Plan collective RTH

This dialog is experimental! Layout and functionality might change without notice.

The Plan collective RTH dialog enables Pro users to generate predefined collective RTH plans for their drone show, to be able to cancel a show at any point mid-show with a smooth coordinated swarm-level failsafe procedure.

Plan collective RTH dialog

Prerequisites

  • The collective RTH functionality is only available to Pro users

  • You must use a .skyc drone show file that contains proper segment annotations

Use the Purpose dropdown in Skybrush Studio for Blender to annotate a show properly in the design phase.

Parameters

The following input parameters shape the swarm-level collective RTH plan to be generated:

Time resolution

Set the time interval between consecutive timestamps of pre-generated RTH plans. If you decrease this number, you will be able to bring all your drones home with less preparation time after triggering a collective RTH. However, generating collective RTH plans is an NP-hard, CPU-intensive calculation, so generating too frequent plans — especially with very large drone swarms — might take a longer time. Set your compromise according to your needs.

Minimum distance

Set the minimum required safety distance between your drones during the collective RTH procedure. Caution: the minimum distance value cannot be larger than the minimum distance present in your show.

Horizontal velocity

Set the maximum horizontal speed allowed during the collective RTH maneuver.

Vertical velocity

Set the maximum vertical speed allowed during the collective RTH maneuver, including the landing phase. Too small values will unnecessarily prolong your show, while too large values might startle you as the drones get closer to the ground at the end of the landing phase. However, note that drones switch to LAND flight mode automatically at the minimum navigation altitude, so if your drones are well-tuned and the minimum navigation altitude is not too low, there is no need to worry about higher vertical speeds.

Calculate RTH plans

After setting up the input parameters, press the Calculate RTH plans button at the bottom of the dialog to generate the collective RTH plan.

Calculation might take a while, depending on the swarm size and the time interval parameter selected. Leave enough time for this phase during the preparation before your drone show!

Once the collective RTH plans are generated, they can be saved to a new .skyc drone show file with the Save button, or can be used directly by pressing the Approve button.