OpenDroneKit

Facade inspection

Columns and rows of photos across one wall, at stand-off, camera level and facing the wall.

Updated 2026-10-02_compile_facade_primitive · planned at 0ae10e4

Waypoints
169
Flight length
300 m
Estimated time
2 min
Altitude
8–28 m
Gimbal pitch
0°
Est. GSD
0.42 cm/px

Geometry, from the planner

Planned by OpenDroneKit with these inputs: 40 x 15 m building, first edge photographed, wall band 8 to 28 m. The drawing is the planner’s actual output for that test site in Aukerman Park, Ohio, not an illustration.

Planner output · 169 waypointsLocal metres · north up
20 mN
Plan · blue: flight path · ring: first waypoint · dashed: drawn area · shaded: structure
051015202530
Elevation, looking north · x: east–west position (m), y: altitude above take-off (m) · 8–28 m · gimbal 0°

How is the facade mission laid out?

The wall is the first edge of the drawn footprint, or a wall line drawn with the Route tool. Capture columns are spaced along the wall and rows between the bottom and top altitudes; spacing comes from the camera footprint at the stand-off distance, not at the survey altitude.

The aircraft flies on the outside of the wall, decided by testing which side of the edge leaves the footprint (the centroid alone flips on concave outlines). The default stand-off is 8 m.

Also accepted by the planner as: facade_inspection, vertical, vertical_inspection, vertical_scan.

Inputs

ParameterMeaningDefault
altitude_mFlight altitude in metres, relative to the take-off point unless an AMSL terrain model is loaded60
front_overlap_pctForward overlap between consecutive photos; with the camera footprint it sets the capture spacing80
side_overlap_pctOverlap between neighbouring lines or rows; with the camera footprint it sets the line spacing70
speed_m_sPlanned cruise speed, written to every export5
cameraCamera profile used for footprint and ground-sample-distance estimatesmavic2pro
gimbal_tilt_degCamera pitch; left blank, the template's own default is used0
facade_top_altitude_mTop of the wall band to photograph—
facade_bottom_altitude_mBottom of the wall band to photograph—
facade_standoff_mDistance from the wall (falls back to 8 m when unset)—
facade_rotate_points_180Flip which side of the wall line is flownfalse
facade_curve_path_lonlatA drawn wall line to follow instead of the footprint's first edge—

Footprint, line spacing and GSD come from the camera profile; the GSD calculator uses the same formulas.

What survives each export?

  • QGroundControl .plan and .waypoints: every point carries a DO_MOUNT_CONTROL gimbal command; all points are NAV_WAYPOINT; 169 of 169 have a CONDITION_YAW heading lock; 169 DO_DIGICAM_CONTROL captures.
  • DJI WPML .kmz: gimbalRotate on every waypoint; heading-locked points use smoothTransition; takePhoto at capture points; speed limited to 1-15 m/s.
  • Litchi CSV: 169 waypoints exceed the exporter's 99-waypoint split, so the export is written as 2 consecutive files, each starting where the previous one ended.

Each format has known issues, listed on its page: QGC .plan · .waypoints · DJI WPML · Litchi CSV.

Limits

  • Facade photographs one wall. Use multi-facade for every wall; the plan says which edge it chose.
  • Planned without a terrain model the plan assumes flat ground at the launch elevation, and it says so in a warning.
  • Not flight-tested on an aircraft as part of these pages; the numbers above are the planner’s estimates.

Source and tests

Compiled by _compile_facade_primitive in mission/planner.py. The function is on public main (1ef6351); this drawing was planned with the development branch (0ae10e4), whose planner is ahead of main.

Tests in the development branch that exercise it:

  • tests/test_exported_headings_face_the_subject.py
  • tests/test_mission_constraints.py
  • tests/test_mission_exports_carry_the_plan.py
  • tests/test_standoff.py
  • tests/test_structure_missions_keep_clear.py
  • tests/test_template_inventory_is_derived.py

Camera aimed at a wall, a box, a tower, a turbine or a dome, from a stand-off distance.

  • Facade mapping: A denser facade capture for photogrammetric 3D models of a wall.
  • Multi-facade: A facade pass on every wall of a building, each wall with its own stand-off, heights and spacing.
  • Box: A rectangular circuit around a building at stand-off, camera aimed at the building's centre.
  • Tower: Stacked rings around a tower or mast, each ring photographing the section beside it.
  • Wind turbine: Tower, nacelle and both faces of each blade of a parked wind turbine.
  • Dome: Rings that follow a dome's curve, with the camera on the surface normal, for silo caps and domed roofs.

All 22 templates: mission templates · mission planning.