Emesent Cortex has autonomy features that control how the drone flies. These features find the position of the drone, keep clearance from obstacles, respond to failures, and bring the drone back to a safe location. The mission type sets which features are available and how they behave.
Before operation, learn the emergency procedures for the platform. If the drone behaves erratically, these procedures give immediate manual control.
How the autonomy features work together
Position
Cortex must know its position to keep control, autonomy, and scan quality. SLAM is the primary method. SLAM uses LiDAR data to find features in the environment, and it is necessary for full autonomous operation.
If SLAM is lost, Cortex changes method automatically:
GPS: Cortex uses GPS when a reliable GPS signal is available.
INS: Cortex uses IMU data when SLAM and GPS are both unavailable.
GPS and INS are degraded states, for short-term use only. If SLAM quality decreases significantly during an Autonomous mission, Cortex starts Return to Home. For more information, see Determine position.
Obstacle clearance
Shield is a three-dimensional safety zone around the scanner and the drone. Shield keeps a minimum distance between the drone and obstacles, and its effective size can change during flight.
Mission type | Shield settings |
|---|---|
Pilot Assist | The operator sets the values. Cortex uses them as the target minimum distance. |
Autonomous | Cortex sets fixed values for the drone type. The operator cannot change them. |
For more information, see Shield.
Response to failures
A failsafe is an action that Hovermap does in response to a failure, such as a lost link to the robot. Failsafes operate only during Autonomy-assisted missions. Only one failsafe can be active at a time. If more than one failsafe triggers, the failsafe with the lowest priority number takes precedence.
An active failsafe shows in the Active Failsafe area of Commander, beside the Notification button. For each failsafe, its trigger, the Hovermap response, and the operator action, see Operational failsafes.
Return to a safe location
Return to Home brings the drone back during a Pilot Assist or Autonomous mission. Hovermap does not fly in a straight line. It retraces the route that it has already flown and mapped, so it returns through known space. This is important underground and in other confined spaces.
The operator can start Return to Home from Commander, or a failsafe can start it. Hovermap holds its position for 10 seconds before the retrace starts, which gives time to stop the return. The drone then flies to the home point, or to the rally point if one is set. For more information, see Return to home.
In this section
Determine position: How Cortex finds its position during flight, and how it changes method.
Shield: How Shield keeps clearance between the scanner, the robot, and obstacles.
Operational failsafes: Each failsafe, in priority order, with the Hovermap response and the operator action.
Return to home: How Hovermap brings the drone back, and how to take back manual control.
Hovermap emergency procedures: The procedures that give immediate manual control of the drone.