Phase One Mission Planning

The following are step-by-step workflow running a mission base off of Phase One iXM-100 parameters.

Mission Planning

STEP	ACTION
1	Open QGroundControl and navigate to the Plan tab indicated by the waypoint symbol A to B on your computer or Herelink Controller
2	Select your desired plan type. For our sample, we used a Survey Plan.

3	Start by positioning your Takeoff point to the desired location on the map and click “Done” to bring up the Altitude selection.
4	Type in desired altitude the vehicle will fly at when running the mission. For our sample, we used 15.24M

5	On the right side of the screen find the Mission Start tab and select to show the Vehicle Info dropdown.
6	Under the Vehicle Info dropdown, the Hover Speed value is used as an estimate in QGC for the Total Mission Time and Photo Interval time. Our sample is set to 4 m/s (see below).

NOTE: Mission Start Hover Speed

Hover Speed in the Mission Start section is only used to estimate the time of the mission and photo intervals. To adjust actual Flight Speed, we will use a waypoint as shown later in the guide. Make sure the two values match to ensure accurate mission settings are achieved.

7	On the right side of the screen under Takeoff, you will see the Survey tab. Select it to define your mission boundaries.
8	Using the Polygon Tools, create your boundaries on the map.
9	Selecting Basic will bring up a square border box and populate the Survey mission waypoints. Click and drag each corner of the boundaries to outline your mission area.
10	Using the + icons, you can add new points to the boundary or by clicking and holding a white boundary point, you can delete a point by selecting “Remove Vertex”. When you are done the Survey tab will populate more settings

Adjust your mission settings using the below options as a guide:

Overlap

Overlap will set how much the photos overlap when triggered during the mission. Enter the Front and Side Overlap for your mission, our sample uses 80% Front Lap and 75% Side Lap.

Altitude

Selecting Altitude will allow you to enter a height manually or Ground Res to automatically calculate an altitude to achieve the resolution based on your settings. For our sample, we used Altitude set at 25M.

iXM-100 Custom Camera

Select the Camera page to enter Custom Camera settings from the dropdown selection. The Phase One iXM-100 Camera Specifications are:

• Sensor Width: 43.9mm

• Sensor Height: 32.9mm

• Image Width: 11664 pixels

• Image Height: 8750 pixels

• Focal Length: 63mm

NOTE: It is important to calculate using the 35mm equivalent of the lens for QGC to interpret the data correctly.

Desktop visual is shown on the LEFT and HereLink Controller is shown on the RIGHT

Transect & Turnaround

Transect angle allows you to adjust the orientation the vehicle will fly through the survey boundaries.

Turnaround distance adjusts how far beyond the edge of the survey boundaries the vehicle will travel.

For our sample, we used 0 deg angle and 5M turnaround.

Reviewing our sample settings, we have QGC outputting a 0.7 second Photo Interval.

NOTE: Keeping the Photo Interval above 0.5 seconds will allow the camera time to keep up with the triggering events sent by QGC during the mission. If the photo interval is too fast, the camera will stop taking photos. Make sure the settings and mission speed allow the photo interval to remain above 0.5 seconds

Adjusting Mission Speed Parameters

Adding a waypoint to your mission will allow you to adjust the mission Flight Speed. Each waypoint is numbered in sequence.

STEP	ACTION
1	Select the Takeoff Tab and add a waypoint between Takeoff and Survey by selecting the Waypoint option on the left side of the screen and tapping the map to place a new point between Launch and the first survey waypoint. We will see a #2 added for our new Waypoint.
2	Check the Flight Speed box and enter your desired speed
3	Checking Flight Speed adds a new action point to the mission plan so we see a #2 for our newly created waypoint and a #4 for our Survey Mission starting point.
4	The #3 action is the change in Flight Speed. For our sample, we used 4.0 m/s.

NOTE: Hover Speed Matching Adjusted Waypoint Flight Speed

Make sure the Hover Speed shown in the Mission Start tab matches the adjusted waypoint Flight Speed to ensure accurate mission settings are achieved.

After a waypoint with the Flight Speed checkbox, the remainder of the mission will proceed at the selected speed.

NOTE: Changes in Default Speed when Resuming/ Cancelling Mission from a Selected Waypoint

If you cancel and restart your mission from a selected waypoint (battery swap mid-mission, etc), the vehicle will default to the speed set in the WP_NAV_SPEED parameter unless it travels to a waypoint with a Flight Speed box checked.

Change WP_NAV_SPEED

To change the default speed, you will need to change the WP_NAV_SPEED parameter, which will remove the need to create a waypoint to change the speed.

Changing WP_NAV_SPEED Parameter:

1	select the Vehicle Settings icon, scroll down on the left and select the “Parameters” tab
2	Scroll down again to the “WP” parameters. WP_NAV_SPEED can be changed by selecting the value to the right of the parameter name, and changing the value. The units are in centimeters/second, so you will need to convert the speed you need for your mission. (Ex: 600cm/sec = 6m/s = 13.42mph)

NOTE: Be aware that all vehicle parameters are accessible within the “Parameters” tab, and some, if changed, can create vehicle instability. Please take caution when changing parameters, and avoid doing so as much as possible.

Starting a Mission

STEP	ACTION
1	Using the QGC Mission Plan screen, below the Fly option select File.
2	There you can create a mission, save a mission for later use, open an existing mission or upload the mission plan to the vehicle. This can be done on a computer using QGC software or using the Herelink controller.
3	When you are comfortable with your mission outline, upload your mission to the vehicle.

4	With a Mission uploaded, the vehicle will now show a slider to start or continue the mission.

NOTE: Always conduct a manual pilot takeoff to establish a stable hover, then sliding to continue your mission to ensure safe operation.