Neuron Planner Help

Load Plan

Loads an existing flight plan into Neuron Planner.

Loading a mission will not clear any previous mission items that are present. Loading a mission will add that mission to the current mission. If you wish to load an entire mission in its original state, you must first clear the current mission, then load the desired mission.

Currently, only supported '.json' files are accepted. Older missions may be accepted and attempted to be converted if possible.

It is also possible to load a mission file, or multiple files, by dragging-and-dropping them onto the Neuron Planner interface.

Save Plan

Saves an existing flight plan to a Neuron Planner mission file.

The mission file will be downloaded to your computer, or you may be prompted to download the mission file.

Clear Plan

Clears the current existing flight plan in Neuron Planner, removing all mission features.

Upload Plan

This tool is currently not available.

Create Brief

Creates a printable flight brief based on the current mission plan in Neuron Planner.

The flight brief contains various details that may be useful if submitting the flight plan to a reviewer or chief pilot, such as:

• A depiction of the mission plotted onto a map.
• A listing of non-flyable mission features, including any additional notations.
• A step-by-step listing of flyable mission features.
• Key summary points of each mission feature.
• An estimated transit time from the previous mission feature to this mission feature (calculated with flight speed option)
• An estimated duration required to perform the mission feature (calculated with flight speed option)

The flight brief can also be triggered by printing the page (e.g. with CTRL+P).

Note: if the map display does not render correctly, please try to recrate the flight brief without adjusting the map. The map position process sometimes does not occur quickly enough before the flight brief is created.

Toggle Help

Toggles between this help page and the Interactive Map in Neuron Planner.

Zoom To Fit

Zooms and pans the Interactive Map to fit all of the mission features in view.

Create Point

Creates a point feature in the center of view of the Interactive Map.

See the Point in the Mission Plan section for more information about this mission feature.

Create Line

Creates a line feature in the center of view of the Interactive Map.

See the Line in the Mission Plan section for more information about this mission feature.

Create Polygon

Creates a polygon feature in the center of view of the Interactive Map.

See the Polygon in the Mission Plan section for more information about this mission feature.

Import File

Imports mission features from supported files and adds them to the mission plan.

It is also possible to import supported files, or multiple files, by dragging-and-dropping them onto the Neuron Planner interface.

The currently supported features and files are:

• KML/KMZ:
• Waypoints: imported from Placemark/Point objects.
• Polygons: imported from Placemark/Polygon/LinearRing objects.

Note: Neuron Planner is not optimized for importing large numbers of individual mission features. It is recommended that you use the Save Plan and Load Plan tools with this application where possible.

Export KML

Exports supported mission features to a KML file.

The KML file will be downloaded to your computer, or you may be prompted to download the mission file.

The currently supported features are:

• Waypoints: exported as Placemark/Point objects.
• Polygons: exported as Placemark/Polygon/LinearRing objects.
• Surveys: converted to waypoints and exported as Placemark/Point objects.

Note: Neuron Planner is not optimized for importing large numbers of individual mission features. It is recommended that you use the Save Plan and Load Plan tools with this application where possible.

Mission Statistics

The mission statistics interface lists various statistics about the current mission.

These statistics include:

• Waypoints: the total number of waypoints required to perform the mission.
• Distance: the total distance in kilometers that will be required to be flown during the mission.
• Duration: the estimated duration of the mission based on mission distance and aircraft cruise speed.

Note: these statistics do not factor in components such as wind speed, wind direction, flight maneuvers, stopping at waypoints, or any other aircraft flight characteristics. As such, it is recommended that these statistics are used as rough estimates only.

Point

The point feature is a non-flyable mission feature that can be converted into other mission features. It acts as a point marker for a location of interest.

It has the following properties:

• Label: A text label to describe the marked location.
• Latitude: The latitude of the waypoint.
• Longitude: The longitude of the waypoint.
• Altitude: The altitude of the waypoint relative to ground level at the take-off location.

The point marker can also be adjusted through the popup menu on the Interactive Map. This allows for the waypoint removed entirely through the map.

Waypoint

The waypoint feature acts as a simple "go-to" location for the aircraft to fly towards and pass through during the flight plan.

It has the following properties:

• Latitude: The latitude of the waypoint.
• Longitude: The longitude of the waypoint.
• Altitude: The altitude of the waypoint relative to ground level at the take-off location.
• Heading: The heading of the aircraft relative to North that should be achieved at this waypoint.
• Wait: The duration in seconds for the aircraft to wait at the waypoint once it has been reached.
• Capture: Instructs the aircraft to capture an image when arriving at the waypoint.
• Ground Sampling Distance: The captured detail of the ground as a measure of distance per pixel on the final image. Lower values indicate a higher detail survey.

The imagery capture requirements mentioned above will be automatically updated if a valid camera is configured in Mission Options and the waypoint properties are adjusted. Adjusting camera parameters will update ground resolution from current altitude if "Capture" is disabled, or will update altitude from current ground resolution if "Capture" is enabled. The ground resolution can be calculated by manually setting the altitude, and vice versa.

The waypoint marker can also be adjusted through the popup menu on the Interactive Map. This allows for the waypoint removed entirely through the map.

Line

The line feature is a non-flyable mission feature that could be used for measurements or as a visual aid to highlight mission-relevant features.

The line created on the screen can be adjusted by dragging the end markers.

The end markers can also be adjusted through the popup menu on the Interactive Map. This allows a specific end to be removed entirely. The " Show ends" checkbox enables the display of the ends that define the line. Note that the shape of the line cannot be edited if the corners are not shown.

The line feature can be exported to other file types, such as KML or KMZ through its Mission Plan item.

Polygon

The polygon feature is a non-flyable mission feature that can be converted into other mission features. It could also be used as a visual aid to highlight areas of interest or other mission-relevant features.

The polygon created on the screen can be adjusted by dragging the corner markers. Additional corner markers can be added by clicking in the shaded polygon area, where additional markers will be added "after" or "to the right" of the last corner marker the was interacted with (e.g. by clicking or dragging the marker).

The corner markers can also be adjusted through the popup menu on the Interactive Map. This allows a specific corner to be adjusted in order (e.g. moved "forwards" or "backwards", and also allows it to be removed entirely. The " Show corners" checkbox enables the display of the corners that define the polygon. Note that the shape of the polygon cannot be edited if the corners are not shown.

The polygon feature can be exported to other file types, such as KML or KMZ through its Mission Plan item.

Survey

Creates a survey feature in the center of view of the Interactive Map.

The survey feature is a mission feature that creates a "lawn-mower' pattern for the aircraft to follow. The created pattern features a number of parallel "lanes" that the aircraft will fly up and down whilst performing the survey. This type of pattern is typically used to perform area surveys or scanning.

The survey created on the screen can be adjusted in a similar manner to the Survey feature.

It has the following statistics:

• Waypoints: Lists the number of waypoints that are required based on the survey settings.
• Duration: Lists the estimated flight time for the survey feature based on the Mission Options.
• Images: Lists the estimated number of images captured for the survey feature based on the Mission Options.

It has the following properties:

• Show corners: Enables the display of the polygon corners that define the survey area.
• Show ends: Enables the display of the waypoints that are required based on the survey settings.
• Show images: Enables the display of the locations of the images that would be captured throughout the survey. These can be clicked to display an estimate of the captured area.
• Altitude: The altitude of the survey relative to ground level at the take-off location.
• Spacing: Spacing between each lane of the survey.
• Entry: The entry point that will be used as the survey start. This is aligned with the closest corresponding corner point.
• Angle: The orientation angle of the lanes relative to North.
• Lead-in: An additional distance that the aircraft must travel before it enters the survey pattern on each lane. This is typically used to ensure that fixed-wing aircraft are flying straight and level before they start their path down each lane.
• Run-out A: An additional distance that the aircraft must travel as it exits the survey pattern on each lane. This is for odd numbered lanes (e.g. 1, 3, 5, ...). This is typically used to ensure that fixed-wing aircraft do not start turning before the last survey point for that lane has been taken.
• Run-out B: This parameter provides the same function a "Run-out A", but for even numbered lanes (e.g. 2, 4, 6, ...).
• Lane Skip: Causes the aircraft to "skip" a specific number of consecutive lanes in the survey pattern, coming back to the intermediate lanes later in the survey. This is typically used for fixed-wing aircraft with a large turning radius.

Note that the shape of the polygon that defines the survey cannot be edited if the corners are not shown.

The survey feature also provides an interface for setting the survey properties through imagery capture requirements and camera information. It is assumed that the camera is oriented such that the height axis points forward on the drone, and that the drone will fly in the direction of travel.

The camera calculations require the following properties:

• Ground Sampling Distance: The captured detail of the ground as a measure of distance per pixel on the final image. Lower values indicate a higher detail survey.
• Sidelap: Amount of overlap in the imagery that will be captured between a pair of lanes. Typically, photogrammetry software requires an overlap greater than 50% to perform accurate stitching.
• Overlap: Amount of overlap in the imagery that will be captured between sequential images. Typically, photogrammetry software requires a overlap greater than 50% to perform accurate stitching.

The imagery capture requirements mentioned above will be automatically updated if a valid camera is configured in Mission Options and the survey properties are adjusted. The current ground resolution is always used to calculate the required altitude based on the camera configuration, and spacing settings are always calculated based off of the cameras projected area based on the calculated altitude and current sidelap. The ground resolution can be calculated by manually setting the altitude, and the sidelap can be calculated by manually setting the lane spacing.