The first thing before the flight is to do a safety check, let's take a look at the following case:
Zhang, a professional pilot in a village in Liuzhou, Guangxi, took off without checking whether the propeller screws were firmly installed when spraying medicine for his employer in the same village. During the flight, the propeller rotated at high speed and flew out, and the crash of the drone caused the liquid medicine to flow directly into the field, causing damage to the employer's newly cultivated corn. Zhang not only needs to repair the drone, but also has to compensate his employer for economic losses.
In fact, many safety accidents can be avoided. Let’s take a look at the following 3 checks that must be done before flying.
01 Three elements of environmental inspection
Weather:
1. It is necessary to ensure that the take-off and landing point is open and flat. If the take-off and landing point is uneven or has raised stones, it will cause the UAV to land tilted and fall to the ground, and the UAV will be damaged by impact;
2. Make sure that there is no debris around the takeoff and landing point, so as to prevent the wind field from involving debris into the propeller during takeoff and landing, causing the aircraft to explode;
3. Make sure there are no obstacles above the take-off and landing point to avoid collision between the drone and obstacles during take-off and landing;
4. Before taking off, make sure that the personnel are 10 meters away from the take-off and landing point to ensure the safety of personnel.
Flight operation area:
1. Before operation, check whether the obstacles in the operation area have been marked in the plot, and clear the area for irrelevant personnel;
2. During the operation, prohibit irrelevant personnel from intruding and ensure that there is no other equipment that interferes with the operation (such as broadcast signal towers affecting drone communication);
3. If there is a steep slope in the operation area, make sure that the flying height of the drone cannot be lower than the height of the steep slope.
02 Three steps of visual inspection:
You can follow the order of "from top to bottom, from left to right", and follow the three steps of "look, shake, turn" for appearance inspection.
-
Take a look, keep it clean:
The following parts need attention:
-
Propeller: keep the surface clean and free of attachments, check whether there are no cracks or gaps;
-
Radar: Keep the surface clean and free of attachments, otherwise it will interfere with flight obstacle avoidance;
-
Terrain Module: Keep surfaces clean. If dirty, please use a soft cloth to wipe in one direction;
-
Tail plug: The metal copper sheet turns black or green, you can use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean it, otherwise it will affect the battery power supply;
-
ESC/ESB: keep the surface clean and free of attachments, otherwise it will affect the heat dissipation of the ESC;
-
Fuselage structure: The overall structure is stable without deformation.
-
Shake it, the structure is stable:
Vibration during flight, coupled with long-term operation, may cause the screws of the arms, propeller clips, battery tail frames, and propellers to loosen. Before take-off operation, you can shake the fuselage to check whether the fuselage is stable. If there is any looseness, you can tighten the screws of the relevant structure. If cracks are found, the relevant parts must be replaced in time.
-
Turn around, no lag:
Motor: Make sure that there is no jamming or abnormal noise in the rotation of the motor; if there are foreign objects, try to clean them with a soft brush or hair dryer.
Spray disc: Make sure that there is no jamming and no damage, otherwise it will cause uneven atomized particles. If abnormalities are found, please replace the spray disc in time.
Have you mastered the above inspection methods? At the end of the course, we have left you a visual inspection comparison table, which you can check against, so you are not afraid of missed inspections.
Step 1: Firmware Update
Each firmware update will correct the bugs and vulnerabilities of the old version, bring performance improvements to the device while improving stability, and work in a better state. So please make sure that all firmware is updated to the latest version before each flight.
Open the "Jifei Agriculture" App, click "Avatar"-"Device" in the upper left corner of the home page, select the drone that needs to be operated, and enter the "Device Details" interface. Click "Check for Updates" to upgrade to the latest version.
Click on the task bar on the App home page to enter the module system interface, and check whether each module is updated successfully.
Step Two: Positioning System Check
In order to ensure the precise operation of the equipment, it is necessary to connect to the nearest RTK base station before operation. The specific operations are as follows:
-
Open XAG Agricultural App, select the device task bar, select the positioning system, select the fixed base station, select the nearest fixed base station, and click Connect;
-
Note: To connect to the base station within 50 KM, it is necessary to ensure that the number of satellites is more than 16, and the heading accuracy is within 2 degrees;
Step 3: Battery System Check
-
Confirm whether the remaining power of the battery meets the current operation requirements, and check whether the column bars of the "cell voltage" module are all green.
⚠️ Note: If the column bar of the battery cell is displayed in red, it means that the battery cell is abnormal. If the abnormal display continues, it needs to be sent for inspection and maintenance.
Step Four: Powertrain Check
-
Click "Idle Speed Test" and follow the prompts to perform a test check. During the test, confirm whether the propeller steering is normal and whether there is any abnormal noise from the motor.
⚠️ Note: M1, M3 propellers rotate counterclockwise, M2, M4 propellers rotate clockwise. The motor current value cannot exceed 4A, and the motor speed difference cannot exceed 100 revolutions.
Step Five: Perform a System Check
-
Sprinkler System Inspection
-
Daily pre-flight inspections can use the system self-inspection test to meet the inspection requirements. Click "System Self-inspection" and wait for the system self-inspection to complete. If there is no problem, it can be closed.
-
Every time a new chemical solution is replaced, the pump needs to be calibrated with the working chemical so that the spraying amount can be more accurate. Click "Pump Calibration" and follow the prompts to test and check, and you need to pay attention to the recovery of the liquid medicine.
-
If it is necessary to test a single nozzle, a manual test can be used. Click "Manual Test" and follow the prompts to test and check. During the test, check whether the rotation of the spray disc is normal, and ensure that there is no air bubble in the outflowing liquid. Confirm that the spraying system is unobstructed and there is no rupture or leakage of the pipeline.
⚠️Note: It is forbidden to check the spraying system in the planting area; if the operating agent has a high viscosity and density, it is necessary to calibrate the spraying system with liquid. When calibrating, pay attention to the amount of spray in the medicine box between 2.5 - 3.5L.
-
Spreading System Inspection
-
In the "Manual Test" module, set the spreading rate and air flow according to the needs of the operation, and click the "quantifier" and "air flow" to start the test respectively. After confirming that the spreading system is discharging normally, the test can be ended.
Step 6: Perception System Check
-
Check whether the radar and terrain modules are online normally.
Step Seven: Communication System Check
-
Check if the signal is good.
This lesson goes through three major items of pre-flight inspection: the selection of the environment, the appearance inspection of the fuselage structure, and whether the seven system parameters in the App are normal, whether the firmware is updated in time, etc., to ensure the safety of each flight operation.
You are welcome to share your experience and experience in the message area, and you are also welcome to share this course with your pilot friends, so that everyone can pay attention to the safe operation of drones.