inspire1 dynamic home point

[jose a sarmento]

Hello everyone, I need to record aerial images of a road from a moving vehicle, going about 40km/h at an altitude of about 40 to 50 meters high for continuous stretches of about 7km at a time, which should take about 10 minutes to cover each stretch. Can you tell me if I will be able to enable dynamic home point with my Inspire 1 using an Ipad mini 2 with wifi only? Which dynamic home point mode (RC or Aircraft) will work best for this flight situation? Anyone done this type of flying before? Any experienced councelling?
Thanks a bunch.

 

[Steve Domigan]

My understanding is if you iPad only has wifi then it also doesn't have GPS built in so dynamic home point will not be available

 

[RaptorMan]

And the only iPads with GPS are the ones with cellular service so you have to pay a monthly fee for the iPrivilage of having GPS.


Brian

 

[Steve Domigan]

And the only iPads with GPS are the ones with cellular service so you have to pay a monthly fee for the iPrivilage of having GPS.


Brian

Not quite, it only needs to be the version with the option for cellular service.....you don't need to have a SIM card in it or even have ever had one installed, don't need to have a contract or any pre pay. iPad in there wisdom decided to only put the GPS in the units that are cellular CAPABLE.

 

[Scotflieger]

Hello everyone, I need to record aerial images of a road from a moving vehicle, going about 40km/h at an altitude of about 40 to 50 meters high for continuous stretches of about 7km at a time, which should take about 10 minutes to cover each stretch. Can you tell me if I will be able to enable dynamic home point with my Inspire 1 using an Ipad mini 2 with wifi only? Which dynamic home point mode (RC or Aircraft) will work best for this flight situation? Anyone done this type of flying before? Any experienced councelling?
Thanks a bunch.

As mentioned, the non-SIM iPad lack any GPS and the App relies on the very poor RC GPS receiver to mark its position. You need to consider a separate Bluetooth GPS receiver, like the Dual X-GPS range, to give you a reliable and accurate Dynamic Home Point.

 

[jose a sarmento]

As mentioned, the non-SIM iPad lack any GPS and the App relies on the very poor RC GPS receiver to mark its position. You need to consider a separate Bluetooth GPS receiver, like the Dual X-GPS range, to give you a reliable and accurate Dynamic Home Point.

Thanks Scotflieger, is the Dual X-GPS an App or an actual hardware device?

 

[jose a sarmento]

I guess my only option then is to buy yet another Ipad, this time one with cellular service. This is a cost I wasn't considering, since with the Inspire I bought both an Ipad/Ipad mini and considered my investment done for a while...
Thanks for all the help folks, much obliged!

 

[Scotflieger]

Thanks Scotflieger, is the Dual X-GPS an App or an actual hardware device?

It is a separate GPS receiver that I carry in my pocket. It has its own app to check it is receiving but it simply updates the iPads location similar to the iPhone would be updated from its own GPS/triangulation position.

 

[Kilrah]

As far as I know "dynamic home point" has never actually been dynamic, only "in-flight reconfigurable". I.e. you'll have to reset it manually a few times during the flight.

 

[jose a sarmento]

It is a separate GPS receiver that I carry in my pocket. It has its own app to check it is receiving but it simply updates the iPads location similar to the iPhone would be updated from its own GPS/triangulation position.

Got it, compared to the GPS present in a Ipad 4 w/cellular service how would it compare in your opinion? If about the same the GPS receiver would be a much better option cost wise for me (around $90 US dollars vs $600 for the Ipad 4).

 

[Scotflieger]

My decision was driven mainly by cost. As you say the SIM-equipped iPads were just too expensive. With my Dual X-GPS 160 I get a 5Hz position update and I can use it across my iPads (and iPhone) at the same time (it will connect to up to 5 devices) so making Master/Slave usage much cheaper.

 

[jose a sarmento]

If the GPS receiver does the trick, I will definitely go that way. Still not sure which dynamic home point mode to set for this flight I am doing, if setting it to Aircraft or to Remote controller (with added GPS receiver). I will be in a moving vehicle and if need to land before planned I'd assume the remote controller mode would be my best option, right?

 

[Scotflieger]

If the GPS receiver does the trick, I will definitely go that way. Still not sure which dynamic home point mode to set for this flight I am doing, if setting it to Aircraft or to Remote controller (with added GPS receiver). I will be in a moving vehicle and if need to land before planned I'd assume the remote controller mode would be my best option, right?

The aircraft HP is only set on motor start. As @Kilrah pointed out the Dynamic HP is not a continuous dynamic update. You have to manually set it from the RC to the current RC coordinates. It is designed to allow you to bring the aircraft home to a new 'safe' location where it can land without damage. For example, it is used where your original HP is no longer safe to use because someone has moved into that area. In your road scenario, you would have to stop leave the car and then set HP to your location.

I personally would never fly from a moving vehicle for safety reasons, unless you are in a tank and can stick your head out of the turret to maintain VLOS at all times. Remember the Return to Home Point (RTH) functionality is there to allow you to automatically return the aircraft to the HP and land by itself or should the aircraft lose signal from the RC to either hover, land or fly to the HP and land (depending on settings) as a failsafe. There is also the Smart RTH based on remaining battery power and will activate RTH if the power drops to that needed to return to the set HP (ie. launch location). If you are driving along your road, you need to first switch off the Smart RTH and at 30% battery power stop the vehicle and set the Dynamic HP to a safe landing site (preferably off the road). The safest Failsafe RTH option is probably to Hover so you can reverse back until you regain signal control.

 

[jose a sarmento]

The aircraft HP is only set on motor start. As @Kilrah pointed out the Dynamic HP is not a continuous dynamic update. You have to manually set it from the RC to the current RC coordinates. It is designed to allow you to bring the aircraft home to a new 'safe' location where it can land without damage. For example, it is used where your original HP is no longer safe to use because someone has moved into that area. In your road scenario, you would have to stop leave the car and then set HP to your location.

I personally would never fly from a moving vehicle for safety reasons, unless you are in a tank and can stick your head out of the turret to maintain VLOS at all times. Remember the Return to Home Point (RTH) functionality is there to allow you to automatically return the aircraft to the HP and land by itself or should the aircraft lose signal from the RC to either hover, land or fly to the HP and land (depending on settings) as a failsafe. There is also the Smart RTH based on remaining battery power and will activate RTH if the power drops to that needed to return to the set HP (ie. launch location). If you are driving along your road, you need to first switch off the Smart RTH and at 30% battery power stop the vehicle and set the Dynamic HP to a safe landing site (preferably off the road). The safest Failsafe RTH option is probably to Hover so you can reverse back until you regain signal control.

Quite agreed. Safety is also my first concern. Think I got the answer from your kind councel. Wouldn't fly this way for fun myself but it's a client's request which I will no doubt refuse it can't be done in a safe manner. Have requested two vehicles with gyroflex warning lights, one holding traffic behind me for about 5 minutes and the other will stay behind the car I will travel. Only traffic will be on the opposite direction (one lane going one coming), but figured if I need to perform an emergency landing I will have time to do it (stop the car and land it manually). I will have VLOS at all time, since my objective is to record the road itself, from an altitude that will include the immediate surrounding area, about 40 to 60 meters high, depending how high the tallest obstacle across the road, meaning transmission lines, wich I checked position and hight of each one beforehand.
Will definitively turn off Smart RTH and land with 30% battery power left. Failsafe Hover seem also the best option in my case. The 7 Km stretch will take aprox. 8 to 10 minutes, but if not possible will land, change to new batt, set new Dynamic Home Point, and cover the remaining area.
I can either ride in a car or a small pickup truck. Figured in a car I can see the ipad's image without the glare I'd get from the open air pickup trunk, doing only the flying and having an assistant correct the framing if neeeded on another RC, plus a scout to help the the transmission lines aproaching for safe measure.
Thanks again for your much needed help. Let me know if there is anything you believe I shall consider.
Best regards and also thanks to everyone else. Hope I can return the favor sometime.

 

[Kilrah]

Figured in a car I can see the ipad's image without the glare I'd get from the open air pickup trunk

The car might shield the RC/video signal too much and require you to stay outside though.

 

[jose a sarmento]

The car might shield the RC/video signal too much and require you to stay outside though.

Right, thought that could happen. Riding on the back of the pickup would be the best option in your opinion? I can do it that way no problem

 

[marg2]

What if you set your iPhone as personal hotspot and connect to ipad via Bluetooth

 

[jose a sarmento]

What if you set your iPhone as personal hotspot and connect to ipad via Bluetooth

I think someone said earlier on that this could not be done

 

[marg2]

It will do a follow me mode set your distance and altitude seen people doing it with the old Phantoms 2v+

 

[Craig Patterson]

I have done the exact same job. I filmed a 20km stretch of new motorway in New Zealand. You sound like you have your head around it. Don't worry about your home point. Monitor your battery life closely. At around 30% flick to manual mode (non GPS) and land. I filmed from the front passenger seat of a car with VLOS and my camera operator was in the back seat. There were no signal loss issues at all from being inside the car. Turn off Smart RTH and set Failsafe Hover. Even if the craft try's to return to home (which will be a few km's behind you) just flick to manual mode and take control and land safely.