Pattern generators

Pattern generators turn a shape on the map and a few settings into a waypoint sequence. They live in the Flight Patterns section of the Plan tab’s right panel. Nothing changes in your mission until you apply the result.

Plan tab Flight Patterns section with a Survey Grid over a polygon and the Apply button visible — Flight Patterns with a Survey Grid configured from a camera profile, ready to apply.

Generate a pattern

Open a plan

Open or create a plan in the Plan tab. See Mission planning.

Open Flight Patterns

Expand Flight Patterns in the right panel, or press G.

Pick a pattern type

Choose a Pattern Type. The section tells you what it needs on the map: a polygon (Survey Grid, Structure Scan, Perimeter), a circle (Orbit), path points (Corridor), a start point (Parallel Track), a datum point (Expanding Square, Sector Search) or a landing point (landings).

Draw and configure

Draw the shape with the Polygon (P) or Circle (C) tool, or place the point, then set the parameters below.

Generate and apply

Click Generate Pattern. The preview and its statistics (distance, estimated time, waypoints, and for area patterns photos, area and transects) appear. Click Apply (N waypoints) to add the waypoints to the mission.

Generated waypoints use the relative altitude frame (altitude above home) unless a parameter says otherwise.

Generation limits

Every generator rejects a configuration that would produce an unbounded amount of work and shows the reason in the section instead of a preview:

Limit	Value	Fix
Smallest line, leg or track spacing and trigger distance	0.5 m	A smaller value typed into a spacing field is raised to 0.5 m
Transects, legs or tracks per pattern	2000	Increase the spacing
Estimated camera triggers per pattern	100,000	Increase the trigger distance

Pattern types

Survey Grid

Parallel transects (a lawnmower pattern) over a polygon, for mapping and photogrammetry.

Parameter	Meaning
Grid angle	Rotation of the transects in degrees (0 is east-west, 90 is north-south)
Line spacing	Distance between transects, in metres
Turnaround distance	Overshoot past the boundary at each transect end, in metres
Entry location	Start corner: Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left or Bottom Right
Fly alternate transects	Skip every other transect
Camera trigger distance	Metres between camera triggers (0 disables triggering)
Crosshatch	Fly the grid twice, at the grid angle and 90 degrees to it
Tie lines	Add a second pass at its own angle (default 90 degrees offset) and spacing
Altitude	Altitude above home, in metres
Speed	Cruise speed, in m/s

Pick a camera profile (or Manual) to size the line spacing and trigger distance from overlap. Deliverable presets set the overlap in one click: Orthomosaic (70/70), 3D model (80/80) and Fast / low detail (60/60). Survey presets such as Photogrammetry Standard, High Detail, Quick Overview, Inspection and Magnetic Survey (tie lines on) also set altitude and speed.

Orbit

A circle around a point of interest.

Parameter	Meaning
Centre	Circle centre
Radius	Circle radius, in metres
Direction	Clockwise or Counter-clockwise
Turns	Number of full orbits
Start angle	Degrees from north where the orbit starts
Altitude	Altitude above home, in metres
Speed	Cruise speed, in m/s
Target height	Height of the point the camera aims at (default 0)

Corridor

Perpendicular transects along a path, for roads, pipelines and power lines.

Parameter	Meaning
Path points	The corridor centre line
Corridor width	Total width in metres, half on each side
Line spacing	Distance between transects, in metres
Altitude	Altitude above home, in metres
Speed	Cruise speed, in m/s

Perimeter

One closed loop around a boundary polygon, for fence lines and site edges.

Parameter	Meaning
Boundary polygon	The area to fly around
Inset offset	Distance to pull the loop inside the boundary, in metres (0 flies the boundary itself)
Altitude	Altitude above home, in metres (default 50)
Speed	Cruise speed, in m/s (default 5)

Structure Scan

Stacked orbits around a building, tower or similar structure.

Parameter	Meaning
Structure polygon	Footprint of the structure
Bottom altitude / Top altitude	Lowest and highest layer, metres above home
Layer spacing	Vertical distance between layers, in metres
Scan distance	Minimum horizontal distance from the structure on every leg, in metres
Gimbal pitch	Camera pitch toward the structure (negative is down)
Points per layer	Waypoints per orbit layer
Camera trigger distance	Metres between triggers (0 disables triggering)
Speed	Flight speed, in m/s
Direction	Bottom Up or Top Down

Search and rescue

SAR: Expanding Square
SAR: Sector Search
SAR: Parallel Track

Legs that spiral outward from a datum (the last known position).Parameters: centre, leg spacing, maximum legs, altitude, speed, start bearing.

Fixed-Wing Landing

A straight-in approach and landing.

Parameter	Meaning
Landing point	Touchdown point
Approach heading	Final-approach heading in degrees true. Required
Glide slope angle	2 to 15 degrees. The approach distance is the approach altitude divided by the tangent of this angle
Loiter altitude	Approach altitude, in the mission altitude frame
Speed	Approach speed, in m/s

VTOL Landing

A cruise approach, transition and vertical landing.

Parameter	Meaning
Landing point	Touchdown point
Approach heading	Final-approach heading in degrees true. Required
Transition distance	Distance from the landing point to the start of the transition, in metres
Approach altitude	In the mission altitude frame
Descent speed	Vertical descent speed, used only for the time estimate
Speed	Cruise approach speed, in m/s

GSD calculator

For camera patterns, the calculator works from the camera’s sensor width and height (mm), focal length (mm) and image size (pixels), plus the flight altitude. It returns:

Ground sample distance (cm per pixel)
Image footprint on the ground
Line spacing for the chosen side overlap
Trigger distance for the chosen front overlap

Choose a built-in camera profile or Manual to enter your own sensor values.

Next steps

Geofences and rally points

Fence the survey area and add rally points.

3D mission preview

Check the generated path in 3D before upload.

Get started

Fly

Plan and review

Firmware support

Configure the flight controller

Nodes

Test without hardware

Cloud, AI and settings

Android GCS

Generate a pattern

Generation limits

Pattern types

Survey Grid

Orbit

Corridor

Perimeter

Structure Scan

Search and rescue

Fixed-Wing Landing

VTOL Landing

GSD calculator

Next steps

Geofences and rally points

3D mission preview

​Generate a pattern

​Generation limits

​Pattern types

​Survey Grid

​Orbit

​Corridor

​Perimeter

​Structure Scan

​Search and rescue

​Fixed-Wing Landing

​VTOL Landing

​GSD calculator

​Next steps

Geofences and rally points

3D mission preview

Generate a pattern

Generation limits

Pattern types

Survey Grid

Orbit

Corridor

Perimeter

Structure Scan

Search and rescue

Fixed-Wing Landing

VTOL Landing

GSD calculator

Next steps