Drone Flightplan Generator

Generate an optimized flight plan for aerial mapping with drones.

📖 Documentation: https://hotosm.github.io/drone-flightplan/

🖥️ Source Code: https://github.com/hotosm/drone-tm/blob/dev/src/backend/packages/drone-flightplan

Overview

The Drone Flightplan Generator is a Python package designed to automate the creation of flight plans for drones. This tool is essential for users needing efficient and precise aerial surveys, mapping, and imagery collection.

Waypoint File

DJI drones require waypoint files. WPML route files all end with a ".kmz" suffix and are essentially archive files packed in ZIP format. After decompression of a standard WPML route file, its file structure is as follows:

For more details, check the DJI Cloud API documentation.

Installation

To install the package, use pip:

pip install drone-flightplan

Modules

1. calculate_parameters

This module helps in calculating various parameters required for the flight plan, such as:

calculate_parameters(
    forward_overlap: float,
    side_overlap: float,
    agl: float,
    gsd: float = None,
    image_interval: int = 2,
)

Parameters:

• AGL (Altitude above ground level in meters) = 115
• Forward overlap = 75
• Side overlap = 75

Fixed Parameters:

• Image interval = 2 sec
• Vertical FOV = 0.99
• Horizontal FOV = 1.25

Calculations:

• Forward Photo height = AGL _Vertical_FOV
• Side Photo width = AGL _Horizontal_FOV
• Forward overlap distance = Forward photo height _Forward overlap
• Side overlap distance = Side photo width _Side overlap
• Forward spacing = Forward photo height - Forward overlap distance
• Side spacing = Side photo width - Side overlap distance
• Ground speed = Forward spacing / Image interval

Parameters:

• Run uv run calcparams to see options.

2. create_waypoint

This module generates waypoints for a given project area, using parameters such as altitude, GSD, overlap ratios, and the option to avoid no-fly zones. It can also create 3D waypoints:

from drone_flightplan import create_waypoint

create_waypoint(
    project_area,
    agl,
    gsd,
    forward_overlap,
    side_overlap,
    rotation_angle=0.0,
    flight_mode="waypoints",
    generate_3d=False,
    no_fly_zones=None,
    take_off_point=None,
)

Parameters:

• Run uv run waypoints to see options.

3. add_elevation_from_dem

This module integrates elevation data from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) into the flight plan to account for changes in terrain. This ensures more accurate waypoint positioning for varying altitudes:

from drone_flightplan import add_elevation_from_dem

add_elevation_from_dem(raster_file, points, outfile)

Parameters:

• Run uv run addelev to see options.

4. create_placemarks

This module creates placemarks for the flight plan, useful for marking key locations:

from drone_flightplan import create_placemarks

create_placemarks(
    waypoints_geojson: Union[str, FeatureCollection, dict],
    parameters: dict
)

Parameters:

• Run uv run placemarks to see options.

5. create_wpml

This module is responsible for creating WPML files (Waypoint Markup Language), which are often used for visualizing waypoints and flight paths in different tools or simulators:

from drone_flightplan import create_wpml

create_wpml(
    placemark_geojson: Union[str, FeatureCollection, dict],
    output_file_path: str = "/tmp/",
)

Parameters:

• placemark_geojson: The placemark coordinates to be included in the flight plan mission.
• output_file_path: The output file path for the WPML file.

6. create_flightplan

This is the core function responsible for generating a complete flight plan for a specified area of interest (AOI):

from drone_flightplan import create_flightplan

create_flightplan(
    aoi,
    forward_overlap,
    side_overlap,
    agl,
    gsd=None,
    image_interval=2,
    dem=None,
    outfile=None,
    flight_mode="waypoints",
    rotation_angle=0.0,
    take_off_point=None,
)

Parameters:

• Run uv run flightplan to see options.