How to use Flyby Mapping on the F-11

With Flyby Mapping, you can automate mission planning and seamlessly perform orthostatic photogrammetry missions. Let’s go through your workflows step by step:

Plan Your Flight

Photogrammetry Mission Setup

Step 1 - Choose Create Mission

You’ll be prompted to tap the map to create waypoints.

Step 2 - Adjust Waypoints

A rectangle will appear with a serpentine waypoint path inside it. Click and drag the points on the rectangle to adjust your polygon and map your desired area.

Alternatively, you can upload a KML file to execute a pre-planned mission.

Step 1 - Choose Upload KML

After loading your KML files from your computer onto your controller, select "Upload KML"

Step 2 - Browse KML Files

Choose "Browse Files" on the pop-up menu to see and select from a menu of KML files available on your controller.

Step 3 - Select KML Mission

Choose your KML file or multiple files from the menu of KML files on your controller. Click "Save". After saving, you can click the pencil icon to edit your polygon if needed. Once you’ve established your coverage area, you can adjust your camera and mission settings.

You can always save your mission and revisit it later. Simply click the pencil to edit the mission again, and click the trash can icon to delete the mission.

Adjust Sensor Settings

Currently, Flyby Mapping supports the Sony ILX-LR1. Adjust your camera settings in the app to optimize for your mission specifications:

Camera Pitch: The pitch is default set to a straight 90° down. Tilt the camera to achieve obliques or reduce occlusion in complex terrain.

Program Mode: Automatic program mode adjusts aperture, ISO, shutter speed and white balance according to ambient light in order to prevent images from looking too bright or too dark. Alternatively, you can adjust these settings manually.

Aperture: Larger apertures (smaller f-stop numbers) allow more light in for low-light conditions or faster shutter speeds. Narrow aperture (around f/8-f/16) is suitable for standard photogrammetry missions to achieve sharp, consistent focus across the scene.

ISO: Use a low ISO (100-200) for clean, noise-free images in bright conditions. Increase ISO (400-800) in low-light environments to maintain proper exposure and avoid motion blur, but avoid exceeding 1600 to minimize image noise.

Shutter Speed: Use a fast shutter speed (1/500 - 1/1000 sec) to prevent motion blur, especially during high-speed drone flights. In low-light conditions, slower shutter speeds can be used, but ensure the drone remains stable to maintain sharp images.

White Balance: Set white balance to Auto for general missions, allowing the camera to adapt to changing light conditions. For consistent color tones across images, use a manual white balance preset (e.g., Sunny, Cloudy) based on the ambient lighting.

Overlap Ratio: A typical overlap is around 70%. Increase to 80-90% to support lower-altitude, higher-precision flights or accurately map low-texture surfaces and densely vegetated areas. Reduce to complete your mission more quickly.

Altitude: We recommend starting at about 50’, but support higher or lower altitudes.

Mission Speed: We recommend starting at around 4 m/s.

Course Angle: A 0° course angle runs north-to-south. A 90° course angle runs east-to-west. Orient your serpentine waypoint path to cover your polygon most efficiently.

Buffered Distance: Adjust the buffer zone around your coverage area to ensure sufficient capture of area edges.

Step 3: Execute

After completing pre-flight checks as outlined in your Flight Manual, arm the drone and start your mission. The drone will follow your pre-set waypoints at your selected altitude, return to home, and land at the takeoff point. During the mission, you’ll be able to toggle between a map view, where you can see mission progress on your waypoints, and a camera view, where you can watch the POV of the drone.

If you’re mapping an especially large area, you can hot-swap your batteries in the middle of a mission without interrupting your capture.

Step 4: Post-Process with Pix4D

Load your SD card into your controller. On the Flyby App home page, click “Geotag” → “Load Pictures” to associate each picture with the precise location it was captured from. Once everything has been geotagged in the controller, pull out the SD card and plug it into your laptop. You’ll see an image with already-geotagged data. Simply load it into Pix4D for processing.

Enjoy!