Within Enterprise Dronelink accounts, using an Asset Manifest can be used to streamline data organization, processing and delivery. The Asset Source can be configured for any mission plan, and the Asset Manifest generated for each flight. The Asset Manifest file is a JSON format text document that contains information about the files that have been captured.
The Asset Manifest can be downloaded from the web interface, and it can be sent to a customers backend via an integration.
What is an Asset Manifest used for and how?
When enterprise accounts fly a high number of missions, managing the downstream data organization and processing can be challenging and filled with user errors. Automation is key for scaling.
Once a pilot uploads data to your backend using your upload portal, the uploaded data can be compared with the Asset Manifest sent from Dronelink. The uploaded data can be matched to the specific mission that created the data, and specific files can be matched to parts of the mission, such as a collection of files for processing into an orthomosaic, pano, or photos to display in a image viewer.
How to configure a mission plan to create an Asset Manifest?
An Asset Source can be added on the mission plan, and also on each mission component.
The mission planner needs to be in Expert Mode for the "Add Asset Source" button to be visible.
Adding an Asset Source to the Mission Plan
From the mission plan settings, select "Add Asset Source"
Add New or Suggested Tags for the Mission Plan. Here we added 3 tags as an example.
Once added the Asset Source will show in the settings, and can be edited or deleted.
Adding an Asset Source to Mission Components
Use the Asset Source on mission components when specific data processing or filtering is required. In this example, we add set up a Asset Source for each mission component.
Select the mission component, select "Add Asset Source", and Add Tags
In this example, the map mission is broken into 2 parts, Map 1 and Map 2. These 2 mission components can be merged together within the Asset Manifest by using the "Key". We set both Map 1 and Map 2 to use the Key "ortho."
Here are the Asset Sources for the remaining mission components in this mission plan.
How to view the Asset Manifest file after flying a mission?
After flying the mission plan, open the flight from the Missions tab.
Learn how to access a flown mission from the Flight Management Portal.
Select the Asset Manifest tab to view and download the Asset Manifest file.
In the Asset Manifest tab, you can see the various assets sources that were configured earlier. Asset 1 represents the full mission and shows the tags that were set. Asset 2 includes information about both parts of the mapping mission tagged as a orthomosaic.
Expanding a Asset shows the files associated with each, including the date, file size and file name (if supported).
Downloaded Asset Manifest JSON format
The Asset Manifest format includes the GPS coordinate of the mission plan reference pin at the start, and then shows each of the Assets, including the Camera Files associated with each file, followed by the Key and Tags for the Camera Files.
Within the cameraFiles section, each file has the following attribute-value pairs.
Important Note: the Name attribute for each file may not be correct depending on the drone being used. A more reliable source for matching files is the unique combination of the file size and datetime.
This file was captured on a Mavic 3 Enterprise, and the name "8_61_JPEG" includes the number of the folder on the SD card, image number and image format.
Asset Manifest Integration
A HTTP POST can send the asset manifest following any flight within an Enterprise Account. URL details must be provided and can be setup by the Dronelink team.