

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Dave https://forum.dronedeploy.com/u/dave
December 6

PilotAl:

…but what really did blow my mind is this: I was issued a commercial
pilots license to operate an aircraft for compensation or hire on an
aircraft type that I had never flown!

Welcome aboard, Al. Yes. This was a big surprise to me as well. No actual
practical standard ?! Crazy considering the FAA. But it is what it is. Most
larger companies have their own program like @MichaelL
https://forum.dronedeploy.com/u/michaell 's outfit. But so many get
their part 107 and really have very little understanding of actual
operation which is not great for the community. I’m guessing the FAA went
this route because they were falling way behind the technology and there
were no good established training facilities or even any kind of
certification to be a flight (operation) instructor. They could certainly
revisit this. The first step would be a 107 CFI certification which I have
not heard any whisper of at this point.

Thank So Much Dave…As I told Michael, it’s nice to FINALLY be Amongst
People from the Aviation Community who are involved in the Drone Industry.
A little about myself…I grew up in the Aviation Community and knew I was
always going to be a Pilot. I started Flying as a Commercial Rated Pilot at
18…and now 34 years later ATP Rated, 3 type ratings & 15,000 hours
logged, I’ve Decided I want to fly Drones for a living! Growing up around
Airplanes Flying became Second Nature to me. But for the First Time in my
life, I TRULY Feel like a Student Pilot with the Drones!!! Like I said,
it’s funny to have a license to fly an Aircraft that from my personal
vantage point, don’t know what the “heck” I’m doing! For Example, I flew my
First Practice Flight using DroneDeploy’s Mapping Program…I “Mission
Planned” thru DroneUp, set up my project in DroneDeploy after reviewing the
basic training videos, went to a nice open field, ran through the
procedures from the video and Got it Airborne …when it started flying
the tracks, I felt like I was soloing! What an AWESOME Program! And then
the following happened…1. Loss of Signal due to interference, RTH
Initated…2. Discovered the switch was in “S” Mode on the remote
box(Phantom 4)…Moved to a better location, switched to P Mode and
Launched again…3. Halfway on the First lap the drone stopped…figured it
out that I inadvertently hit the pause button on the physical
remote…pushed it again and resumed flight…it was so cool watching it
do its thing…then I noticed 1/2 of the last track was missing…and the
battery was around 28%…when it got to the end of the track, here it came
home…Again!..Assuming it was out of gas, I put a 60% Battery in it,
expected it to return to where it stopped and resume the mission again…
instead, it started from the beginning!..baffled, I let it go and watched
it do it’s thing… I let it go to 20% and sure enough, she came home! By
now frustration has turned into laughing… I call it a Successful Failure,
and I learned some very valuable lessons today! The Video’s are very good
and I’m halfway through them with the goal to earn the certificate. But
some time with a Instructor that is familiar with DroneDeploy’s Program
would be well worth it! If you know anyone or ideas please let me
know…and any input or advice that you would like to share about today’s
flight would be greatly appreciated! Thank You Again for the warm
Welcome…Al

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44

This is exactly what we are here for. The forum is user-led so we get down to the nitty-gritty of each use case and make sure that we are using those experiences to help DroneDeploy continue to improve their product.

Our SOP and training is in-house, but I would say Dart Drones is probably one of the more popular resources. From what I have seen though there is really nothing out there that is going to cover the questions that you’re going to run into with practical use. There are many pilots on here that have been doing this for several years and gone through all the iterations of the different softwares and theories of how to map so we will definitely be your best resource.

Feel free to PM me anytime.

45

The year is up. We’ve been waiting and waiting.

Is there going to be an Android version of this or not? It’s all gone very quiet…

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Al, what is your experience operating drones in general? And what model are you flying?
As Michael suggested, going to PM would probably be a good idea.

47

It’s weird that a while ago there was a beta version of an android application that had terrain awareness, I remember using it, if I remember correctly it was close to 3 years ago, there was a Beta program you needed to join. It’s weird that there used to be a functional app so long ago and almost 2 years after it’s been officially released, there’s still no terrain awareness for Andriod. Moreso as a lot of people are opting for the smart controller which is Android based and doesn’t allow for an iOS device.

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48

Terrain Awareness maybe this year on Android?

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I am an experienced drone Pilot & hold an FAA commercial drone license. Two years ago, after a difficult pitch, I convinced my new employer to invest in its first drone, the DJI Phantom IV Pro+, for use in it’s operations.
This week, I was using the drone (in ‘P’ mode) to take aerial shots of real estate (buildings). Ideal conditions, clear with no cloud cover, minimal wind. After a battery low warning, I landed the drone and inserted a fresh battery.
I started the drone back up as usual. However, when it got to only 15-20 feet height, it strangely gave me the audible “you have reached maximum altitude”. Really bazaar, having never occurred at this height. I spent a few moments repeatedly trying to get it higher (by landing & re-launching), but continually got the audible.

Then, without any prompting, the drone (while at the ‘maximum’ height of 15-20 ft) suddenly shot off to my left at full speed, where about 2 blocks it crashed into a concrete building under construction. I was awestruck and shocked, as I watched our expensive investment headed to a fatal crash out of my control.

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Most DJI drones will limit altitude when they don’t have a good enough GPS connection or if the obstacle avoidance sensors are alarmed. Problem with this is that normal altitude restrictions are either 10m or 30m so 15-20ft is odd. What software were you using to fly? DroneDeploy is not compatible with the 4 Pro+.

51

It’s a spam post with an embedded link. I deleted the link but left the post. But I’m sure it’s irrelevant.

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Given its now been literally years with no update is it safe to assume DD aren’t ever going to bother introducing terrain awareness on Android so we’ll need to use different apps and solutions?

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53

iOS are preferred and as much as I don’t like their products in the workplace there’s really nothing better. Especially when the are several other apps we use in the workplace. Just didn’t stand a chance, lol. @Farai_Masheke can you comment on this?

54

Hi @MichaelL @gnirtS I will reach out and get back to you on a possible timeline. I have not heard of one yet but it would not hurt to ask and find out.

Talk Soon!

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A lot of people are opting for the DJI Smart Controllers for their operations, It seems very odd that DD wouldn’t add this function to a very enterprise oriented device.

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56

Unfortunately, our DroneDeploy app is currently not supported with all DJI’s Smart Controllers/Crystal Sky. We are waiting on DJI to build a seamless integration for third-party apps on their smart controllers.

The only Smart controller compatible with the DroneDeploy app at this time is the DJI RC Pro which operates the DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise/Thermal.

Although we have no established time frame for this integration, we highly recommend reaching out to the DJI team to request their integration of third-party apps. Any customer input and requests to DJI will help escalate the integration on their end. In the meantime, you can find a list of our supported drones here or purchase a standard controller (without the built-in screen) to use DroneDeploy. Depending on the controller you have, there are some alternatives to the Crystal Sky/Smart Controllers outlined here.

57

Thanks for information

58

I’m still lost and confused on how to get Terrain Awareness on my Phantom 4 Prov v2 drones in Drone Deploy. I’m flying using an IPAD using the free version of Drone Deploy and in most areas I’m at there is no WiFi or Cell coverage.

Where do I being?

59

Unless it has changed you can’t do Terrain Awareness offline. @Farai_Masheke ?

60

Thanks Michael. I’ll try tethering my IPAD to my phone in the field where I can get celluar service.

Is there anyway to use a different elevation surface in DD? Ideally I would fly an area with my drone at a “safe” height and create a DSM/DTM and feed that into DD and then fly the same area with my DTM surface for a much more accurate (locally) map. I think this is possible in UgCS but I haven’t trialed their software yet.

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