Here's what you need to consider about the weather when flying your ROCK R2A or R360.
Operating Temperature Range
- ROCK R2A and ROCK R360 = -20 to 65 degrees Celsius (-4 to 149 Fahrenheit)
- Operation outside of this temperature range increases the likelihood of data collection error
- When determining if the temperature is suitable flight consider other factors that affect temperature such as windchill, direct sunlight, etc
Extreme Weather Temperatures
- Cold batteries can often result in reduced performance meaning you may need to plan for reduced flight times
- Overheated batteries can have a similar problem
- Consider making a plan for how to keep your batteries warm or cold as indicated before flight and during/after charging
Wind
- Each drone/airframe has a wind rating to note the maximum "sustained" and "gusty" winds that the aircraft can handle - NEVER fly in excess of those recommendations for safety sake and because your data is highly likely to be inaccurate.
- Understand your wind:
- Sustained = average wind speed over an amount of time
- Gusts = fast bursts of wind for short amounts of time - these are the most troublesome as gusts of wind can require rapid flight reactions from your aircraft to stay on the flight path
- Wind that causes frequent adjusting movements of your aircraft is more likely to result in inaccurate readings or "fuzzy" data sets due to the change in IMU/LiDAR orientation
LiDAR Data Collection & Snow
- Scanning snow covered ground means you will get the snow contours above the ground, rather than the ground contours so consider if this is acceptable for your project.
Moisture
- The ROCK R2A & R360 are not rated for flying in moisture including fog, mist, rain and snow - we recommend flying only in dry conditions to prevent damage to your unit
Have more questions about this topic? Visit community.rockrobotic.com to create a post to ask questions and connect with other community members as well as the ROCK Support Team.