Flight Planner. Do I Need One?

Drones have become a standard instrument for businesses worldwide, including agriculture, real estate, photography, and manufacturing. Unmanned aerial vehicles significantly improved our capacities in 3D mapping, business automation, and even military operations. 

Flight planner applications are required to execute high-capacity work efficiently. They are a crucial part of the whole flight planning process.

What is Flight Planning?

Usually, under the term “drone flight planning,” specialists mean a set of settings and instructions that guide a drone through a flight mission. It includes such parameters as:

• coordinates of the takeoff/landing sites;
• drone flight trajectory;
• speed;
• altitude;
• heading;
• camera settings;
• other behavior patterns and drone parameters.

Flight planning as a concept in general also includes the mental and physical preparations made by the drone pilot, which are as important. Still, we are focusing on the flight planner software part in this case. Flight planning software helps you program your drone with the parameters mentioned earlier.

The First Step to Automation

Flight planner applications usually can connect to the drone and execute the previously created flight plan with live monitoring and control of the drone but without necessary user input. One of such applications is Drone Duty. We developed this Android app for DJI drones to be an example of how easy it can be to plan and execute a flight while maintaining complete control of the essential variables. Watch a video below of how the entire process looks on an Android phone.

Quick preview of Drone Duty flight planner – single grid flight plan.

Why Do You Need a Flight Planner?

Flight planner applications suit more advanced users with more specific needs. There are a few scenarios where planned flights are necessary, and regular manual flying can be either impossible or too labor-intensive. Examples may include:

• photogrammetric 3D scan flights;
• large orthophoto surveys;
• repeatable and precise cinematic shots;
• long, multi-battery timelapse flights;
• flights conducted near sensitive areas and objects;
• flights that require prior approval from authorities.

Benefits of using a Flight Planner

Here is the incomplete list of benefits that might persuade you to implement flight planning software now:

• pre-plan your missions and work with a clear procedure;
• unite groundwork with aerial missions in one space and one platform;
• cover larger areas and receive more consistent results from your mapping and surveying activities;
• speed up large-scale work related to drone flights, mapping, surveying, etc.;
• save and repeat plans without any additional effort each time.

In Conclusion

Flight planning and flight control are essential for efficient, massive work with drones regularly. If you adopt drones on a corporate or small business level, you probably need flight planner software, as it will simplify operations, save time and resources, and increase the chance of success for every mission.

Reconstruction result with Pixpro software.