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DroneTM is an integrated digital public good solution designed to harness the power of the crowd to generate high-resolution aerial maps of any location.
This innovative platform provides drone pilots, particularly in developing countries, with job opportunities while contributing to the creation of high-resolution datasets crucial for disaster response and community resilience.
In low-income and disaster-prone areas, the accessibility to near real-time satellite datasets is severely restricted. High-resolution satellite imagery, when available, is often prohibitively expensive and outdated. Full-scale aircraft mapping is not a viable option due to its high costs and operational complexity. Traditional mapping solutions, relying on professional consultants with expensive equipment, often result in delays and lack of locally relevant data. Existing drone operation tools are mostly proprietary and not designed for large-scale collaborative efforts, limiting their effectiveness for community-driven projects.
DroneTM offers a solution to these challenges by empowering communities to utilize drones for immediate and locally relevant mapping needs. Our platform:
- Provides a user-friendly, inclusive application enabling anyone with a drone, including inexpensive consumer or DIY drones, to contribute to a global repository of free and open aerial imagery.
- Facilitates community-driven drone operations, ensuring immediate response and responsible mapping that considers local needs.
- Coordinates aerial survey activities among multiple pilots through an open-source tasking platform, incorporating tools and processes to ensure coordinated flight plans for effective imagery acquisition.
- Offers a seamless pipeline for processing and dissemination of the collected imagery.
Our vision is to create a platform that is not only accessible and user-friendly but also inclusive, enabling widespread participation in creating high-resolution aerial maps. By leveraging the power of community-operated drones, we aim to build a resilient and responsive solution that addresses the needs of low-income and disaster-prone areas.
- Crowdsourced Mapping: Empower drone pilots to contribute to a global imagery repository.
- Community-Driven Operations: Enable communities to use drones for immediate and locally relevant mapping.
- Open-Source Platform: Coordinate aerial surveys with an open-source tasking platform.
- Seamless Pipeline: Ensure smooth processing and dissemination of imagery data.
- User-Friendly Application: Designed for ease of use, allowing even non-professional pilots to contribute.
To see a list of supported and unsupported drones, please visit the FAQ page.
To get started with DroneTM:
- Sign Up: Create an account and join our community of project creators and drone pilots.
- Create Projects: Sign up as a project creator to define Area for mapping.
- Start Mapping: Sign up as a drone pilots to use your drone to capture imagery and contribute to our global repository.
| Status | Feature | Release |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ | 🖥️ simple UI with user sign up and login | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ project area subdivision into smaller task areas for operators | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 flight plan generation in task areas for DJI drones | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ upload of drone imagery collected during flight | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 follow terrain during flight plan generation in hilly/mountainous regions | Since v2025.3.1 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ merging of drone imagery into a final combined image for the project | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 flight plans working on DJI Mini 4 Pro, Air 3, and Mavic 3 | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 upload flight plan to drone via mobile app (no laptop required) | Since v2025.3.1 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ precise georeferencing of final imagery using Ground Control Points | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ automated Digital Elevation Model inclusion (no manual upload required) | Since v2024.11.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ automated uploading of final imagery to OpenAerialMap (+ credit to user that uploads) | Since v2025.3.1 |
| ✅ | 📱 allow adjustments to the flight plan orientation based on field conditions | Since v2025.1.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 flight plans working on Potensic Atom 1 | Since v2025.4.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 improved experience copying flightplans onto controllers (via WebADB) | Since v2025.4.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ flightplan generation in Litchi CSV and QGroundControl .plan formats | v2025.5.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 recommendations for user if they should use waypoint or wayline mode | v2025.5.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ support retries for dropped connections during photo uploads | Since v2025.6.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ user feedback if photos have issues on upload (gimbal angle, blurry, etc) | Since v2025.6.0 |
| ✅ | 📱 flight plans working on Potensic Atom 2 | Since v2025.6.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ task assignment and @username mentions in task comments | v2026.1.3 |
| ✅ | 📱 entirely offline flightplan generation, directly on device, via QField | v2026.2.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ improved user feedback and retry capabilities during imagery processing | v2026.2.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ identify flight gaps in the captured imagery, generating a second flightplan | v2026.2.1 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ Unified HOT login system, linking to other tools | v2026.3.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ automated project creation via photo 'dump' and scan (no flight planning, EXIF --> AOI) | v2026.4.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ scaling of ODM imagery processing to thousands of images in parallel | v2026.5.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ visualise the 2D and 3D products at the end of processing | v2026.6.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ separate ODM workflows for task images vs. large project image batches | v2026.7.0 |
| ✅ | 🖥️ access to alternative high quality terrain models such as Copernicus GLO-30 | |
| ⚙️ | 📱 flight plans working on Potensic Atom 3 | |
| ⚙️ | 📱 flight plans working on DJI Lito X1 | |
| ⚙️ | 📱 flight plans working on SkyRover X1 | |
| ⚙️ | 📱 send flightplans straight to the drone, instead of copying files by hand | |
| ⚙️ | 📱 capture of imagery at multiple (configurable) angles from the drone camera | |
| 📱 let users edit and split flightplans before flying | ||
| 🖥️ DroneTM Lite: a simplified interface for demos and community use | ||
| 🖥️ thermal imagery processing, plus accuracy improvements for city-scale projects | ||
| 🖥️ role-based access control for each part of the UI | ||
| 📱 & 🖥️ real-time notifications for drone flight progress & task status | ||
| 📱 HOT community mapping drone: cheap, mapping optimized, materials sourced locally |
Note
📱 for mobile / operators
🖥️ for desktop / managers / validators
We recommend the DJI Mini 5 Pro as the best overall option. The DJI Mini 4 Pro is the next-best premium choice where it is still available, while the widely available Potensic Atom 2 offers the best budget value. The DJI Lito X1 should become another good option once its DroneTM support is complete.
For now, most other drones have a compromise of some kind.
The list below puts drones under 250 g first, then orders each weight group by our recommendation. Drones marked ✅ work directly in DroneTM: generate a flight plan, then upload the waypoint file to the drone's own app - no third-party software needed.
| Drone | <250g | Approx. price (USD) | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJI Mini 5 Pro | ✅ | ~$720 | ✅ | Waypoint files, flown in the DJI Fly app |
| DJI Mini 4 Pro | ✅ | ~$600 | ✅ | Waypoint files, flown in the DJI Fly app |
| Potensic Atom 2 | ✅ | ~$330 | ✅ | Waypoint files, flown in the Potensic app |
| DJI Lito X1 | ✅ | ~$490 | ⚙️ | Support in progress; waypoint files will be flown in the DJI Fly app |
| DJI Mini 3 Pro | ✅ | — | ✅ | Waypoint files, flown in the DJI Fly app. Also supports Litchi |
| DJI Mini 3 | ✅ | — | ❔ | Via Litchi only |
| DJI Mini 2 | ✅ | — | ❔ | Via Litchi only |
| DJI Mini SE (version 1 only) | ✅ | — | ❔ | Via Litchi only |
| Potensic Atom 1 | ✅ | — | ❔ | Works but has no terrain following capability |
| Potensic Atom 3 | ✅ | ~$430 | ⚙️ | Support in progress |
| SkyRover X1 | ✅ | ~$500 | ⚙️ | Support in progress; waypoint files will be flown in the SkyRover app; availability is currently US-centric and may require importing elsewhere |
| DJI Air 3 / Air 3S | ❌ | — | ✅ | Waypoint files, flown in the DJI Fly app |
| DJI Mavic 4 Pro | ❌ | — | ✅ | Waypoint files, flown in the DJI Fly app |
| DJI Mavic 3 / Mavic 3 Classic / Mavic 3 Pro | ❌ | — | ✅ | Waypoint files, flown in the DJI Fly app |
| DJI Air 2S | ❌ | — | ❔ | Via Litchi or DroneDeploy only |
| DJI Mavic 2 Pro | ❌ | — | ❔ | Via Litchi or DroneDeploy only |
| DJI Mavic Air/Pro | ❌ | — | ❔ | Via Litchi or DroneDeploy only |
Approximate prices are indicative September 2026 base-kit figures, using regional medians converted to USD where needed. Prices and availability vary; — means no current estimate is listed.
Note
✅ works directly in DroneTM - upload the generated waypoint file to the drone's own app.
⚙️ support is in progress - see the linked issue in the Notes column.
❔ works, but with a caveat - see the Notes column (needs a third-party app such as Litchi, is untested, or has limited features).
❌ not supported.
DroneTM is an open-source project, and we welcome contributions from the community. Whether you're a developer, a drone pilot, or just passionate about mapping, you can get involved:
- Fork the Repository: https://github.com/hotosm/drone-tm
- Report Issues: https://github.com/hotosm/drone-tm/issues
- Contribute Code: Submit pull requests for new features or bug fixes.
Join us in transforming aerial mapping through community-powered drones and create a resilient future for all.