How to use the new Mission Planning feature in Autel Explorer

TJBC75 · Jul 22, 2019

Ok, so we have a new Mission Planning feature in the Explorere App. I took a look at it last night in the app and to tell you the truth, I am a little perplexed by its function and use. Initially, I thought it would be an enhancement to the Waypoint Intelligent Flight mode, but it does not appear to be. Are there any instructions on the Mission Planning feature and how to use it? How do you set the options? What is the end product of this after flying a mission? Is this more for specialized mapping purposes? Thanks.....

Ansia · Jul 22, 2019

This is what you can achieve with the mission planner.

Fooling around with Photogrammetry and 3D Rendering

I wasn't able to upload the full orthomosaic, because there is a limitation in size. ?

autelpilots.com

Ansia · Jul 22, 2019

Forgot to add the video. I created this from photos taken by the drone on a 2 second interval while on a mission and the gimbal at a 70° angle and an overlay of 80%. Then processed the photos through Agisoft Metashape and this is the end result. It can be used for getting measurements and volumes for construction among other things.

TJBC75 · Jul 22, 2019

Thanks for the demonstration. It was very helpful! At least I understand the use of the feature and what the end product looks like. So it seems you need additional software to process the mission, right? It appears this is not something that creates a standalone end result without additional third party software processing, it merely gives you the raw data. It seems like it is orientated towards engineering/planning or surveying disciplines. Not sure how often I would use the new Mission Planning part of the app, but it looks interesting. I just wish Autel would have strengthened the Waypoint feature already in their app to make it more in line with Litchi or what DJI now offers with their Mavic Pro 2 series built into the DJIGo 4 app. I may be wrong on this, but in following the Autel Pilots forum for the last six months, it did not seem that the Mission Planning feature now included in the app was a priority to many of the users.

Ansia · Jul 22, 2019

TJBC75 said:
Thanks for the demonstration. It was very helpful! At least I understand the use of the feature and what the end product looks like. So it seems you need additional software to process the mission, right? It appears this is not something that creates a standalone end result without additional third party software processing, it merely gives you the raw data. It seems like it is orientated towards engineering/planning or surveying disciplines. Not sure how often I would use the new Mission Planning part of the app, but it looks interesting. I just wish Autel would have strengthened the Waypoint feature already in their app to make it more in line with Litchi or what DJI now offers with their Mavic Pro 2 series built into the DJIGo 4 app. I may be wrong on this, but in following the Autel Pilots forum for the last six months, it did not seem that the Mission Planning feature now included in the app was a priority to many of the users.

I do not know the real reason for Autel to release the mission planner. I do confess to asking Autel for it a while back. They did deliver, but I found out the measurements given in the end product are incorrect, so I can't use them. I will wait patiently until they improve it. There are a bunch of possible features that are missing for the moment.

The one above wasn't done with the Evo, so the measurements are accurate.

TJBC75 · Jul 22, 2019

I figured you did not use the Evo for the example given because it shows an orbit versus the rectangular shape grid offered by the Explorer Mission Planner. Since I am only learning about photogrammetry, I cannot comment on what is missing, but I will trust your assessment that this needs more to function adequately for your use. This just seems like a fairly sophisticated application that your typical drone user (I am putting myself in that category) may not have a functional use for. My use of the three drones I have fall into photography and video.

Normex · Jul 22, 2019

I have used it quite successfully . I had done the routing beforehand on a 50 acre plot and with over 40 waypoint lines it
followed it to a tee then rtb as instructed and I tried both IOS and Android. Great job Autel !

Ansia · Jul 22, 2019

The orbit video you see is created by the software. The drone flew a regular s shape mission. Just look up photogrammetry. It is not as hard as it looks and it's rather fun to do.

Normex · Jul 22, 2019

Here's a screen shot of what I did. What you see is a 50 acres plot. The plot was filmed and remitted
to the owner verifying he had done a good job with his herbicide application and no new weed was
present.

Ansia · Jul 22, 2019

Normex said:
Here's a screen shot of what I did. What you see is a 50 acres plot. The plot was filmed and remitted
to the owner verifying he had done a good job with his herbicide application and no new weed was
present.

Was there any wind? I noticed my drone would go really slow in a headwind. I did had it at 7mph when doing my mission.

Normex · Jul 22, 2019

Ansia said:
Was there any wind? I noticed my drone would go really slow in a headwind. I did had it at 7mph when doing my mission.

There was a bit of wind approx. 12 to 15 km/hour. Wind will slow it down but speed it up going reverse so
all in all its affectation is negligible at that wind speed of course I was lucky to have a pure upwind and downwind direction.
Wind just means to a certain degree you may need to change batteries more often. In essence its all in the planning.

TJBC75 · Jul 23, 2019

Thanks for all the info. Couple of questions - how do you determine the option settings - height, speed, course sidelap ratio and camera? Any rule of thumb I should be following for these? What is a good (free) photogrammetry program to process the information from the Evo? Suggestions?

Thanks

Ansia · Jul 23, 2019

You can control everything but the camera angle (which you have to set manually) in the mission area of the app. You can try a 30 days free trial of Agisoft Metashape and if you enjoy it, purchase the standard edition for $179 I believe.

As to determine the options, it all comes down on what you want to do. I like to do the missions as slow speed, since the aperture is fixed at 2.8f. Flying to fast may cause photos to turn up blurry. If I want to make a 3D rendering, I will adjust the gimbal to 70 degrees, if my interest is an orthmosaic then I will shoot straight at 90 degrees. I will always fly with an overlap of 80% for more accurate and detailed photogrammetry.

Normex · Jul 23, 2019

TJBC75 said:
Thanks for all the info. Couple of questions - how do you determine the option settings - height, speed, course sidelap ratio and camera? Any rule of thumb I should be following for these? What is a good (free) photogrammetry program to process the information from the Evo? Suggestions?

Thanks

I can only respond to my needs and not much about photogramnetry,
For the height you know you also have the software zoom, in my case I use 100ft.
I use 25mph simply because I want to done with it in a good time.
Course is entirely your choice.. I
Sidelap ratio is determined by your need of how close you want your lines to be which gives you the number of waypoints. Finally Camera is if you want it to return to your location after you're done.

This is what I use it for so far and I realize that I am not using it to its potential.
Simply experiment and come back here with your findings.

billiest · Jul 27, 2019

TJBC75 said:
Thanks for all the info. Couple of questions - how do you determine the option settings - height, speed, course sidelap ratio and camera? Any rule of thumb I should be following for these? What is a good (free) photogrammetry program to process the information from the Evo? Suggestions?

Thanks

As a certified 3D nut/ artist, I could not wait for Autel to release this mission module. I bought the Evo so I could do Google earth-style images. As far as free software, check out the open source program called Meshroom. For all alternatives on any software check out alternativeto.net
Type in any photogrammetry software and see alternatives from free to commercial.

billiest · Jul 27, 2019

Ansia said:
You can control everything but the camera angle (which you have to set manually) in the mission area of the app. You can try a 30 days free trial of Agisoft Metashape and if you enjoy it, purchase the standard edition for $179 I believe.

As to determine the options, it all comes down on what you want to do. I like to do the missions as slow speed, since the aperture is fixed at 2.8f. Flying to fast may cause photos to turn up blurry. If I want to make a 3D rendering, I will adjust the gimbal to 70 degrees, if my interest is an orthmosaic then I will shoot straight at 90 degrees. I will always fly with an overlap of 80% for more accurate and detailed photogrammetry.

How do you control the overlap?

Ansia · Jul 27, 2019

In the setting where you choose height and speed, the third option is called Course Sidelap Ratio. That is overlap. Just set it to 70%+ and you will be fine.

MitchNC · Sep 4, 2019

I'm looking at the Mission Planner for the first time.

I thought we were supposed to be able to use it offline?
When I click the location icon and choose "Me" it puts me in the wrong location.

Edit: I was able to study Google Maps and find that the location the Mission thinks I'm at is actually about 1/2 mile away. No way I'm going to hit the "Fly" button if I have no idea what it's gonna do with that 1/2 mile deviation.

Ansia · Sep 4, 2019

MitchNC said:
I'm looking at the Mission Planner for the first time.

I thought we were supposed to be able to use it offline?
When I click the location icon and choose "Me" it puts me in the wrong location.

Edit: I was able to study Google Maps and find that the location the Mission thinks I'm at is actually about 1/2 mile away. No way I'm going to hit the "Fly" button if I have no idea what it's gonna do with that 1/2 mile deviation.

Try turning on the wifi antenna when looking for your location. You can also create a mission from a place far away from you. Google maps uses GPS to send the coordinates to the drone. A-GPS (what your phone has) isn't a very good or precise GPS system.