Phantom 4 Single Sensor

User Manual
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR
NEW SENTERA SOLUTION PURCHASE!

Flying a drone autonomously with FieldAgent is extremely

easy, but like driving a car, there is a training process that
should be completed before you can fly safely and
comfortably. This document will set you up for success,
regardless of your current skill level.

Advice: Set aside 1 day to become comfortable using your system.

Questions? Contact Sentera Support at:

+1 (844) SENTERA (844.736.8372) | International Direct Dial: +1 612.204.2000 | Support@Sentera.com
 Co n t e n t s
11. Getting Licensed & Part 107 55. Looking at Your First Dataset &
FieldAgent Desktop
22. Manual Flight Practice
• Getting to know your Drone
•
•
•
Selecting Images for Import
Navigating the Import Process
Making Annotations
• Flight Controls
• Incremental Practice Flight Ideas • Viewing Maps
• Adjusting Your NDVI Health Maps

33. Activating
Account
Your Free FieldAgent
•
•
More Precise Data (Ordering Mosaics)
Ordering Analytics

66. Fine Tuning Parameters to Work

44. Autonomous
Mobile
Flight & FieldAgent For You

• Preparing For the Field

• Flight Planning
• Monitoring your Flight
• Checking for Images
Section 1 Getting Licensed & Part 107
If you are using your drone for business purposes, the FAA expects
you to obtain a Remote Pilot Certificate as outlined in the FAA Part 107
Rules.

This involves studying, registering for and passing a written exam.

To learn if your situation requires a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, or

other general information about the exam, visit:

Sentera’s Part 107 Explanation Page

sentera.com/Part-107-Explanation/

Section 1 Pg. 1
 Section 2 Manual Flight Practice
We recommend all users take their drone out to complete AT LEAST 10
successful manual flights before performing an autonomous mission with
FieldAgent.
Use your paper QuickStart from DJI and Section 2 of this guide to get to know
your drone. Practice flight ideas on page 5.

An online version of the latest Phantom Quick Start Guide and full manual can be
found here:
Phantom Quick Start Guide Link
www.dji.com/phantom-4/info#downloads

Tip: Make your first flight at a local park. Just ensure you are abiding by local
and federal laws. (Don’t fly over people!)

Section 2 Pg. 2
Getting to Know Your Drone
GPS Propellers
The drone’s GPS is under the top cover
NEVER obstruct this area Match BLACK or GREY rings to motors
Push and
rotate to lock
Battery into place
Power on/off by pressing
the circle once and then
again for 2 seconds.

Sentera NDVI DJI Color

Single Upgrade Camera
Gimbal
Section 2 Pg. 3
Setup & Flight Controls Spin up Motors &
Take Off:
Setup: Connect Mobile
Device using Launch DJI 1
USB Cable Go 4
Power On
Vehicle

Power On Up
Controller
2

Left Stick Right Stick

Basic In Flight :
Controls Up (Increase Altitude) Forward
Land & Turn Off Motors

Left Right

Rotate Rotate
CCW CW Down

Hold down on landing to

Down (Decrease Altitude) Backward stop motors

Section 2 Pg. 4
Incremental Practice Flights
11. Take-off. Hover at 10ft. Let go of sticks for 3 55. Rotate clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW)
seconds and then land. Left stick only!
Left stick only!
CW CCW

22. Auto Take-off and Auto Land with the on 6

6. Fly a rectangular flight path facing one direction.
DJI Go 4 onscreen buttons Right stick only! Right

Auto Auto Forwards

Backwards

Take-Off Land
Left **Overhead View**

33. Take-off and hover at 50 ft. Fly out 100 ft. 7

7. Fly a rectangular flight path w/ 90⁰ CW rotation at
Use Return to Home (RTH) button to bring corners. Right stick only moves forward. Left stick only
the drone back and land itself rotates 90⁰ at corners.
90⁰ CW 90⁰ CW

The RTH Button is located both on

Forward Forward
the physical controller and in the DJI
Go 4 App as an onscreen button
90⁰ CW 90⁰ CW

44. Move Forward, Backward, Left, & Right. **Overhead View**

Practice with the right stick 8 Fly smooth Figure-8 patterns.

Use a combination of both the Right and Left Sticks

Section 2 Pg. 5
Section 3 Activating Your FieldAgent
Account
Each Sentera sensor includes a 1 year FieldAgent subscription

To activate your free year and create a FieldAgent Account, visit:

FieldAgent Account Activation Page
fieldagent.sentera.com/activate

Fill in your info and enter your activation code found on your shipment’s paper
Sentera “FIELDAGENT QUICKSTART GUIDE”

Example Code:
AJTY – 1S8D29J

Section 3 Pg. 6
 Section 4 Autonomous Flight &
FieldAgent Mobile
In the iOS App Store, search for "Sentera" and download the FieldAgent App.

iOS App
Launch the app and log-in with the credentials you provided when creating your
FREE FieldAgent account in the previous section (3).

Questions? Contact Sentera Support at:

+1 (844) SENTERA (844.736.8372) | International Direct Dial: +1 612.204.2000
Support@Sentera.com

Section 4 Pg. 7
Preparing for the Field
Before leaving for the field, test your equipment:

1 Set up your full system outside as if you were getting ready to fly.
Power all systems on. Connect your mobile device to the DJI Hand
Controller with a USB cable.

2 Launch the FieldAgent App and select the icon of the drone in the
lower left.

3 Check for a green dot and the word “Healthy". If your 'dot' is red, tap the
dot, and correct the issues listed. If you have questions, contact Sentera
Support @ 844-Sentera.

Section 4 Pg. 8
Preparing for the Field
Packing List:
Drone (including propellers)
1 SD Card in the side of the drone
1 SD Card in the green Sentera Single
Fully charged drone battery(ies)
Fully charged Hand Controller
Fully charged iOS device w/ FieldAgent
Lightning USB Cable (For your iOS device)
Part 107 Identification (if applicable)

It’s also helpful to bring:

Laptop Computer
SD Card Reader

Section 4 Pg. 9
Preparing to Fly SENSOR LIGHTS
Red
No SD Card/Error/Trigger

Set up your drone & controller in a safe location for flight.

Yellow
Ensure the hand controller is in P-mode Blinking = Waiting
Solid = Ready for Flight
(Top left toggle on the hand controller)
Green
Powered
Launch FieldAgent on your Mobile Device and tap .
Wait for Solid Yellow & Green before
flight!

PLANNING YOUR FLIGHT

1 Ensure the area you want to fly is in frame.
Long tap the corners of your field

To delete a pin: Tap to select. Tap again to delete.

To edit the location of a pin: Tap to select. Then press and drag
to move

Section 4 Pg. 10
Preparing to Fly
2 Select “DSM/Ortho” and set Altitude & Speed

Note: These settings will yield good results for your

first flight. You will most likely change these settings in
the future to better match your use case.
This is covered in section 6 of this document, “Fine Tuning for Your
Specific Use Conditions”

3 Set the 2 cameras on your vehicle. These are most likely

&
4 When you're ready to Take-Off, select the launch button
and stand back. Your drone will take-off to begin its flight!

Section 4 Pg. 11
Monitoring your Flight
5 Watch your drone throughout the
flight. It will fly the planned route and
return to land almost exactly where it
took off. Fine tune the landing spot
with the control sticks if necessary.
6 Getting low on battery? Your drone
will automatically return and land.
Power off the drone and insert a fully
charged battery. Power on the drone,
select the launch button as you did for
take off, and your drone will
pick up where it left off.
Section 4 Pg. 12
If an emergency occurs and the
mission must be suspended:
1. Press & Hold the
RTH Button: Located on the
hand controller below the right
stick. Hold until the controller
starts to beep. This will bring the
drone home to land.
2. Manual Control (optional)
If it is not appropriate to command the
drone home immediately, press the RTH
button a second time. The drone will
hover to give you full manual control.
Checking for Images
You've performed your first autonomous flight!
1 To check for images before leaving the field, remove the SD card from the green Sentera Single
and insert it into your computer.

2 Navigate to the folder containing the SD card and select snapshots >
appropriate date and time labeled folder.
Confirm photos are present from this flight.

3 There are 2 cameras on this vehicle, and therefore 2 SD cards.

Remove the SD card from the side of the Phantom.

This is the DJI RGB camera’s SD Card.
Again, confirm presence of photos

4 Head back, as you’re ready to process your first dataset!

In the future you’ll be able to process data at the field’s edge. For today, we’ll take it one step at a time.

Section 4 Pg. 13
Section 5 Looking at your First Dataset
& FieldAgent Desktop

• When you get back on Wi-Fi, download

FieldAgent for desktop by visiting:

FieldAgent Install Page

installs.sentera.com/fieldagent

• Follow the download process to install.

• Launch FieldAgent and login.

Section 5 Pg. 14
Selecting Images for Import
1 Click in the upper right to get started.

2 A window will open. Insert the SD card from the green Sentera Single into your
computer and click .
3 Navigate to the SD card folder labeled, “snapshots” and
select the folder containing the images from
your mission. To confirm, click .

Note: The individual pictures will not show up when choosing a folder.
4 Repeat steps 2 & 3 with the 2nd SD Card from the side of the drone to include
your color (RGB) images.

Section 5 Pg. 15
Navigating the Import Process
5 Click to populate photo dots on your field.

Note: Clicking dots will remove associated images from import.

6 Click again, and then to name your field.

7 Fill out the field name, click next for a final time to start processing your images.

8 Finally, in the summary screen, click on the map pin icon ( ) to go to your field.

Section 5 Pg. 16
Making Annotations
To view full resolution images from a specific location in the field, click
a colored dot on the field. These are called “Photo Dots” ( )

Switch between Right click to add

photo types from an annotation to
the same location the image
on the field
Share the image
and annotations
via email

Section 5 Pg. 17
Viewing Maps
De-select . from the “Image Layers” section on the left

Select .

You’ll notice a map created from your data populate on the screen.

You can also select QuickTile™ NDVI to populate a health map on your screen.

RGB NDVI

vs.

Section 5 Pg. 18
Adjusting Your NDVI Heath Maps
To further analyze the health of your field, select . in the top left of the map.
Use the sliders and bin count to inspect your field. If management zones are
desired , select . . To export, select .

2 Bins (Colors) 4 Bins (Colors)

Less Need to write a

Resolution prescription?

Click .
More
Resolution

Section 5 Pg. 19
 More Precise Data (Ordering Mosaics)
A QuickTile places all individual images from a survey onto a map to create a snapshot of
your field. These are created locally on your machine and can be produced within
minutes at the field’s edge.

A Mosaic stitches all the pictures from a survey together into a single .tiff file. A mosaic is
more precise than a QuickTile and useful in combination with variable rate technology.
To order mosaics of your
survey, click here*
QuickTile Mosaic

vs.
Notice the difference
in the irrigation ditch

Section 5 Pg. 20
*Sentera offers a free stitching software for compatible
computers. Click here to see if your computer qualifies.
 Section 6 Fine Tuning Parameters to
Work For You
In section 3 a flight designed for ordering mosaics was completed. But what if you
don’t need the precision of a mosaic and can get away with a QuickTile (reduced
flight time)? Flight Type Overlap Setting Altitude (ft) Speed (mph) Other Notes

This table indicates the QuickTile QuickTile 200-400ft. 15mph

best flight parameters Mosaic DSM/Ortho 200-400ft. 15mph

for different flight types. 3D Mapping DSM/Ortho 400ft. 15mph Fly Field Twice:
1st: North/South 2nd:
East/West
Use this in conjunction Stand Count Spot 50ft.* 20mph V2 or a leaf length of
with the considerations at least 2in.(5cm)
on the following page from tip to tip.

to set parameters that Weed Weed 150ft. 20mph V2 or a leaf length of

Density Maps at least 2in.(5cm)
work for you. from tip to tip.
*Take note of surroundings and adjust accordingly to avoid
Section 6 Pg. 21 collisions
Flight Considerations GSD Altitude
Desired Resolution: The NDVI camera’s Ground Sample Distance 2.1 in. | 200 ft
(GSD)/pixel is shown right. Alter flight altitude accordingly. 3.3 in. | 300 ft
4.3 in. | 400 ft
Wind Speed: If the wind is near the upper limit of your vehicle’s operating
limit (22mph for the Phantom), set a lower flight speed (~10mph).

Flight Direction: Every field is a different shape. Try to orient your flight
for minimal passes. This will increase data quality and reduce flight time.

Time of Day: Always try to fly when the sun is highest in the sky. Flying
close to dawn or dusk will have a negative impact on the data collected.

Cloud Cover: Data is most true when the sky is consistent (100% sunny
OR 100% cloudy). Flying with a mix of sun and clouds may provide varying OR
results, but shouldn’t stop you from flying.

Section 6 Pg. 22
Questions?
Visit us: sentera.com/support
Email us: support@sentera.com
Call us: +1 (844) SENTERA (844.736.8372) | Direct Dial: +1 612.204.2000

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All Rights Reserved