Comprehensive Step by Step Guide with the R3 Pro V2 or R3 Pro!
Step 1: Mission Planning and Checking Airspace
Before you even get the LiDAR or the drone out, you need to plan your mission, and review your airspace for any restrictions or limitations. Use a tool like Aloft of SJI Fly Safe to ensure the airspace is clear for drone flights, and check for any altitude limitations. After reviewing airspace, use a tool like Google Earth to understand the topographic variation for your survey area. If you would like, you can plan your mission for the survey area before heading to field, but understand that your mission may needed to be edited once you arrive at the job site. Just drawing an accurate polygon is all you need to fly a mission using the R3 Pro and the DJI drone. Once you have arrived at the survey area, complete a visual inspection of the entire survey area, and edit you mission plan if needed.
Step 2: Setting Up the Base Station
The first thing to do at the job site is to set up the base station. Make sure the base station location has a clear view of the sky with no obstructions. If you have a known point or survey monument on your job site, you can put the base station on top of that known point to help tie your data in post-processing. If you don't have a base station, you can use ROCK RTK Network to access nearby base data. Please check the ROCK Network first to see if there are ROCK Base locations near your job site.
Step 3: Preparing the Drone
Inspect your aircraft before flight. Make sure there are no nicks on the propellers, nothing is broken or loose, and everything feels tight. Connect the lever arm to the drone, then securely attach the GNSS antenna to the lever arm. Finally, connect the ROCK LiDAR unit to the lever arm/drone.
Step 4: Powering On and Mission Planning
Power on the drone and then the LiDAR unit by pressing the button once. After the GNSS Test is completed, the light on your LiDAR unit should be solid green. Use the Rock Pilot app or your preferred mission control software to review your mission plan. Use the 1 Button method to start data collection on your LiDAR unit. The light on your LiDAR unit should be flashing green at a regular interval, and you should hear the camera clicking to indicate photos are being collected. You're ready to fly!
Step 5: Calibration Flight
After starting data logging, let the drone sit for at least 30 seconds for the static data calibration. If you are flying with the ROCK Pilot app, you will just need to invoke the mission, and ROCK Pilot will complete all the necessary calibration flights, and fly your mission.
If you are flying with a software other than ROCK Pilot, you will need to complete the calibration flights yourself. After the 30 second static calibration, take off vertically to your approximate , then fly for at least five seconds AT HIGH SPEED in a straight line for kinematic alignment. Then, fly a figure eight. After that, you can start your mission.
Step 6: Flying the Mission
Fly the mission using your flight planning software of choice! If you are flying with ROCK Pilot, you will see a box on right side of your remote controller that says "normal". If you tap on that box, you can see the LiDAR data being displayed in near-real time.
If flying with ROCK Pilot, once your mission has been completed, the final 5 second high speed kinematic flight will be completed for you. After the drone has landed, please allow an additional 30 seconds of static data collection before ending the mission on ROCK Pilot. During the 30 second static data collection, you can go over to the LiDAR unit, and listen to hear if the camera is still clicking to indicate that photos are being collected at a regular interval.
If you are flying with another software, once your survey has been completed, you need to collect the final 5 second high speed kinematic flight. Make sure that there is sufficient distance to return to home to accomplish this. After the final high speed kinematic flight, the horizontal speed of the drone can not exceed 3 meters per second. After the drone has landed, please allow an additional 30 seconds of static data collection.
Step 7: Post-Flight
If flying with ROCK Pilot, after landing and stopping the mission, you will just need to turn the LiDAR unit off. If flying with another software package, you will need to use the 1 button method to stop collection. After the 30 second static collection is complete, tap and hold the button on the LiDAR unit to stop collection. The light will then flash green with the camera no longer clicking, that's the unit writing the data! After a steady green light is present, you're done! Just hold the button to turn off the unit.
Once you have turned off your LiDAR unit, you can now stop data collection for any base station you have set up. Please remember, your base data needs to be present for before, during, and after your LiDAR survey. If you would like, you can field check your LiDAR data before leaving the job site.
Step 8: Processing Data
Use ROCK Desktop to process the data. It will combine the base station file along with the LiDAR data of the IMU and GPS to get a highly accurate trajectory. This trajectory is what you'll use to project your point cloud from. It's the key to high quality data!
Step 9: Uploading Data
Once your point cloud is produced and colorized, you can upload it to the ROCK Cloud. From there, you can add ground control points, reproject the data, and order deliverables.
That's it! You've successfully flown your R3 Pro V2 or R3Pro LiDAR unit, and processed your data.
Remember, practice makes perfect, so don't be discouraged if your first few flights don't go as planned. Keep trying, and you'll get the hang of it in no time. We're here to help!
If you need help, let us know by emailing support@rockrobotic.com. We're here for you!