Flight Plan Optimizer

On this page

• What is the Flight Plan Optimizer feature?
• How does it work?
• How do I optimize a flight plan?
• What does the optimizer not do?

What is the Flight Plan Optimizer feature?

One click to get a flight-ready plan in minutes, in sloped or complex terrain.

For survey, mapping and civil engineering teams working on sloped, variable or changing terrain, the Flight Plan Optimizer is a built-in WingtraPRO and WingtraUNLIMITED capability that adapts the flight plan to the terrain below and turns hours of manual tuning into a one-click operation.

It automatically splits and rotates the mission to hold your desired ground sampling distance (GSD) or LIDAR point cloud density, and optimizes each waypoint to stay within height limits. The feature validates the plan against your requirements as it builds it, so you get a safe, flight-ready plan in a few minutes instead of hours of manual planning.

• Get the best possible data on every flight and any terrain, even sloped. Let the software optimize your flight plan to meet your target GSD or LIDAR point cloud density, and work around the complexity or slope of the terrain. Fly once and come back with complete, usable data instead of gaps you only discover after processing
• Turn hours of flight planning into minutes, in one click. One click optimizes your entire flight plan for the best output in minutes, even on sloped and variable terrain. It saves hours of manual work in the planning phase and lets any pilot plan surveys, not just your most experienced one
• Stay within height limits, even during transitions. Waypoints are generated automatically so every transition between areas stays within the height limit, without the pilot manually inserting loiter points
• Fly safely in changing environments with custom terrain models. Import a custom terrain model and the optimizer plans against the actual, current ground, not generic terrain data. This makes it safe to survey man-made or fast-changing environments where off-the-shelf elevation data is stale or wrong

How does it work?

The software handles the parts of planning that normally take the most time and expertise:

• Splitting and rotating. It splits and rotates your drawn area into sub-areas for the best GSD, with adaptive flight height along the flight lines so the drone follows the ground.
• Height transition and waypoints. It plans the transitions between areas and back to the home point. It inserts loiter waypoints and reorders flight elements so height limits are not breached.
• Custom terrain import. It plans against a terrain model you supply instead of only default terrain data, so the drone follows the actual, current ground. This includes man-made or fast-changing environments like active mine pits.

The result is an automated, one-click optimization of the flight plan for your drawn area. It gives you:

• The best GSD (RGB) and point cloud density (LIDAR)
• Compliant height limits, minimum and maximum
• The best path between areas

How do I optimize a flight plan?

The optimizer runs inside the Wingtra software.

1. Draw the area you want to survey.
2. Open the settings and set your requirements: target GSD (RGB) or point cloud density (LIDAR), and your minimum and maximum height limits.
3. To fly man-made or fast-changing terrain, import a custom terrain model (optional).
4. Click “Optimize Flight”. The optimizer builds the full plan in a few minutes. It splits, rotates, adapts flight height and plans the transitions.
5. Review the result on the colorized plan to confirm the expected GSD or point density.
6. If needed, re-run with adjusted settings or make manual edits, then fly.

Important: When you use an optimized flight plan, including importing a custom terrain model, making sure the final flight plan is correct is your responsibility. In fast-changing sites such as active mines, a stale model can produce an unsafe plan. Always fly against an up-to-date model.

What does the optimizer not do?