We have had the opportunity to fly several fields in the last couple of days we actually saw the sun for a while. version 6 seems to go through the upload portion of the pre flight much faster than before. I have only had one time it required a restart and I was standing under a 69K transmission line which may have been part of the issue. Using the 328 foot setting we are getting around 80 acres depending on the wind. landings have been very good and within 10 feet of take off, often within 2 feet. I tried using the automatic button on the dashboard to upload from the memory chip but it only pulled the first 5 photos so I have gone back to adding photos manually. Beside that it seems to be running smoother and faster every time. Recently I booted our Ebee and the Phantom and started them as close together as was possible. They few about 1/2 a mile and then completed a 16 acre field. the Ebee flew at 382 and the Phantom at 328, they landed within about 6 seconds of one another.
Wishes
1: As we stretch the limits of the Phantom’s battery could we have the routes set up so they start at the furthest point and work back closer as the mission progresses. That may allow us to go deeper into the battery capacity without fear of not making it home. recently I had the quad ferry 3/4 of a mile and them fly about 50 acres I still landed with plenty of battery.
2:Could we Name the Surveys from the mobile app in the field? It would seem simple to keep track of but I seemed to get confused periodically.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the great feedback as always. We’ll definitely think up the simplest way to rename the surveys in the app. Probably just after the drone has landed (to avoid typing the name in every time in case you need to restart). We’re also hoping to allow for missions planned from the web soon (allowing for shape files and more complex paths).
On point #1 - we have been debating whether to start from the furthest point or the closest point, and elected to start closest to home. The main reasons were:
- If a problem were to occur with the image capturing, it would be closest to home, so not much battery would be expended
- We need to start the capture routine at the first waypoint (avoiding random pictures during the takeoff sequence), and this needs a strong connection to the drone through the LightBridge controller
- We initially tried to download photos as soon as the final waypoint had been hit. Ending further away allowed us to start downloading on the return trip, speeding up the download portion of the flight (less relevant now that we’re capturing so much data and the Inspire/P3 are so slow to download)
Happy to chat further about it if you feel that stretching the battery outweighs these concerns.