Skip to main content

Overview

Drone Spotter is a mobile cross-platform app, available for Android and iOS, which can be used to spot and identify nearby Remote ID drones. The app includes three basic views:

  1. A map view, which shows the targets on a map.
  2. An augmented-reality (AR) camera view, which overlays the target positions on a real-time camera view.
  3. A DRI view, which shows a list of all targets received via Direct Remote ID signals (Bluetooth or WiFi), as defined in the standards ASTM F3411 and ASD-STAN prEN 4709-002.

Apart from these views, there are two additional pages: A Settings page for changing some operational parameters, and an About screen, which shows the app version and other information.

info

iOS is currently not supporting WiFi Remote ID. This means drones such as all DJI drones are not received. This is an iOS issue which will hopefully be fixed by Apple in a coming release.

Table of Content​

Map view​

The map view shows the positions of all targets that are received on a background map.

The user’s location is marked by a blue dot, which is usually accompanied by a view-direction indicator (unless the device is oriented horizontally). This location icon can be tapped to reveal the details of the user location:

  • latitude and longitude (in degrees)
  • horizontal accuracy ('HA') in meters
  • altitude over mean sea level (MSL) and vertical accuracy (if available), both in meters • elevation ('E'), i.e. local ground level (in meters) over MSL

Target display​

The targets are indicated by icons that correspond to their type. An overview of the supported target categories can be found on the Target Categories page. The icons are rotated according to the heading of the target. When tapping an icon, additional information is displayed:

  • A callout label with some basic information:
    • Identification
    • altitude provided by the drone: either above mean sea level ("AMSL") or above ground level ("AGL")
    • speed of the vehicle (if moving)
    • A track of the vehicle’s recent flight path.
    • An additional icon that indicates the take-off position (or the first known position for the target).

Tapping the ident label opens a page with detailed information about the target. Tapping the arrow in the navigation bar leads back to the map page.

Camera view​

The camera view provides an alternative display of the nearby targets via an augmented-reality (AR) overlay of their positions on a real-time camera picture. The overlay contains three elements:

  1. A crosshair for 'aiming' (in green). It indicates the center position of the camera preview, the horizontal and vertical axes (of the phone) and the so-called "spotting angle" (see below) as a circle.
  2. A horizon indicator (in blue). It shows the horizon line, as determined from the phone’s sensors, with the four cardinal directions (North, East, South, West), plus two small dots indicating the vertical up and down directions.
  3. The target indicators (in red): All targets are indicated by an icon, whose size is scaled with distance, and a callsign label. If the target is inside the Spotting Angle, then additional information is displayed in the label:
    1. The distance to the target in meters.
    2. The height difference in meters.
    3. A track of the flight path (as a dashed line).
    4. An icon for the take-off position (UAS only).

Tapping an icon or label opens the corresponding target-detail page. At the bottom of the camera page there is a small status bar with some further information:

  • compass angle ('C') in degrees, i.e. the horizontal angle between line of sight and North direction
  • inclination angle ('I') in degrees, i.e. the angle between line of sight and horizontal plane
  • spotting angle ('SA') in degrees, see Camera Settings
  • camera angle ('CA') in degrees

Tapping the arrow in the navigation bar leads back to the camera page.

DRI view​

This page shows a list of all targets that are detected locally via Direct Remote ID (DRI) signals, as defined in the following standards:

  • ASTM F3411-19
  • ASD-STAN prEN 4709-002
  • ASTM F3411-22

The DRI broadcast messages can be received via Bluetooth or WiFi. For each target, the following information is shown:

  • The name of the Bluetooth or WiFi device.
  • The signal strength ("RSSI") in dBm.
  • The unique ID (MAC address) of the device.
  • An activity indicator, which shows all messages that were received in the last 10 seconds as bars in a time chart.

Tapping a target opens a DRI detail page, which shows all the data that was received via the six different message types. It also includes a more detailed time chart, which shows the messages separated by type, together with their rates and a graph of the signal strength.

Note that the DRI detection has the following limitations at present:

  • Bluetooth 5 messages can only be received on Android, not iOS.
  • WiFi Beacon is only supported on Android 6 and later. The update rate may be rather low on Android 10 and earlier.
  • WiFi NAN is only supported on Android 8 and later.
  • Bluetooth messages can also be received while the app is in the background or when the screen is off (both on Android and iOS), but the reception rate may be reduced (for the sake of power saving).
  • On iOS, the reception rate of Bluetooth messages may be throttled by the OS after a while, even when the app is in the foreground.
  • WiFi Beacon messages can only be received while the app is in the foreground.
  • In order to improve the update rate with WiFi Beacon on Android, enable the developer mode and disable WiFi Scan Throttling in the developer settings.
  • The detection range depends on a number of factors (e.g. transmission method, transmission power, environment, obstacles, interference, receiver HW) and is not related to the Spotting Radius parameter (i.e. you may not be able to detect all DRI targets inside the spotting radius). As a rule of thumb, the maximum detection range for DRI signals is around 2 km for WiFi and 1 km for Bluetooth transmission.

Settings page​

The Settings page contains a number of different sections:

  • Language Settings
  • Appearance
  • Background Map
  • Camera Mode (AR, 180° View, 360° View)

About page​

The About page shows the app version, contact email and copyright notice. Tapping the contact email opens an email template for providing feedback. The page also includes buttons for accessing various other information:

  • user manual
  • release notes
  • device info (device, display, sensors, capabilities)
  • legal information:
    • terms of use
    • privacy policy
    • legal disclosure
    • attribution notice

Feedback and support​

Please direct any questions, feedback and support requests to feedback@droniq.de