I have noticed several solutions for precision landing for arducopter, but I haven’t found anything for arduplane.
Is there any solution available or is it maybe under development?
there are some pull requests implementing it, but nothing merged yet
Precision approach with RTK GPS would be interesting.Then disturbances of the LIDAR ground distance measurement by high trees or downsloping terrain in the final approach would no longer confuse the glide path and also the lateral accuracy on narrow runways would be better.
The problem with RTK precision landing is that you need absolutely stable, reliable and uninterrupted connection with the UAV. We don’t have that.
Let me elaborate a bit more. We’re flying long survey mission for gas pipeline inspections here in Thailand. We have licenses for flying beyond line of site, fully autonomous according the rules and regulations from the CAAT. (Civil Aviation Authority Thailand). Our VTOLs are registered and have all approvals.
The terrain in Thailand is sometimes flat, sometimes hilly and sometimes mountainous. The total length of the inspection is almost 2000km.
So we cannot always guarantee a stable and continuous connection between the ground control and the UAV. Sometimes we have no problem for 20 km range, sometimes the connection is lost only after a few km.
So this is why for us, it isn’t possible to use RTK.
We did try and yes, if you don’t have interruptions, it works perfectly.
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But if RTK-FIX is lost, a GoAround could be initiated if the aircraft is already on approach. Outside the airfield environment, normal GPS reception is sufficient.RTK correction should only be available in the airfield environment.
In my understanding, after RTK is lost during the mission, the precision is also lost and will not be regained until after a restart. But please correct me if I’m wrong.
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I only have experience with an RTK GPS on a copter at close range. But even if there the correction data are missing, because e.g. the internet connection of the ground station to the provider was interrupted, the GPS changes to 3D mode but after restoring the connection the GPS by itself changes back to RTK fix mode after a short while.
The gas pipeline inspection is interesting, what are you inspecting for and what gear do you have onboard to take the measurements/capture data?
Basically its just a mapping mission. The only difference is we’re not making an area mapping, we just fly left and right, up and down. We’re using a Sony rx1rII and fly 300 meter altitude. Overlap front and side 75%. I think its called corridor mapping.
After processing, we look for anyone digging or intruding the prohibited ground area center, left and right from the pipeline and report that.
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Ah, so it’s just visual images and reporting. I thought you might be somehow detecting leaks or similar.
Do you use any gimbal on your camera?
Yes, we use gimbal, but only for roll. We use the gimbal control from the pixhawk. A very simple, 3d printed, 1 axis gimbal 
.