CCC Mission Obstructed Signal

[SkyVidTek]

I have a question about CCC missions. I recently did my first CCC mission which I used UAV Toolbox to program. The test mission was in an open field with no obstructions and the H flew it exactly as programmed.
Another mission I have programmed in but haven't flown yet is in an area along a river where there are fairly tall trees with full leaf and other dense foliage. During this mission, the ST16 would be obstructed for LOS to the H for a portion of the route.
So when you start the mission, does the H need real time unobstructed signal during the mission or is the whole mission sent to the H at once and the H then just uses overhead GPS to find the coordinates and fly the route?

 

[Steve Carr]

The H doesn't need LOS to stay connected to the ST16 because the control signal is fairly robust. The video link is the weakest and is lost much sooner. However, the real question is what would happen if the H lost the control link with the ST16? Would it go to RTH mode? My guess is that it would. In such a case you want to make sure the RTH altitude is plenty high.
The thing that would concern me would be a CCC mission along a body of water with trees. I hope you are planning lots of clearance near any trees since the altimeter determines the altitude and can vary during flight a considerable amount.

 

[ricmitch]

I think it would also be dependent on gps.

 

[SkyVidTek]

The H doesn't need LOS to stay connected to the ST16 because the control signal is fairly robust. The video link is the weakest and is lost much sooner. However, the real question is what would happen if the H lost the control link with the ST16? Would it go to RTH mode? My guess is that it would. In such a case you want to make sure the RTH altitude is plenty high.
The thing that would concern me would be a CCC mission along a body of water with trees. I hope you are planning lots of clearance near any trees since the altimeter determines the altitude and can vary during flight a considerable amount.

Yes the altitude was set quite a bit higher than the tallest trees and with respect to the take off site as it assumes this as 0' I was not concerned with the video feed but had heard some reports of dense foliage blocking the control signal. So as I asked in the OP, in a CCC mission does the H even need to talk to the ST16 during that mission or is it all uploaded when you start the route? Does anyone know for certain?

 

[Shadowolf]

I think this was discussed not long ago and I believe it was said to stop the ccc route at the next waypoint and there it will wait for instructions. If none given in x time then RTH is executed.

 

[Steve Carr]

in a CCC mission does the H even need to talk to the ST16

I thought I did answer the question but I will rephrase it. If control signal is lost how would you cancel the route?
There are only two methods of flying the H.....with the controller and without it, which is RTH. For safety reasons, the pilot must be in control of the aircraft at all times even if it is automated flight. You must be in a position to modify or stop the automated function. This requires a control link to be maintained. If the link is broken then the H will switch to RTH.

 

[SkyVidTek]

I thought I did answer the question but I will rephrase it. If control signal is lost how would you cancel the route?
There are only two methods of flying the H.....with the controller and without it, which is RTH. For safety reasons, the pilot must be in control of the aircraft at all times even if it is automated flight. You must be in a position to modify or stop the automated function. This requires a control link to be maintained. If the link is broken then the H will switch to RTH.

I think the answer is coming clearer. My original scenario was: If I start a pre-programmed CCC mission, is the entire mission uploaded to the H at once - in a burst of data - or is it feeding the mission waypoint by waypoint during the mission. If it is sent as a burst set of data, the H could fly the route without any new control signal from the ST16, but the H could still be open to a "stop" or interupt signal from the ST16 in case of an aborted mission. The reason for the question was if dense vegetation or another obstruction could block the signal, the H could theoretically fly the mission by GPS if it was a burst of data, but not if it was sent "real time". I guess it is the latter because if the H needs to receive an interrupt signal to abort a mission, if that control link is lost for any reason it would probably abort the mission and go into RTH mode.