RTK Operation

Objective

The objective of RTK operation is to get the UAS running with RTK corrections, to reach centimeter-level precision.

Required Material

• UAS with SKYMATE installed, including:
  • Autopilot
  • Power Monitor
  • RTK GPS Antenna
  • CAN Data Link
• RTK Base Station with USB cable
• Computer

Note that a USB data link is not required. The RTK base station replaces this device.

Steps

Follow the following steps to set up an RTK operation:

1. Connect the RTK Base Station to your computer. The light indicator on it should display a magenta code, indicating that the survey-in is in progress. 
2. Power-on the UAS by connecting a battery to the Power Monitor.
3. Open SkyControl on the computer. It should automatically detect SKYMATE and connect to it. If it does not, see Data Link Binding
4. Wait until the RTK Base Station finishes the Survey-in. When it is finished, the RTK Base Station displays a breathing green indication.
5. In SkyControl, display the GPS Horizontal Accuracy widget:
   1. At the bottom right, click any indicator
   2. Search for "hacc"
   3. Display the GPS.hAcc by checking any number between 1 and 6
6. Wait until the displayed horizontal accuracy, in meters, is adequate for your operation. The best achievable horizontal accuracy is 1.06cm. However, it may not be possible to reach this accuracy depending on your location, the weather and other factors. It takes about 5 minutes to reach the best possible accuracy.
7. The UAS is now ready and operating in RTK mode. Pay attention to the horizontal accuracy during your mission, and validate that it is always up to your required conditions.

Definitions

• RTK: Real-Time Kinematics, a GPS technology providing up to centimeter-level accuracy by the use of a second GPS receiver providing static observations.
• Survey-in: Process by which the static RTK Base Station detects its position, by averaging