Terrain Following with Ardupilot/Mission Planner

ArduCopter
1

Hello:

Does Ardupilot use terrain following?

If so, does it accept terrain data from DEMs or DSMs?

What formats is the data required to be in?

Thanks in advance.

2

This should help.
Click the first link for plane or the second link for copter.

[Edit] links may be swapped in different browsers

1 Like
3

Hello Jan:

Thanks for the reply. I found the links, but neither link loads a page when clicked on.

4

Maybe these links work better:
Copter, Plane
If they still don’t load, try a different browser or computer. They do exist.

Short summary:
Yes, Ardupilot has a terrain following feature. The source of the terrain data in Mission Planner and MAVProxy is the global SRTM database with a 100m spacing between datapoints. Alternatively you can get terrain data here with a spacing down to 30m.

1 Like
5

Hi Jan:

Many thanks for the new links! They work fine.

I read that ArduPilot references the SRTM database, which has a typical accuracy of around 10 to 20 meters. In addition, some areas may suffer from worse accuracy.

Is it possible to create a more accurate DSM/DEM using a local drone survey which can then be used by ArduPilot?

This practice is possible in DJI drones.

Thanks for your help.