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Week 5: DJI Mapping
09/23/2025
This week’s lab assignment is essentially the same as the week three assignment, but the platform used is different. For this lab, the DJI Mavic 2 Pro was used instead of the Skydio 2+, and this was done for two reasons. The first reason is to udnerstand the differences between the two scans produced by differing platforms, and the second was to gain experience in operating different platforms. At the beginning of this lab, hazards were found to be the trees, fences, and buildings seen in the study area image below (Figure 1), and the risks posed by the objects in the sutdy area were mitigated with good communnication and scanning. The weather on the day was less than ideal but manageable with gusty conditions and cumuus clouds bringing rain toward the end of the lab period. An image of these deteriorating conditions can be seen below in Figure 2, and the worst conditions were avoided by accomplishing the flight in time. PIC and VO roles were designated, checklists to determine the airworthiness of the UAS were completed, and the return to home settings were adjusted accordingly. LAANC authorization was also acquired because of the closeness to class D airspace, and an image of this can be seen below in Figure 3.
Figure 1: Study area
Figure 2: Study area ground view
Figure 3: LAANC authorization
After the initial setup at the Purdue Student Garden, the two dimensional mapping mission with the DJI Mavic 2 Pro was setup. Unlike the Skydio, the DJI required a thrid party app called Drone Deploy to be used to make a map in conjunction with the usual operational app DJI GO4 to operate. This cause some issues because it was hard to essentially tell the aircraft to fly through a series of jumps and hoops, but it worked out nonetheless. The stress on the crew was compounded because of the worsening weather conditions. Nonetheless, the larger of the two rectangles was used as a flight boundary (from Figure 1), and a standard lawnmower flight path was used. After the parameters were confirmed, a two dimensional mapping mission was flown successfully. An image of the flight path and parameters can be seen below in Figure 4, and an example image from the flight can be seen further below in Figure 5.
Figure 4: Flight path and settings
Figure 5: Example image from flight
Once the flight was conducted and the Mavic 2 Pro was landed, the proper flight data was stores and held for creating scans later in the semester. This flight took a while to setup because of the difficulties in using the associated apps, but there was only one flight which quickened the pace of the entire lab. This was an important exercise in practicing to become a professional operator because mounting pressures from failing technology and deteriorating weather tested the flight crew. Nonetheless, they prevailed, and the data recorded from this lab would go on to make another scan in the final data products folder. An image of a flight data table from the original report can be seen below in Figure 6. A complete report is available upon request.
Figure 6: Flight data table
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