Terrain Avoidance Apps

[Rocktopper]

One of my concerns in using my Phantoms for Search and Rescue is setting up a search grid in Drone Deploy or other app is running my drone into the ground while searching the grid.

Since we know our drones do not fly for very long at points below ground level (props, gimbals, cameras, etc.) do not fare well for very long, I looking for a app to allow the drone to compensate for height changes in ground clearance based on topo data versus gps data.

I found one that works on a IPad Mini 2, but not on an IPad 4. However using it seems pricey. Android or IOS, I am looking for a solution.

 

[smiller]

There are several methods you can use to set up a programmed mission that automatically references terrain. The original method was to plot the mission in Google Earth and then export to a Litchi mission, but now you can do the 'relative to ground' waypoint adjustment within the Litch app so no need for all the Google Earth steps. But none of these methods are a panacea... terrain databases are not always accurate nor do they account for things like trees or man-made structures, so you still need to review the mission on-site. But if you are flying your SAR mission at a decent altitude then you should be less likely to have to worry about low-level obstructions so I would expect with reasonable caution the Google terrain database should be safe to use.

 

[Richard R]

Both the litchi and maps made easy apps can be programmed to maintain a constant height above ground during missions.