Hardware
MicaSense & Drone Setup and Calibration (Pre-Flight)
1. Power, connect and calibrate your MicaSense. To connect to your MicaSense, go to the mobile device/tablet's WI-FI and connect to the '[name of MicaSense]XXXX' in the WI-FI list. (Password: micasense)
2. Once the MicaSense is connected to the WI-FI, go to the web browser and type in the IP address 192.168.10.254, go to the settings tab (gear icon), and then in basic configurations change the recommended parameters as shown on the left.
3. Set the MicaSense altitude to your DJI flight altitude (80 - 120m). It is important that the MicaSense and DJI altitude match to prevent loss of storage space and overlap. If you are using terrain following, set the target altitude tolerance to 200 metres to ensure that the camera doesn't stop triggering when it flies a certain distance below the target altitude.
4. MicaSense overlap must be 80%.
5. Click 'Save'.
6. Next go to 'Advanced Configurations' and switch off Sensor 1 And Sensor 2. NB - For the MicaSense RedEdge/ RedEdge M/ RedEdge MX you only need to fly with bands 3, 4, and 5 - Red, Near Infrared, and Red-Edge.
7. Next go to 'Advanced Configurations' and switch off Sensor 1 And Sensor 2. NB - For the MicaSense Altum you need to fly with bands 3, 4, 5 and 6 - Red, Near Infrared, Red-Edge, and Thermal.
8. Click 'Save'.
9. DLS Calibration - Go to the DLS Calibration tab and carry out the calibration. You will have instructions to follow. This only needs to be done once per area per day. More than that is unnecessary.
10. Drone Calibration - Calibrate the DJI drone compass using the appropriate DJI Application. This only needs to be done once per area per day. More than that is unnecessary.
11. Make sure to reset DJI camera settings to default.
12. Make sure obstacle avoidance is switched off (only applicable for DJI Phantom 4 Pros).
- NB - We have had cases of the power plug on the MicaSense camera losing connection. We recommend securing the cable with some putty or hot glue to ensure the vibrations during flight don’t cause the camera to switch off and miss images.
Once the setup and calibration is complete
1. Power up the Remote.
2 . Power up the Drone.
3. Plan the mission in the Flight Planner App that you are using.
4. Power up the MicaSense, and wait for the LED on the front of the camera or on the DLS to flash green.
5. Wait for the drone to initialize and acquire GPS lock.
Before takeoff
- Take a picture of the calibration panel placed on the ground using the MicaSense trigger button (sun to your back, 1m above ground, and no shadows on the panel).
- Start the mission using the Flight Planner App that you are using (MicaSense triggers automatically 50m before flight altitude - this can be changed in the target altitude tolerance setting).
After landing
Take a picture of the calibration panel once more before disconnecting the battery (same procedure as the first calibration; the first image was captured pre-flight).
Post Flight Mapping coverage checks
Checking the coverage of orchard mapping flights before leaving a farm is an important post-flight check for our Drone Partners to ensure that the data collected is of good quality to be processed and present to our customers.
Here is a useful feature that the MicaSense app has to offer to check the coverage flown and whether there is possibly any missing imagery that can be recaptured before leaving the farm. Bonus: And it doesn't require internet access! Here's how it works:
| Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 |
| Connect to the MicaSense IP address, and make sure the memory is inserted. | Go to the MicaSense Map estimator tab, scroll down, and select the flight/data set you want to check, and click next. | Select the AGL/flight height that was flown and then click next, it will generate a coverage map using the data you have collected. |
Hardware recommendations
Matrice 200 series, 300 series
- 7-8 sets (M200), 5-6 sets (M300) of batteries
- 2 x TB55 chargers (M200) & 2 x TB60 chargers (M300)
- A method to power both chargers in your vehicle (inverter/generator) for the day
- Way to cool your batteries down (cooler box, aircon etc.)
Phantom 4 Pro
- 6 sets of DJI batteries, 2 X MicaSense batteries
- 2 X Dji Chargers chargers & 1 x MicaSense charger
- A method to power both chargers in your vehicle (inverter/generator) for the day
- Way to cool your batteries down (cooler box, aircon etc.)
Recommended storage devices
Drone Tutorial Videos
A series of drone tutorial videos relating to hardware: