recommendations

[sowcsoc]

I want to buy a DJI drone and need a recommendation(s) for the least cost drone that I can use to monitor farm conditions. I've done some research, but don't understand the language well enough to know what I'd be getting. Here's a little bit about my situation and what I want to do.

I recently installed 7,000 ft. of water line on my farm and am getting ready to install 10,000 ft. of fencing. I am requesting recommendations for the least cost drone that will do the following?

1. Return/log the GPS coordinates of the water line for recording on a property map.
2. Ability to manually control or program to fly a pre-recorded flight path (e.g. fly the fence line so that I can monitor fence condition, livestock, fly the water line to look for leaks, etc.).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lister]

What's the expected flight time to do an inspection? How far from a base station to the fence and water lines?

 

[sowcsoc]

What's the expected flight time to do an inspection? How far from a base station to the fence and water lines?

Distance from base is approximately 5,500 ft. Perhaps 1 hour max flying time, but I thought I'd get extra batteries, if necessary. I have some fairly tall trees, barns, and utility poles and lines to navigate.

 

[Lister]

Those are pretty tough mission requirements.

Most consumer level drones are limited by law to what they call "don't use BVLOS: beyond visual line of sight". In other words, if you can't see it, you're breaking the law. Very few consumer drones will work reliably and autonomously, functioning unaided from a preplanned flight plan. ("waypoints")

Those same consumer drones are good for about half an hour per battery at the absolute max. Wind and weather will reduce that endurance. You'd have to do it in small bites.

I'm a rank amateur at this, so others may chime in with better advice, but I'd guess you'll be better off with a commercial services provider.

All that said, the DJI "Matrice" line may have the capabilities you require.

Specs - MATRICE 300 RTK - DJI Enterprise

The Matrice 300 RTK is DJI’s latest commercial drone platform that takes inspiration from modern aviation systems. Offering up to 55 minutes of flight time, advanced AI capabilities, 6 Directional Sensing & Positioning and more, the M300 RTK sets a whole new standard by combining intelligence...

www.dji.com

 

[Meta4]

Distance from base is approximately 5,500 ft. Perhaps 1 hour max flying time, but I thought I'd get extra batteries, if necessary. I have some fairly tall trees, barns, and utility poles and lines to navigate.

A lightly used Mavic 2 or Phantom 4 pro would do what you are asking about.
In addition, a 3rd party app, Litchi would help for flying repeatable waypoint missions.

 

[frcaloy]

Mavic Air 2

 

[Dave Maine]

Consumer drones have large GPS variability, and may or may not have the required accuracy for legally defining a feature location.

 

[millbah]

I would go for the Mavic Air 2 & Maven for repeatable inspections. You only need to turn things on & press the go button. Game over.

 

[TrabSeyn]

Mavic 2 Air, or a 2S. Fly More Combo plus an additional battery or two. The pay as you go option of Maps Made Easy (Map Pilot Pro for iOS) might be all you need for software if you don't need hyper-accurate surveys. If not their base package is inexpensive and allows for linear missions to perform the function you require. I'd suggest Drone Deploy but they just implemented a significant price bump - not the best option unless you're providing survey mapping services. I'd also recommend a cellular (GPS) capable tablet for handling the flight apps. Automate the flight so you can concentrate on keeping the drone in sight. Beyond 1/2 mile you'll likely need some type of visual aid to keep a visual fix on the drone - strobes, wraps, etc. You could easily do this in multiple flights if your line of sight is not clear over the entire area. Keep your altitude 300-350ft. and unless you have a tower to negotiate you'll be golden clearing obstructions. You can fly lower if you need to but you'll have to adjust around obstructions. You can look into Skydio equipment, but their options are more expensive and this being a Mavic/DJI forum is not the best source for information about their equipment.