Fleet Management

To have the best chances of delivering a perfect show, the drone fleet should be thoroughly checked and inspected. These steps need to be completed before each flight as part of the Setup phase.

Fleet checks

Connect to the DCC interface using the Google Chrome browser and going to the following address: http://10.0.0.100. The interface may request credentials, if so fill them out. Once done, you should arrive at the main DCC interface. Ask the start zone team to fill the start zone with drones following the plan sent by the choreographer (cf. start zone). After plugging a battery on every drone, switch them on.

caution

During the fleet checks, one or multiple drones may be replaced by spares. Regardless of which step on the fleet checks you're currently in, the spares must also be tested fully !

tip

Drones that are replaced should be put in a specified location, the cause of their replacement must be noted on them using tape or a similar method.

Having the right number of drones

The very first step of the process is to make sure that the right number of drone is coming up on the interface. If the number shown by the DCC isn't right, then most of the time it comes down to the following reasons:

• One or more drones do not have batteries on or the power button hasn't been pressed.
• The drone is stuck in a boot loop.
• The drone is still booting up.
• The drone doesn't boot at all.
• The drone cannot connect to the Wi-Fi.

It's possible to pinpoint these drones by launching LEDs orders on the whole fleet. To do so, select all the drones then select any color in the drone control panel. Drones that have connected successfully will light up in the selected color, the ones that didn't won't or will be lit up in another color. Ask the Start Zone Manager to hard-reboot these drones. If after a hard-reboot the drone still doesn't come up on the interface, ask the Start Zone Manager to replace the drone.

After a short while, the number of drones available on the DCC will be equal to the number of expected drones and the checks can continue.

Checking the alarms

At this point of the fleet checks, some drones may have alarms that will be blocking for the flight. Refer to the Alarms & States page to filter them out and replace them if necessary.

Checking the firmwares

The drones intelligence comes from a version of their operating system called firmware. There is two types of firmwares used on the drone: the drone firmware itself and the PCB firmware. Using the firmware and pcb filter tabs, check that all the drones have the right version for both of the firmwares.

If that's not the case then either:

• Update the firmware(s) (TODO FIRMWARE UPDGRADE) if time permits
• Replace the drones if not

info

Every software package released by R&D comes out with specific versions of both of these firmwares. If you're unsure what firmware you should be using, ask the Support team.

Regardless of if you replaced the drones or updated them, you should be left with a fleet that is using one version for both the drone and the pcb firmware.

Checking the GPS status

The drones are equipped with a GPS chip enabling them to know where they are in space. This critical component can be checked using the gps filter tab. You can also check on the map that the reported positions of the drones are coherent. This tab can contain the following values:

Value	Description
RTK Float	The drone GPS chip is functioning correctly and the data sent by the RTK kit is taken into account
Autonomous	The drone GPS chip is functioning correctly but no data from the RTK kit are taken into account
Differential	The drone GPS chip is functioning correctly and the RTK base data are received but aren't taken into account in the positions calculations
No Fix	The drone GPS chip isn't functioning correctly
Unknown	The drone GPS chip is unreachable or disabled in the configuration file

For more information on these statuses and how to address them, please refer to TODO FIX GPS ISSUES

Checking the LEDs

The lights visible during the flights are made possible using the LED pcb that is installed on all drones. To check that these PCBs are working correctly, do the following:

• Select all the drones
• Launch multiple red LED order
• Launch multiple blue LED order
• Launch multiple green LED order
• Launch multiple white LED order

In-between these LEDs order, wait for the start zone Manager to confirm that the next color can be used. At any point during this test, the start zone Manager can detect an anomaly on one or multiple drones. To confirm this anomaly, launch another order of the same LED command. If the anomaly persists, replace the drone.

Checking the motors

Motor tests have to be performed before each flight. To tests the motors of the fleet:

• Select all the fleet
• Communicate to the start zone Manager that motor tests are going to be performed
• Wait for the clearance of the start zone Manager
• Perform the motor test using the button located in the drone action panel. You'll have to press this button for a few seconds as a safety measure.
• Wait for the drones to perform the tests
• Using the Alarms filter tab, select the drones that didn't pass the test (MOTOR_KO)
• Launch another test on these drones
• Wait for the drones to perform the tests
• Replace any drone that didn't pass this second test