UAV's / Drones for Research

Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAV) / drone software and hardware for research

ITC has hardware and software for collecting research data from Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAV) / drones, and has workflows for bringing data into ArcGIS Pro software for image classification.  The DJI P4 Multispectral UAV is specifically designed for environmental monitoring, analysis of trees and plants and insight on the health of vegetation.  It contains cameras and sensor arrays for Blue, Green, Red, Red Edge and Near Infrared bands.  Research Computing can assist with training and basic UAV operation within a 30 mile radius around the College in open areas of uncontrolled airspace as determined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Research Computing can assist with and consult on data collection, data processing, feature extraction, transformation, software and analysis using data captured by UAV's. 

• Dartmouth policy and flight permission email address:  https://student-affairs.dartmouth.edu/policy/unmanned-aircraft-systems-drones-operation-policy and  media.production.drone@dartmouth.edu 
• Links to Federal Aviation Administration:
  • Overview: https://www.faa.gov/uas 
  • FAA UAV pilot information: https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/become_a_drone_pilot
  • FAA site and "Before you Fly" has tools, resources and rules for flying UAV's safely. https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/b4ufly  and https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started

DJI P4 Multispectral Drone & DJI Mavic Pro

• DJI P4 Multispectral: https://www.dji.com/p4-multispectral. (note: the DJI P4 multispectral uses an ipad as its controller, not DJI Go 4)
• DJI Mavic 3 https://www.dji.com/mavic-3-pro
• Hardware: DJI P4 Multispectral UAV, DJI P4 controller, IPad with GSPro App 
• Software:  DJI Ground Station Pro software (GSPro) https://www.dji.com/ground-station-pro & ArcGIS Pro Image Analyst

DJI Mavic Pro with red-green-blue (RGB) standard camera

For more information, contact us at: 

research.computing@dartmouth.edu

Research Computing can assist with training and operation of UAV's and with data processing. 

• Link to DJI P4 Multispectral User Guide:  https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/p4-multispectral/20190927/P4_Multispectral_User_Manual_v1.0_EN.pdf
  • DJI P4 and its controller connect to the DJI GS Pro app. (ipad only)
  • Connection sequence (see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyiSzCvZY9U)
    • Turn on the ipad, open the DJI GS Pro app
    • Use the charging cord to connect the ipad with the DJI P4 controller
    • Turn on the DJI P4 controller (press power button once, then press and hold) 
    • Turn on the DJI P4 Multispectral drone and wait for a beeping sound that indicates the device is linked. 
• Link to DJI Mavic Pro User Guide: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20171219/Mavic%20Pro%20User%20Manual%20V2.0.pdf
  • DJI Mavic Pro and its controller connect to the DJI GO 4 app (iphone, android)