DJI M30T Flight Guidelines

Flight guidelines for inspecting solar farms with a DJI M30T.

The DJI M30T drone with its 640×512 resolution thermal camera and 9.1 mm lens can meet the data requirements quickly and efficiently. It is possible to collect 70% front lap and 20% side lap thermal and RGB imagery.

Equipment

Drone: DJI M30T
Camera: Built-in
Computer: Smart Controller
Flight Planning Software: DJI Pilot 2

Please ensure the super resolution for the thermal imagery is not enabled. Additionally, there are some zoom sync options that enable the thermal camera to digitally match the zoom of the RGB camera. Please ensure these are turned off (or set to 1x).

Sensor Heading

For both IR and RGB inspection-level imagery sets, sensor heading must remain fixed throughout the flight. For example, if flying a fixed-tilt, ground mount site with panels facing south, the sensor should face North throughout the flight. Datasets, where sensor heading alternates with each flight pass (sensor faces North one flight pass and South on the next flight pass), will warrant a reflight.

Image Capture

Front Overlap Ratio: 70%
Side Overlap Ratio: 20%
File Format: RJPG

Obliques

Note: Obliques / High flys are required as part of the flight. For information about how to correctly fly and take oblique images, please see Capturing Oblique Images.

Data Example

The long edge of the solar row aligns with the long edge of the image.

More to come!