Turn Mode

Related to overshoot, the turn mode determines how a sUAS will turn once it has reached a waypoint. Turn mode is more influential for multirotor operations, and the two modes are stop-and-turn and adaptive-bank-turn. Stop-and-turn causes the aircraft to pause once it reaches a waypoint. This is beneficial if you want to ensure the aircraft reaches that waypoint. The disadvantage to stop-and-turn is that it can take the aircraft an extended amount of time to “find” the waypoint and move on to the next one, which can unnecessarily increase flight time. Adaptive-bank-turn means the aircraft gets close to the waypoint but rounds out the turn to travel to the next waypoint. This increases flight efficiency and is preferred because of this reason. However, this turn mode can be detrimental if there is not enough overshoot for the mission. During the turn, the sensor may be put at an off angle which, if over the area of interest, will cause inconsistencies in the data capture.