How to Control Your Drone

Learn how to control essential drone functions such as Return to Docking Station, Pause, Resume, and Abort functionalities.

Drone Control Panel Overview

The Drone Control Panel serves as a centralized hub, offering operators crucial flight information and commands, making essential drone tasks easily accessible at your fingertips. It is located in the bottom-center region of the dashboard.

Drone Control Panel on FlytBase Dashboard

View In-flight Information

In-flight Information

The Drone Control Panel provides the operator with access to view the following in-flight information of the drone:

1. Mission Status Indicator - Shows the real-time mission completion percentage.

2. Drone State - Indicates the real-time status of the drone. Following are the different states represented by the drone.

   1. In-flight - This state indicates that the drone is performing a mission or executing a 'Go to location' command.

   2. Hovering - This state means the drone is currently hovering in place.

   3. Offline - This state indicates that the drone is currently offline.

3. Mission Name - Provides info regarding the pre-planned mission being executed.

Drone Control Commands

Operators can use the drone control panel to execute the following commands:

• Return To Docking Station (RTDS) - Directs the aircraft back to the docking station.
• Pause - Pauses aircraft's motion and makes it enter into a hover standstill.
• Resume - Continue planned aircraft activities initiated before the 'Pause' command.
• Abort - Stops all active drone commands and makes it hover in place instantly.

Resume button will only be available when the drone is performing a mission.

Note that the Pause option is only supported when the drone is performing a pre-planned mission.

Return to Docking Station (RTDS)

Return to Docking Station (RTDS)

This function brings the aircraft back to the docking station. The functionalities of the Return to Docking Station (RTDS) feature are as follows:

• When the finish action is set to RTDS during mission planning, it automatically triggers Return to docking station (RTDS) upon mission completion.

• RTDS automatically engages during a DJI failsafe event.

• You can manually engage RTDS during an ongoing mission.

• When launching to a location, you can activate RTDS only after engaging the 'Abort' button.

Steps to use Return to Docking Station (RTDS):

1. During a mission or Go to location, operators can command RTDS from the drone control panel.

RTDS button

2. Upon pressing the button, the operator would receive a confirmation pop-up following which toaster messages (notifications) would appear on the dashboard and the drone starts executing RTDS (Return to Docking Station) command.

Confirmation message while executing RTDS for the drone

Pause

Pause

This function is used to pause the movement of aircraft while it is executing any command. When activated, the drone swiftly transitions into a standstill mode, hovering in place.

The functionalities of the 'Pause' button are as follows:

• The Pause button is only usable during a planned mission.

• It cannot be used when the drone is performing a Go-to location.

To interrupt a Go to location mission, utilize the 'Abort' option, as pausing is not available for this type of mission.

Steps to use the Pause function:

1. While the drone is undertaking a mission, the operator can click on 'Pause' button located on the drone control panel.

'Pause' button

2. Upon pressing the button, the operator would receive a confirmation on the dashboard in the form of toaster messages (notifications).

Toaster message upon pressing 'Pause' button

3. The drone starts hovering, and the drone state is displayed as 'Paused' on the drone control panel.

Drone State upon executing 'Pause' button

Resume

Resume

This function resumes planned aircraft activities that were initiated before issuing a 'Pause' command.

The functionalities of the 'Resume' button are as follows:

• Activating 'Resume' during a preplanned mission after using 'Pause' directs the drone to resume executing the mission commands from the point where the mission was paused.

• You cannot use 'Resume' when 'Abort' is engaged during a Go-to location. Instead, you have the option to perform RTDS or set another Go-to location.

Steps to use the Resume function:

1. Once 'Pause' is engaged in a preplanned mission, the same button transforms into a 'Resume' button, situated on the drone control panel on the FlytBase dashboard.

Resume button

2. Press the button to receive a pre-flight checklist.

Pre-flight checklist

3. Check all safety checklist parameters. Once confirmed, a dashboard message will pop up, and the drone will continue executing commands from where it was paused.

Toaster message upon pressing ' button

Abort

Abort Function Overview

The 'Abort' function serves as a quick and immediate stop for the drone. When activated, the drone swiftly transitions into a standstill mode, hovering in place. This allows for precise control and safety during drone operations.

The abort function can only be used in the following scenarios:

Scenario	Expected Behavior
When the drone is performing Go-to Location	Once the Operator engages the 'Abort' button, the drone will abort its current action and hover at its location. The drone instantaneously enters a standstill mode, hovering in place refusing any additional commands from the dashboard, and can only perform RTDS when triggered by you.
During 'GO_HOME' commands like Return to Docking Station (RTDS) or DJI failsafe triggers	Once the Operator engages the 'Abort' button during 'GO_HOME' commands, such as Return to Docking Station (RTDS) or DJI failsafe triggers, the drone will abort its current action and hover at its location. It will remain in this state until the Resume action is initiated from the dashboard.

'Abort' button during GO_HOME

This safety measure ensures that when the drone is executing 'Go-to location' and 'GO_HOME' commands, it avoids potential emergencies head-on, enabling operators to swiftly intervene and prevent unintended movements right from the dashboard.

Steps to use the 'Abort' feature:

1. While the drone executes a 'Go-to location' or 'GO_HOME' command, operators can take swift action by clicking the 'Abort' button located on the drone control panel.

'Abort' button on drone control panel.

2. Upon pressing the button, the operator would receive a confirmation on the dashboard in the form of toaster messages (notifications).