Stand Count Troubleshooting Guide

Having trouble executing a successful Stand Count? Here's a guide to assist in troubleshooting. Please also view our extensive list of Troubleshooting articles here.

First, Verify Set Up

It is important to ensure you have the proper setup to fly successful Stand Count missions with DroneDeploy. Please take a moment to verify that you have completed ALL of the steps on our 

Power Cycling Hardware

1. Power down the drone and remote. Power back on when in the field.
2. Force close the DroneDeploy app and restart it. Do not reinstall.
3. Force close other apps if many are open, ensuring DroneDeploy will be the only open app.
4. Open the DroneDeploy app and connect to the internet to fetch the latest settings.

Test Workflow

This is a simple plan of action to confirm Stand Assessment is operating as expected on your iOS device and with your current setup. This is the workflow that should be run through prior to starting any Stand Assessment missions on your field as this will confirm everything is in working order.

Steps to Create a Simple Plan

1. Verify Setup
2. Create a new Project in the area you will test.
3. Create a Crop Report plan in the area you will test.
4. Maintain use of a 20-acre, rectangular-shaped default plan for the test - modify the default plan as little as possible. Ensure only 1 battery is required to complete the test plan.
5. Disable terrain awareness for a simple flight plan.
6. Disable obstacle avoidance in advanced settings.
7. Set Crop Attributes as you prefer.
8. Confirm your test flight will take place in an area with a cell/wifi connection - if offline, we recommend downloading the project for offline use in Advanced settings.

Test Flight in DJI App

1. Take off in DJI App and take a few pictures before landing your drone.
2. Confirm there are no issues.

Flying the Drone

1. If cell/wifi connection is spotty at the field, we would recommend using Airplane mode on your iOS device. If a cell/wifi connection is good in the field we recommend being online for the flight.
2. Load the Project you are flying on the DroneDeploy app.
3. Power on your drone and remote controller.
4. Connect the remote controller to the iOS device via an Apple USB cable.
5. Enter the manual flight view and confirm that satellite connection (GPS), Airlink strength (the transmitter + HD icon), and battery levels are all high.
6. In manual flight, take a photo in the DroneDeploy app with the capture button. Confirm that the number increments up by 1 in the DroneDeploy app.
7. Exit the manual flight view and select the simple Crop Report plan created above.
8. Enter and pass the pre-flight checklist.
9. Start Flight.
10. Important: Do not interrupt the flight unless there is a safety concern.
11. During the flight, monitor the Airlink strength (the transmitter + HD icon) and confirm that it is high throughout the entire flight.
12. You should see the image count increment at each capture location. Ensure you are not entering commands into the physical controller during the flight.
13. Allow the drone to land automatically.
14. Once the drone lands automatically it should most likely have transferred all images during flight. If more images need to transfer, the screen should automatically display and you should allow that to happen without powering off the drone/remote/or DroneDeploy app.
15. Once the DroneDeploy app switches over to the Explore Tab, the flight is finished and the drone and remote can be safely powered down/disconnected.

Analysis

1. At this point, the image markers should be visible on the Explore Tab.
2. Any points that are still processing will be indicated by an icon with 2 arrows and a % progress showing in the sidebar next to Stand Count. Make sure you do NOT leave the app while images are processing.
3. Try tapping individual image points - the image should load successfully for viewing.

Uploading Data to DroneDeploy.com

1. Connect your iOS device to a strong and stable cellular or WIFI connection.
2. Leave the DroneDeploy app open and on-screen (foregrounded) until the blue dot in the sidebar disappears.
3. Once the blue dot disappears, all stand count data should be synced and ready for viewing on DroneDeploy.com.

Specific Issues

Below, we've outlined the top issues experienced by our user base with some tips and recommendations to overcome them. Please ensure you have verified your setup prior to trying these recommendations.

Drone Took Off and Hovered

1. Verify Setup
2. If able, disable obstacle avoidance and try again.

Drone Missed Capturing Some Images

1. Verify Setup
2. Verify a chained mission was not attempted which will reduce the chances of success.
3. Ensure storage location is set to SD card and not onboard storage for the drone.
4. Use a higher area per image setting for the stand assessment plan if possible to give more time between photo capture locations.
5. Slow down the capture speed in advanced settings to give more time between photo capture locations.
6. There is a likelihood that the DJI SDK was locked up causing missed images. Your drone and controller must be power cycled before trying again. Once power cycled, we would also recommend force closing the DroneDeploy app and re-opening it.

Images Captured but do not transfer

1. Verify Setup
2. Verify a chained mission was not attempted which will reduce the chances of success.
3. The likely cause is that the Airlink signal was not good enough during the flight to download the images during flight. The pilot should ensure they maintain a good signal for the next flight.
4. Try force closing the DroneDeploy app and reopening it to check if any data recover.

Data Points were Visible but Later Disappeared

1. Verify Setup
2. Verify a chained mission was not attempted which will reduce the chances of success.
3. Try force-closing the DroneDeploy app and reopening it. Check to see if any project data recover. Ensure this is done when the iOS device is connected to strong, stable cellular or WIFI connection.
4. Leave the DroneDeploy app open on the individual project page and connect to a strong WIFI or cellular connection for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed, force close the DroneDeploy app and reopen it. Check to see if any project data recover.
5. If experiencing ongoing trouble with this issue, we recommend you save your reports immediately after the flight to your file system so as to never lose a report.

Data is not Uploading

1. Verify Setup
2. Verify a chained mission was not attempted which will reduce the chances of success.
3. Try force-closing the DroneDeploy app and reopening it. Check to see if any project data recover. Ensure this is done when the iOS device is connected to strong, stable cellular or WIFI connection.
4. Leave the DroneDeploy app open on the individual project page and connect to a strong WIFI or cellular connection for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed, force close the DroneDeploy app and reopen it. Check to see if any project data recover.

Stand Count Data Seems Too Low

1. Confirm crop is V2 or V3 emergence.
2. Review individual images to look for problems such as weeds.
3. Verify the gap and row spacing entered. You may consider updating and reprocessing the count if needed. 

Reprocessing Stand Counts on Mobile

In the event, you wish to update the row spacing or gap, select the three dots next to the Stand Count. Choose Reprocess. You'll be presented with options for the crop, and then you can reprocess the count data with those new parameters.

*Note: This can only be done if the images are still available on the device. Images are available for 7 days after the flight unless the user signs out or deletes the DroneDeploy app.

Long Stand Count Processing Time

Stand count processing should occur in minutes. If you see your stand count data is taking longer to process, it is likely an error has occurred. Here are some of the most common: 

1. Mission flew too close to the ground. The default stand count altitude of 50 feet generally does not need to be edited. Flying too close to the crop can cause issues with processing.

2. Twin-row crops located in images.