The Thermal Flight Planning feature enables users with thermal-capable drones to plan and execute thermal imaging missions within DroneDeploy, similar to standard RGB missions. The correct thermal lens is automatically used for flight execution and processing. This functionality is especially relevant for industrial use cases that require thermal inspections, such as equipment, electrical, or infrastructure monitoring. This feature is supported only on docked thermal drones.
Availability: Who has access?
Thermal Flight Planning is available for users operating supported thermal drones - including DJI M3T/M3TD, M4TD, M30T and using DroneDeploy’s Dock Automation.
What is thermal flight planning?
Thermal Flight Planning allows you to:
- Plan thermal-specific map flights directly within DroneDeploy.
- Choose between thermal or RGB maps within flight plan settings.
- Benefit from automatic camera and lens detection and configuration for supported thermal drones during mission planning and execution. It is not necessary to set the thermal lens in DJI Pilot.
- All captured media (RGB and IR) are uploaded and processed into a thermal map as part of the standard workflow for docked drones.
How to use thermal flight planning:
Follow these steps to set up and fly a thermal mission:
- Select or create a flight plan Begin by creating a new map plan in your DroneDeploy project, just as you would for any standard mapping mission.
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Configure camera and lens type Navigate to Advanced Settings within the flight plan setup. Toggle on Thermal Capture.
- Save and name your plan Name your flight plan clearly according to its configuration (for example, "Substation East – IR Thermal – M3TD"). All settings are preserved, allowing you to quickly fly a thermal plan again without changing settings.
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Connect and fly With a supported thermal docked drone connected:
- The selected lens (RGB, IR, or both) will be automatically displayed and set.
- Complete the pre-flight checklist and fly as normal.
- Upload and process All captured images (RGB and IR) are automatically uploaded to DroneDeploy as part of your project and processed into a thermal map. The media counts for the total media count are displayed after flight completion. View the thermal map in your Explore page once processing is complete.
Key features/details
Supported drones
- DJI M3T/M3TD
- DJI M4TD
- DJI M30T (Dock 1 version only)
When and why do we use this tool?
Thermal Flight Planning is ideal for workflows that require non-visual temperature data. Common use cases include:
- Equipment hotspot detection: Identify overheating components in power substations or industrial environments.
- Solar panel inspection: Capture thermal imagery of photovoltaic (PV) arrays to find malfunctioning cells.
- Building envelope audits: Locate insulation gaps, water leaks or roof issues in commercial structures.
- Utility line monitoring: Inspect transmission infrastructure for faults or maintenance needs.
Limitations
- Other flight types (corridor, photo, video, panorama) are not supported for thermal planning.
- Simultaneous map stitching for RGB and IR data is not available; create separate plans if distinct outputs are needed.
- Remote Controller (RC) drones are not supported.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What happens if I select thermal capture but use a non-thermal drone?
A: Only RGB imagery will be captured and processed.
Q: Can I fly and process both RGB and thermal outputs from one mission?
A: No, the mission will currently produce only a thermal map. Users can export the raw images and upload RGB images via the Smart Uploader for an RGB map as well.
Q: Will mission settings like overlap and flight speed adjust automatically?
A: Certain parameters adjust when a thermal camera is detected. Always verify recommended best practices for your specific use case.
Q: Can I chain or schedule multi-battery missions with thermal plans?
A: Yes, multi-battery missions are fully supported.
Q: Do plan settings persist for future flights?
A: Yes. Each plan is saved with its camera and lens configuration for repeated use.
Troubleshooting
Q: I do not see the thermal options—what should I do?
A: Check that you are currently on a mapping flight plan.
Q: Media did not upload or process as thermal?
A: Verify that Thermal Capture was enabled before flight and a supported thermal drone (M3TD, M4TD) was selected.
Q: Issues uploading media from docked drones?
A: Make sure you are running the latest firmware and have dock automation features enabled.
Future improvements
- Support for additional flight types (corridor, photo, video, panorama, etc.)
- Simultaneous multi-lens processing to create both RGB and IR outputs from one flight
Contact and support
For hardware lists, setup help or troubleshooting, contact support@dronedeploy.com. Submit feedback and feature requests through your DroneDeploy Customer Success Manager (CSM).
v2.2