The ABZ Innovation L10 Pro and L30 spraying drones (and potentially the customizable M12 and M40 drone) is equipped with a high accuracy Emlid RTK system. You can use them with an Emlid Reach RS2, RS2+ or RS3 Mobile Base Station with built-in Lo-Ra communication modem.
When planning and executing automatic (spraying) drone operations, we rely on GNSS positioning. The accurate and precise operation can be crucial, especially if we apply pesticides and also in order to guarantee the safe flight of our drone. However, the GNSS positioning always has some inaccuracies due to the inevitable errors caused by the GNSS satellite clock, differences in orbit predictions, the characteristics of the surroundings (buildings, tree cover, valleys, etc), and even the weather. The receiver (in our case the drone) can not correct this error itself. It relies on the data provided by an external source.
Luckily, there are solutions to lower the difference between the actual and the supposed position of our drone. With the help of the RTK system, we can even achieve centimeter level accuracy.
RTK is based on the principle that the base station and the user receiver are located close together and, therefore, “see” the same errors. Since the errors are similar for both the receiver and the reference station, they can be canceled out, allowing higher accuracy.
Absolute and relative base station setup
If you use an Emlid RTK base station, your drone continuously gets corrections from the base station without an internet connection. It always flies with centimeter-level accuracy compared to the base station, but the absolute accuracy of this position depends on the accuracy of the base’s position.
For the highest possible accuracy, you will need a GNSS correction service subscription. These services use a reference network, with stations about every 150 km (100 miles), and calculate satellite and atmospheric correction models. These corrections are then broadcast to subscribers in the area via the Internet. The received correction absolute, centimeter level accuracy when flying with the drone.
If the base position is measured without this correction, it always has a 1-2 meters inaccuracy. This method is the relative accuracy base setup: the drone’s position is only accurate relative to the base station. The relative accuracy base setup is sufficient if we use the drone to draw the spraying area next to the field that we would like to spray. In order to reuse this coordinate in the future, you need to save it in the Emlid Flow application. You can only reuse the marked boundary for automatic flights with the coordinate saved on the base station, and you can not use this base station coordinate for other boundaries. The relative base mode is less exact and less convenient than the absolute base position setup and is not suitable for orthomosaic-based planning.
To use a spraying plan with centimeter-level precision, use the same base station coordinate with several boundaries, or a plan based on an RTK-measured orthophoto, you must use an absolute measured base station. For this setup you will need internet connectivity, an RTK provider subscription. ABZ Innovation recommends this solution, especially when spraying on complicated fields and around obstacles.
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