DJI Mavic 3T: Drone configuration and flight mission execution with DJI Pilot2

The following settings are mandatory to successfully carry out Survey measurements in CSP/PV plants and must also be considered before doing the camera calibration

The DJI handbook for the M3T can be found here.

Video Tutorials (only for registered users in the volateq app documentation section):

• DJI M3T Extended pre-flight check(direkt link to video)

• DJI M3T Short pre-flight check (direkt link to video)

Memory Cards

DJI Pilot App: basic settings and pre-flight check 

Start by turning on the drone and the controller.  

1. Open the DJI App and log into your DJI user account  

2. make sure you have access to the flight hub account and your plant/project

3. Never change a running system: Firmware updates Yes, but not directly before the flights (updates make take very long)

4. Enter Camera view

Switch between different https://fh.dji.com projects:

1. make sure to be logged in to the right account

2. switch between plants/projects (usually there is only one)

Pre-flight check:

1. check flight mode and battery

2. check storage (recommended to format SD card before an new analysis)

3. Max flight distance (depends on size of the solar field)

4. Max Altitude (150 - 180 m (depends on legislation limits, elevation model of the plant and start position of the drone)

5. Obstacle avoidance (usually ON!)

To enter the camera view, just close the pre-flight check with the cross in the upper right corner

The simplest solution is to protect both wheels on the front of the controller with tape, to avoid accidentally touching the wheels and altering gimbal tilt and/or zoom:

Visual Camera view

1. switch between video streams (attention: the actual stream is marked in the green box at the top center)

2. After each re-boot or battery swap camera settings are lost. you always have to set the EV (exposure correction) to -1.7 for both visual video streams (Wide & Zoom)

3. make sure all three video steams are active and there is sufficient storage

4. Do not use

   1. Auto exposure

   2. AE lock: Never activate!

   3. Auto camera  → never switch to manual (will corrupt exposure settings)!

   4. Link (this will completely corrupt videos)!

1. activate all three available video streams:

1. Video caption always ON (stores GPS and altitude information in a separate file, that is used to match videos and digital twin)

2. Time stamp always OFF

Infrared Camera view

1. Gain mode must be

   1. low (0°C- 500°C) for CSP inspection

   2. high (-20°C- 150°C) for PV inspection

2. SBS OFF

3. Link OFF (this will completely corrupt videos)

1. Video caption always ON (stores GPS and altitude information in a separate file, that is used to match videos and digital twin)

2. Time stamp always OFF

1. IR Scene mode: INSPECTION

2. Auto FFC: ON

1. Infrared “Super - Resolution“ : OFF

2. Sun Burn Protection: OFF

1. Infrared Color Palette: White Hot

Flight Controller Setting

1. Confirm max altitude (setting wrong values may prevent take off for certain flight routes)

2. Confirm max distance

1. From time to time make sure battery cells are well “balanced“ (degraded batteries tend to have different voltage levels)

Flight route execution

1. click the the way point symbol

2. switch from library (contains locally stored way points) to:

3. → Cloud

In the web app, go to the analysis and flight campaign section:

1. confirm start date and route ID

1. Select the corresponding route from your project

2. check that you launch the drone from the starting point “S” of the flight route. This is very important in solar fields with a large heigt differences! It can lead to unsuitable altitudes above the modules and in extreme cases danger when flying too low

3. start the route