Remote ID (RID)
- Nathan Howe
- Bryan Cubbins
Overview
Remote ID or RID has been mandated by the FAA for commercial operations, and its inclusion means there are a few additional things to be aware of when preparing for a flight.
The drone contains a transmitter that communicates with the Ground Control Station (GCS), also known as the controller.
To operate, Remote ID (RID) requires location data for both the Pilot (provided by the GCS) and the Drone itself.
WisprGroundControl has been optimized to streamline the pre-arm process, reducing delays before launch. In ideal conditions, pilots should experience minimal or no RID pre-arm messages during system boot-up.
To avoid errors that can be caused by the GCS determining its location from a combination of sources, setting your location service to “Device Only” is the new protocol.
To do this, drag from the top of your controller screen and hold down the location icon circled below.
You will see a “Mode” option.
Select this option and choose “Device Only”.
Additionally, ensure that your controller is set to United States (for US-based users) in the Herelink Settings.
To do this : Tap the Applications icon in the bottom-right corner of your home screen. (9 small squares)
Open the Herelink Settings app, which is represented by a green gear icon.
Ensure United States is selected
If United States is not seleted, tap the down arrow beseide the country selected (seen below) and select United States.
Pre-arms
OpenDroneID: waiting on controller location
This message appears when the system has connected to the controller, but the controller hasn't determined its location yet. Once the location is found, the message will disappear. Once location is found it should not be lost as long as WisprGroundControl remains open.
Controller Location Lost:
This indicates the GCS’s location was lost. In normal use the user should not encounter this message unless they change apps or restart Wispr Ground Control. In such case the controller should still pull its location soon if signal is strong enough and the message will clear.
Waiting on Initialization:
This message indicates that the system has not yet received data from the controller. It typically appears for a few seconds while the connection is being established.
In rare instances, the RemoteID module may fail to transmit a signal promptly, preventing the error from clearing as expected. However, this is not a cause for concern. To resolve the issue, please close WISPR Ground Control, reboot the drone, and then reopen WISPR Ground Control. The Pre-arm error should no longer be present.
Other Messages:
In some instances where WISPR Ground Control is not opened before powering on the drone, the user may encounter the "Lost Controller Location" message in the alerts tab upon startup. This message can be safely disregarded, as it will not impact the operation of the drone and will go away once connected.