Boundaries done right
Walk or drive the perimeter with the controller's mapping mode, or import the boundary from your FMS/shapefile. Don't map to the fence — map to the crop edge, then decide your headland treatment. Save named boundaries per farm/field so year two is a two-minute setup.
The obstacle list to mark every time
- Power lines and poles — the #1 killer. Mark and add vertical buffer; note guy-wires (nearly invisible in flight)
- Irrigation pivots, towers, grain bins, silos
- Tree lines and single trees mid-field
- Buildings, livestock pens, beehives
- Waterways, ponds, tile inlets, wells
- Roads and drives where people/vehicles pass
No-spray zones & buffers
Draw exclusion polygons for water, sensitive crops (grapes, tomatoes, organic ground), homes, and hives — sized to the label's buffer for your product and droplet class. Modern flight software flies the boundary and skips the polygon automatically, which is a compliance record you can hand a customer. More: drift management.
The pre-flight walkthrough (do it anyway)
- Drive the field edge and look up — software doesn't see a wire that isn't in the map.
- Note wind direction relative to your exclusion zones; plan pass direction accordingly.
- Pick launch/recovery point with clear approach and space for the crew.
- Photograph anything unusual and attach to the job record.
Terrain following
On rolling ground, constant AGL beats constant altitude: too high increases drift, too low risks a strike. Enable terrain-following (radar or DEM-based) and verify it with a slow first pass on unfamiliar ground — see RTK precision.
General operational practice; follow your platform's mapping documentation and airspace rules (LAANC guide).
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