Hivemapper for Beginners

Never fly alone again.

As someone who flies drones on a near daily basis, I know just how addictively fun these things are. But I’ve also become well acquainted with the pitfalls of sending a flying camera into the air. Before and during any given flight, flyers have to ask themselves a multitude of questions they aren’t fully equipped to answer by themselves, such as:

Where are the best areas to fly?

Am I allowed to fly here?

Has anyone flown here before, and if so, have they had any issues here?

Where’s the best place to take off from?

How close is the nearest airport?

How tall is that building over there? Am I too close to it?

What exactly am I looking at on my screen?

Hivemapper answers all of these questions, and more.

The purpose of this post is to give you an idea of how Hivemapper works, how it can benefit drone operators, and how it can help propel drone flying into a more evolved experience.

In a nutshell: What the heck is Hivemapper?

Hivemapper is a mapping and navigation system for drone fliers to plan better, explore further and fly safer.

It is the bridge that connects you, your phone and your drone to the larger world of information about your current area. To help contextualize this a bit, imagine this scenario: you’ve just gotten the latest smartphone — sleek new design, upgraded camera, higher-res display….the works. Upon unpacking it, you discover it’s a limited model without 4G, Wi-Fi capability or any other kind of data connection. But hey, you can still make phone calls and text your friends, so good enough, right? Obviously not.

Much like using a smartphone without a data connection, flying a drone without Hivemapper is, in many ways, a wasted opportunity.

There are two distinct but interdependent components of Hivemapper:

  • Map — A combination of hard data extracted across various sources and community generated data points, the Hivemapper map helps flyers plan their flights and stay out of trouble areas.
  • Camera View — A live video feed directly from your drone to your smartphone via the Hivemapper app. This camera view utilizes and renders the same data from the map onto your phone screen for a more informative flight experience.

Plan your flights with the Hivemapper Map

Everything starts with the Hivemapper map, the lifeblood of the Hivemapper experience. You can access the map on the web at hivemapper.com, or in the app available from the Google Play Store. There are some drone-related maps already out there, but these are quite limited in scope. For the most part, existing drone maps only take no-fly zones into account, which is just one layer of information flyers needs to fly safely and enjoyably. The Hivemapper map, on the other hand, shows you where you can fly, and where actual flyers have flown from, as well as tons of other data.

Speaking of data, the map includes (click for example):

-And more!

User-contributed data gets added to the map in real time, which means flyers will always have the latest information based on real conditions on the ground.

Map Icon Key

Waypoints

A waypoint marks the precise location in three-dimensional space where a photo was taken by a member of the Hivemapper community. Use these shots to help you determine the best angles at a given location before you even get up in the air — a great way to conserve your battery life! Want to show your appreciation for especially spectacular shots? Favorite it! Have a question for the person who flew in a certain area? Ask them by leaving a comment on one of their waypoints!

Launch Points

Anytime you see a Hivemapper ‘H’ on the map, you know that a real person has launched from that precise spot before. Launch points save you the effort of walking around endlessly looking for an appropriate place to take off from. Tap on one of these icons and you’ll be able to see a list of waypoints created from that location.

Building Dimensions

Hivemapper has the building boundaries and/or heights of more than 20 million buildings across the US. A good number of these icons are accompanied on the map by a number, which indicates the height of that building. Tap a building icon to see its physical boundaries. Being able to scan the building heights in the area you’re going to be flying helps you determine safe flying heights, as well as appropriate return-to-home altitude settings.

Issues

Red icons = potential danger. Use these to make yourself aware of possible trouble spots. Tap on an issue icon to learn more about potential dangers at at a specific location. These issues are reported by the Hivemapper community and are designed to keep fellow flyers safe. Common issues include:

  • Airport related no-fly zones
  • Police or other authority encounters
  • Excessive harassment
  • Areas of strong electromagnetic interference

Airport No-fly Zones

The FAA’s official dictate concerning drones is that hobbyists need to make airports aware if they’re going to be flying within a five-mile radius of an airport. Hivemapper has collected airport location and boundary information for over 16,000 airports nationwide. Wherever you see an airport icon on the map, tap it and a five mile radius will appear, so while you’re out on location, you can always check your position relative to nearby airports. It’s important to note that these zones are for informational purposes only and do not at any point inhibit your ability to start your drone’s motors, nor do these zones impose any kind of altitude restrictions — those kinds of control limits are controlled by the drone firmware as designed by the manufacturer.

Ultimately, flyers will make their own decisions on where they fly; Hivemapper wants to provide as much information as possible so that flyers have the information to make informed choices.

Flying with Hivemapper

Ok, so now that we’ve gone over all the map info you can use to help plan your flights, let’s check out the camera view. With the Hivemapper app, you’re able to connect your smartphone or tablet directly to your drone, which means you’re effectively infusing your drone with all the data from the map. So you’re not just flying with a live video feed; you’re flying with Hivemapper’s understanding of the world around your drone rendered right onto your FPV screen.

The entire flight experience takes place through the Hivemapper app. Hivemapper requires JPEG Photos to be captured in a 16:9 ratio, but all other DJI Go App Settings are respected (Go-To-Home Altitude, Go-To-Home Battery Level, etc.). For example, if you set your return-to-home altitude at 300 feet in the DJI Go app, your drone will return home at 300 feet within Hivemapper.

When you’re ready to fly, just tap the fly button on the bottom right corner of the map screen, choose your supported drone and wait a few seconds for data of your area to load.

Once data has finished loading, you’re ready for takeoff. The first thing you’ll notice about the camera view is that there are a number of floating icons on top of your video feed. If these icons look familiar, that’s because these are the same icons found on the Hivemapper map — only now you’re able to see and interact with them in the physical world. These icons are affixed to specific locations in three-dimensional space, so as you turn your drone or tilt the camera, they will will stay in their associated locations. When you tap on an icon, you will be able to learn more information about that data point.

What can I do in flight?

With all this data literally at your fingertips, it’s up to you how to utilize it. Maybe you’re a hardcore photographer looking for great shots, or maybe you want to learn more about what’s around you — whatever your end goals, this data is at your disposal to help you accomplish your mission.

Explore ‘Places’

If you’ve ever wondered what it is you’re looking at from above, the “places” feature is for you. Other flying apps force you to exit your live video feed and make you interpret a map; Hivemapper tells you right on your camera view exactly what that thing is. These places of interest are generated automatically, so whenever you see a bullseye-looking icon, tap on it to see the name and distance away your drone is from that place. This is a fantastic way to learn about new areas, wherever you happen to be flying — much easier than toggling between a map view. Think of it as your personal tour guide in the sky.

Get alerted when flying too close to buildings

Perception from the ground is notoriously misleading. Especially from far out, your drone will often appear to be much closer to things in the air than can possibly be perceived from where you’re standing. Having the building dimension data for over 20 million buildings across the US means that Hivemapper is able to warn you when your drone gets too close. As soon as you break a virtual canopy Hivemapper has placed around a building, you’ll get a visual and audible obstruction alert. These obstruction warnings will trigger whether or not your drone’s camera is facing the building, and whether or not you’re approaching from the front, back, left, right or from above. So hard data = better than eyeballin’ it.

Just a reminder: Hivemapper is still in beta, which means you should be cautious using obstructions. Building accuracy will continue to improve over time.

See where others have flown before

Waypoints are like fun little reminders that others have flown where you are now. Tap on a waypoint icon and you’ll get an image preview from that location, as well as the distance away and altitude the photo was taken at. These are the same waypoints from the map, only now they’re viewable in flight. Use these to preview the perspectives captured by other users without having to use precious battery time in order to fly there. These can be like little cheat sheets for the best angles at a given location, as any cluster of waypoints suggests an awesome viewpoint awaits.

Never lose sight of home

One of the hardest parts of flying a drone is keeping track of your drone’s orientation. Hivemapper makes it easy to keep track of which direction your drone is facing, as well as the physical location you launched from. As soon as you take off, a blue home icon is generated and placed at your launch location. Like all icons in camera view, the home icon remains anchored to its location and makes it easy to visually spot your home direction when your drone is a long way out.

Additionally, use the home indicator dial on the bottom left corner of your screen for quick reference — linking up the icon at 12 o’clock means you are orientated towards your home location.

Contributing to the Map

One of the most exciting reasons to check out Hivemapper is the opportunity to be one of the first in helping create a three-dimensional map of the Earth extending up to the skies. Nobody has done this before. Why not be a part of this next frontier of mapping?

Right now, there are three main areas where users can contribute to the map.

Reporting issues — This is how flyers can help keep other flyers safe. If you encounter an issue you feel the rest of the flying community should know about, go to the map and tap on the report button in the lower righthand corner. Choose the type of issue, enter a brief description, move the pin to the location where you encountered the issue, then share it to the map.

Sharing waypoints — To take a waypoint, tap the camera icon in the top right part of the screen in camera view. After you’re done flying, tap the download waypoints button. Images and their associated location information will be transferred from the drone’s memory card to your phone. Once downloaded, select which waypoints you want to share, tag them with a location if you wish, and then post to the map — simple as that! This is the easiest way for flyers to leave their mark in Hivemapper.

Sharing launch points — If you contribute waypoints to the map, your launch point will be automatically saved and shared to the map. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

The more you fly with Hivemapper, the more you help your fellow flyers by giving them safe points of access to operate from.

Supported Drones

Right now, Hivemapper supports DJI Drones, specifically the Phantom 2 Vision+, Phantom 3 Professional and DJI Inspire 1. Support for more drones to come! Even if your drone isn’t yet supported, you can still use the Hivemapper map on web or mobile to help plan your flights.

A Must Have for Drone Flyers

If you’re into drones, Hivemapper is an indispensable tool. There is simply nothing close to the ungodly amounts of data Hivemapper provides drone flyers via the web, mobile app and on your drone, both before and during flight. The scary thing? Hivemapper is just getting started.