To insure safe flight status 'knock on wood', we have gathered resource recommended by FAA and by responsible pilots in the industry. The Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) use these tools when planning every mission.
Internal risk matrix to helps us determine hazardous situations and mitigate those issues to prevent injury, damage equipment, and property on paper.
The Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) is the distance between two consecutive pixel centers measured on the ground. The bigger the value of the image GSD, the lower the spatial resolution of the image and the less visible details. The GSD is related to the flight height: the higher the altitude of the flight, the bigger the GSD value.
Click for more information; Pix4D Support - GSD
We have found this asset to be a great tool in our workflow. It offers surface data reporting and classification point cloud filtering for ground points.
We have this software in our arsenal due to great output options that support CAD and GIS although point classification and editing the point cloud is very cumbersome.
So far, this is our favorite app to use in the field with the capability to create and safe projects prior to visiting the site. I am still hopeful to have a desktop version popup.
Underwritten by Global Aerospace to provide clients with the liability insurance and confidence that they are protected.
If the aircraft speed is set to low for autonomous missions, then a stall may occur. Speed up the aircraft setting found in the app. The downside is battery consumption so have plenty of spares on you.
Don't acquire imagery of wet surface such as an asphalt road drying after a rain shower. This will create a noisy point cloud and difficult to clean.
No issues with cats! yet!?
Birds are a different story. Don't take a risk with a curious vulture or hawk. I recommend fly a section of your project while they disperse.
Pix4D Capture has this setting. If you're flying a large site with multiple battery changes, Fastmode tends to forget taking pictures and can make other pictures blury. Safemode uploads photo waypoints to prevent missing pictures. The aircraft will stop when taking each picture to prevent blur.