senseFly eBee - Creating a New Flight Plan

Planning and simulating a flight
• Control Bar: The Control Bar is used to issue various commands to the eBee
while it is in flight, such as starting the mission phase or holding position.
It is also used to display and acknowledge warnings that may occur either
before or during a flight.
• Toolbar: The Toolbar containsbuttons to control the layers, sources or map
informationand other display options relatedto the Map Area. eMotion can
use many sources of mapping information.
• Sidebar: The Sidebar is split into several tabs, each with a particular func-
tion. The Flight Monitoring tab is used for monitoring the drone while in
flight. The Setup Phase tab controls the take-off and landing portions of
a flight plan (referred to as the ‘setup phase’) whereas the Mission Plan-
ning tab defines the image acquisition portion of the flight plan (referred
to as the ‘mission phase’). The last three tabs are used for advanced way-
point planning and parameter setting. You can hide the Sidebar by clicking
on its left edge. The Sidebar also contains controls for the simulator when
connected to a simulated drone.
1.3 Creating a new flight plan
Every mapping flight requires a flight plan, which is a path defined by a set of
waypoints, or points in 3D space, and a set of actions that can be performed at or
in between waypoints, such as taking images, proceeding to the next waypoint
or landing. A flight plan is shown in the Map Area using circles to represent way-
points, lines to represent the flight path and arrows to show the direction of flight.
The large circle with a thick border illustrates the working area boundaries within
which the eBee will always remain. See section ‘Waypoints and their properties’
on page 56 for more information on waypointsand the various symbols presented
in the Map Area.
A complete flight plan for an eBee is divided into two separate phases: the setup
phase and the mission phase. The mission phase includes waypoints and actions
related to mapping and capturing images. The setup phase includes waypoints
and actions related to take-off and landing. This phase is usually planned directly
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