Sharing ArcGIS Flight drone location with ArcGIS QuickCapture and ArcGIS Survey123

The increasing utilization of drones across various industries today is no secret.  This is because these remotely piloted aircraft systems can collect imagery data in a timely and accurate manner, which can then be used to model site locations.  ArcGIS Flight, Esri’s drone flight app, not only allows users to plan and fly missions, but it also comes with several other value-added benefits.  One such benefit is its integration with both ArcGIS QuickCapture and ArcGIS Survey123.  Did you know that this flight app can pass a drone’s position over to these other two mobile apps?  This integration enhances field operations by enabling additional field data collection based on where the drone is.  In this blog, I will show you how easy it is to set the apps up to send/receive a drone’s location.

Set up ArcGIS Flight to share drone location

ArcGIS Flight is Esri’s drone flight app, currently available for iOS (iPads only) but an Android version will be released in the future.  It has capabilities such as letting users access their 2D and/or 3D GIS content (e.g. feature layers, scene layers, tile layers, web maps and web scenes), which enhances flight mission planning by providing additional geospatial context.  Another useful feature of this application is its ability to send the position of a drone to ArcGIS QuickCapture and ArcGIS Survey123.  By doing so, the field team can collect not only the imagery data from the drone’s sensor(s), but also data based on its location.  To perform this workflow currently, you will require two devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network: an iPad with ArcGIS Flight and another device (iOS or Android, preferably a tablet) with ArcGIS QuickCapture and Survey123 mobile apps.  Let’s go through the steps.

ArcGIS Flight can pass a drone’s location to ArcGIS QuickCapture and Survey123

1. Enter simulation mode
For this tutorial, let’s leverage ArcGIS Flight’s simulation mode.  Open and log into the app on your iPad.  Create a new project and give it a name.  Click on the drone selection dropdown list in the upper right corner of the screen.  Scroll to the bottom of the list and select the Simulation option.  If you wish to, you can specify the drone model for the simulator.  With 3 fingers, quickly tap 4 times in succession on the name of the drone near the top centre of the screen.  This will bring up a view with the Debug Panel on the left.  Open Drone Debug Menu then choose Drone Simulator Settings.  For example, I chose the DJI Matrice 300 RTK with the Zenmuse P1 camera.

Access the drone simulator settings to choose your preferred drone and camera model

2. Create flight plan

Next you will want to create a flight plan and establish a mission area.  For the purpose of this tutorial, choose the Area Survey flight mode.  You can type in a location in the panel to zoom to it and then pan around to a preferred site or simply zoom out and then back in towards a desired spot.  Enter a mission name then press Next.   A mission polygon will appear and you can adjust or add vertices to modify its geometry.  If you have an existing polygon in your ArcGIS Online or Enterprise, you can turn it on by selecting Define Mission Area from Polygon → ArcGIS Layers in the panel and then tap on the feature to use it as the mission area.  The simulated drone launch position will be based on the location of your device, and since your chosen site is most likely not anywhere near your tablet, you may have to move that simulated position.  In the map, centre on a spot close to your mission area.  Open the Drone Debug menu again, this time press Center Vehicle to Map.  Save your flight plan and exit back to the project view.

Access the drone debug menu to centre the simulated drone position near the mission area in the map

3. Share drone location

Now it’s time to disseminate this simulated drone location.  Click on the profile icon in the upper right corner.  Select Integrations → Survey123 & QuickCapture, then turn on the Share Drone Location option.  The device name and IP address will display.  If you wish to change the name, tap on the information icon to edit.  Remember the IP address as well as the port number (the number after the “:” in the address).

Share drone location in ArcGIS Flight

Set up ArcGIS QuickCapture to receive drone location

1. Set up ArcGIS QuickCapture location provider

On the second device, open and log into the ArcGIS QuickCapture mobile app.  Click on the profile icon and go to Settings → Location provider → Via Network.  Enter the IP address and port number you have obtained from the ArcGIS Flight app as the hostname and port, then press Add.  Tap on the new location provider to use it.

Enter IP address as hostname and port number as port in ArcGIS QuickCapture

2. Create ArcGIS QuickCapture project

You have now finished setting up QuickCapture on this second device to receive the drone location from the iPad.  But we want to see it in action a little later on, so let’s create a QuickCapture project.  You can create a new project from an existing project, from a template, or from existing feature layers.  Once you have generated this project, download it onto your device with the QuickCapture mobile app.  For the purpose of this tutorial, deploying the project from a template is the quickest and easiest way to go.

Set up ArcGIS Survey123 to receive drone location

1. Set up ArcGIS Survey123 location provider

On the second device, open and log into the ArcGIS Survey 123 mobile app.  Click on the profile icon and go to Settings → Location → Add location provider → Network.  Enter the IP address and port number you have obtained from the ArcGIS Flight app as the hostname and port, then press Add.  Tap on the new location provider to use it.

Enter IP address as hostname and port number as port in ArcGIS Survey123

2. Create ArcGIS Survey123 survey

Like with the QuickCapture project, we are going to create and publish a Survey123 survey.  You can build from a blank survey or leverage a survey template.  Whichever way you choose, ensure that a Map question type (geopoint, geotrace or geoshape question if you are using ArcGIS Survey123 Connect) is included.  For this tutorial, I made use of the Incident Report template.  Once the survey is published, download it onto your device with the Survey123 mobile app.

Watch it in action!

1. Fly a simulated mission in ArcGIS Flight

Now for the fun part!  We are going to “fly” this drone mission in ArcGIS Flight with the simulator.  On the iPad, open the flight plan you have just created.  Click on the Fly option, check the box to acknowledge the safety briefing then press Continue.  The app will run through a series of simulated system checks, once these are completed, slide the green arrow all the way to the right to launch the simulation.

You can fly a simulation mission in ArcGIS Flight without a drone

2. View the drone location in ArcGIS QuickCapture
Open the QuickCapture project on the second device.  If it is a tablet in landscape mode, you will see a map on the right side of the screen, but if it is a phone, you will have to press the map icon in the top right corner to bring up the map.  Tap the Location button (the one that looks like a target) to centre the screen on the blue dot if it has not already done so.  As the simulated drone moves around, the blue dot with the white arrow in the QuickCapture app will follow the drone’s movement.  In this example, if data needs to be collected on the QuickCapture device, simply push the appropriate button as the dot shifts (hence utilizing a tablet in landscape mode is recommended because you can see the buttons and the dot at the same time).

ArcGIS Flight mission screen on the first device (left) and ArcGIS QuickCapture map screen on the second device (right)

3. View the drone location in ArcGIS Survey123
Open the Survey123 survey on your second device.  Click on the map icon in your map question to open the map.  Tap the Location button to centre the blue pin on top of the blue dot.  The dot is shadowing the drone position and the pin is following the dot.  In this example, if data needs to be collected on the Survey123 device, simply push the checkmark icon as the pin shifts.

ArcGIS Flight mission screen on the first device (left) and ArcGIS Survey123 map screen on the second device (right)

Final thoughts

Due to the versatility of a drone, being able to share its location to mobile data collection apps such as QuickCapture and Survey123 can bring extra value to field operations.  Because both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi network, a mobile hotspot is typically required in the field.  You may be wondering if you can run this workflow with only one device.  The answer is no.  As a safety mechanism, ArcGIS Flight cannot be used in split screen mode on the iPad (the above GIFs are desktop recordings of the mirroring of multiple mobile device screens).  If you try to open another app and navigate away from the flight app, you will disconnect it from the aircraft which can potentially endanger the drone and anyone or anything around it.  A standard flight mission needs a pilot and an observer, so while the pilot is responsible for the safe operation of the drone, the observer can maintain line of sight with it and perform additional data collection with a second device.  If you are new to this workflow, it may take a little bit of coordination to ensure a smooth operation.  So before you head out, leverage the flight app’s simulation capability and do a practice run with your team first!