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Pre-flight

Drone Pre-Flight (Best Practices)

Presented below Is the list of the major areas to check upfront and be aware of during the flight to ensure successful and safe flight:

Environmental Awareness

  1. Local weather conditions Incl. weather forecast (Do not operate Vertex One during bad weather conditions such as rain, snow, fog or windspeeds above 3 m/s)
  2. Air traffic situation at the time of flight in and around the flight zone (If not covered by regulations, the best pracitce is to not exceed flight altitude of 120 meters above terrain)
  3. Presence of untrained or uninvolved people in the flight zone
  4. Structures and objects in the flight zone (e.g. buildings, trees, fences, powerlines)
  5. Presence of dynamic obstacles in the flight zone (e.g. road traffic)
  6. Other potential obstacles in the flight zone

Environmental Considerations

  1. Ensure the takeoff/landing location is:
    • Solid and stationary
    • Flat (<10° inclination)
    • Clear of any objects in the radius of at least 5 m
    • Clear of any loose debris that might interact with the drone during take-off/landing
  2. Stay at least 10 meters away from large (ferro) magnetic structures that might influence the Vertex magnetometer reading
  3. Be aware of the risk of reduced GNSS quality due to large structures causing GNSS multipath issues

Pre-Flight Checklist

  1. Drone arms are unfolded, locked and secured in the flight position
  2. Landing gear is mounted and secured correctly to the Vertex One body
  3. Propellers' transport clips are removed and all propellers are unfolded
  4. Propellers are undamaged, mounted in the right orientation and secured correctly
  5. Bottom-facing sensors cover glass is clean and undamaged
  6. PowerPack is connected and correctly mechanically latched to the Vertex One's body
  7. Verify that any externally mounted modules or equipment, such as antennas or payloads, are securely attached
  8. Verify that the Remote controller and PowerPack are fully charged

(RTK-) GNSS

See more info here

  1. Setup the Stellar base station by extending the tripod legs fully
  2. Place the Stellar base station on a location with clear view on the sky, at least 10 meters from any surrounding obstacles - Ideal location is the highest point in the environment such as a rooftop
  3. Power the Stellar base station and do not move the base station after this step
  4. Wait until the base station is surveyed into its fixed location