Step 1: Power on your drone and follow all your drone's protocols to get it ready to take off. If using Botlink cellular connections, make sure your XRD is connected correctly as well.

Step 2: Connect USB Radio dongle to Android device, making sure to connect colored plug into tablet. Solid green Status LED will indicate successful connection to drone.

Step 3: Open Botlink with an active internet connection and make sure your location services are turned on (This lets us know where to put "you" on the map).

Step 4: Press Menu in the upper left corner and select Connections to begin setting up your drone connection. On this screen press the Add button in the lower right hand corner and choose USB Connection. Give this connection a name which will allow you to differentiate between multiple connections later.

Step 5: Next we need to create a new Drone Profile. To do so, press the Add button and select Drone. Give this profile a name as well and then pair the previously created Connection with this Drone Profile using Add Connection. If you are using a fixed wing drone, set the manufacturer recommended takeoff and landing values or leave at the defaults.

Step 6: Now that a Drone Profile is created, you can use connect to it by tapping the Connect button. Once connected, the Mission Control will appear at the bottom of the screen. Open Mission Control by tapping the Up arrow on the Mission Bar.

Step 7 (If using XRD enabled drone): To add a camera, tap the Add button, and select Cameras. Select the appropriate camera settings to add your camera. Open Mission Control to make view camera connection status.

Note: The Add Camera feature only works with XRD enabled drones. If using a camera with PWM, GPS or other triggering options, consult manufacturer recommendations to ensure proper triggering.

Step 8: Now that we have a connection created we need to make a Mission. Press the Menu button and select Missions. Tap the Create New button and select Survey. The Survey tool is used to quickly create an area to fly over.

Center the screen over where you'd like the survey and tap "Place Your Survey" to put a small survey at that point. Once that is created you can drag the way points to create the bounds of the survey. If you need an intermediate way point, simply tap between two existing way points to create a third.

Once you have the outline finished there are settings you can edit about the survey on the bottom. Changing the altitude of the survey adjusts how high the drone will fly while taking the images. The overlap dictates how much of an overlap each image will have between the passes. When finished, press Save to create that Mission.

Now that you have a Drone Profile, a Connection, a Camera, and a Mission you have all the necessary steps completed to start flying. The article Fixed Wing Flight will walk you through getting airborne.

For a more involved look on how to plan out missions in Botlink go to the Mission Planner article. It goes much more in-depth with the different tools available for you to create a flight.

First Time Setup