Pix4Dscan - Getting started

Step 1. Equipment setup

1. Go to the area where the target structure is located.
   Note: If the plan is to fly without an Internet connection, the following steps need to be performed before going to the field. More information in: Offline basemaps and missions.
2. Turn on the controller and the drone.
3. Connect the controller and the iPad / iPhone device with the corresponding cable.
4. Launch Pix4Dscan.
5. Log in with the Pix4D user account credentials. An internet connection is required for this step.
6. Select the drone model from the Drone selector dropdown list.
   
7. Once the status of the drone is Connected, tap Start flight.

At this point, the user is correctly identified within the application and the drone is ready to fly.

Step 2. Safety and Security settings check

Before starting the flight, it is strongly recommended to go through the Safety and Security settings.  A detailed description of the settings can be found in Pix4Dscan - Settings.

On the top bar, tap  to access the Settings.

1. Ensure the signal lost action is defined correctly.
2. Ensure the maximum flight altitude is set correctly.
3. Ensure the RTH altitude is set correctly. However, notice that it will be possible to update this value during the mission if the altitude of the point of interest will be detected as higher than the return-to-home altitude, based on the assumption that the point of interest is the tallest obstacle in the inspection area.

After setting the Safety and Security checks, the user is ready to start flying.

Step 3. Select the mission and fly

In Pix4Dscan, flight planning is done on the field in order to ensure that the flight plan is positioned correctly. The take-off and the point of interest definition phase are done by manually piloting the drone.

To perform a mission, the steps are the following:

1. Place the drone in an area where the take-off and landing can be safe.
2. Take off in manual mode and position the drone at a few meters above the ground.
   Important: To start a mission, the drone needs to be hovering. Pix4Dscan is not responsible for the take-off phase.
3. Tap  to create a new mission.
4. Choose the type of mission to fly. More information in Mission types.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to define mission references and mission settings and tap Set. The properties of the point of interest differ according to the type of mission.
6. Define the properties of the mission. More information in Pix4Dscan - Manual.
7. Tap Start mission.
8. The drone exits the manual mode and performs the mission. A mission can be interrupted anytime. More information in How to interrupt a Pix4Dscan mission.
9. (For Cell tower missions only) Repeat the steps from 4 to 8 for each sub-mission. Multiple sub-missions of the same type can be performed for a Cell tower mission.
10. When the mission is over, tap the return-to-home button or fly the drone home for landing. Note that the same as for the take-off phase, Pix4Dscan is not responsible for the landing phase.
11. Switch off the drone and the controller.
12. Remove the SD card.

The acquired images/videos are now stored on the SD card and they can be used for visual inspection and to generate photogrammetric products.

Step 4. Process the dataset

Connect the SD card to a device that can upload the acquired images/videos to a new inspection into the Pix4Dinspect cloud platform.

The dataset can now be inspected and processed, in order to generate the results and inspect the mapped structure.