Waypoint mission creation in Drone Programming - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of waypoint list creation

What is the output of this code that creates a list of waypoints with latitude and longitude?

Drone Programming

waypoints = []
for i in range(3):
    waypoint = {'lat': 40.0 + i*0.01, 'lon': -74.0 - i*0.01}
    waypoints.append(waypoint)
print(waypoints)

A [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.01}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.01}]

B [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}]

C [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.02, 'lon': -74.0}]

D [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.01}, {'lat': 40.02, 'lon': -74.02}]

💡 Hint

Look at how latitude and longitude change with each loop iteration.

The loop adds 0.01 to latitude and subtracts 0.01 from longitude each time, creating three distinct waypoints.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding waypoint altitude setting

In a waypoint mission, why is it important to set the altitude for each waypoint?

A To ensure the drone flies at the correct height avoiding obstacles and maintaining safety.

B To make the drone fly faster between waypoints.

C To reduce the battery consumption by flying lower always.

D To change the drone's camera angle automatically.

💡 Hint

Think about what altitude controls in drone flight.

Altitude controls the height of the drone, which is critical for obstacle avoidance and safe flight.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Identify the error in waypoint mission code

What error will this code produce when creating waypoints for a mission?

Drone Programming

waypoints = [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.01}]
for wp in waypoints:
    wp['alt'] = 100
    wp = {'lat': 41.0, 'lon': -75.0, 'alt': 150}
print(waypoints)

A TypeError because dictionary assignment is invalid inside loop

B No error; output is [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0, 'alt': 100}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.01, 'alt': 100}]

C No error; output is [{'lat': 41.0, 'lon': -75.0, 'alt': 150}, {'lat': 41.0, 'lon': -75.0, 'alt': 150}]

D No error; output is [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.01}]

💡 Hint

Consider what happens when you assign a new dictionary to the loop variable.

Assigning a new dictionary to 'wp' inside the loop does not change the original list elements; only the 'alt' key is added to each original waypoint.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Syntax error in waypoint mission dictionary comprehension

Which option correctly creates a dictionary of waypoints with keys as indices and values as lat-lon tuples?

Drone Programming

waypoints = {i: (40.0 + i*0.01, -74.0 - i*0.01) for i in range(3)}

A {i: (40.0 + i*0.01, -74.0 - i*0.01) for i in range(3)}

B {i: (40.0 + i*0.01, -74.0 - i*0.01) if i < 3 for i in range(3)}

C {i: (40.0 + i*0.01, -74.0 - i*0.01) for i in range(3):}

D {i: (40.0 + i*0.01, -74.0 - i*0.01) for i range(3)}

💡 Hint

Check the correct syntax for dictionary comprehensions in Python.

Option A uses the correct syntax: {key: value for variable in iterable}. Other options have syntax errors.

🚀 Application

expert

Calculate total mission distance from waypoints

Given a list of waypoints with latitude and longitude, which code correctly calculates the total straight-line distance (in degrees) between consecutive waypoints?

Drone Programming

waypoints = [{'lat': 40.0, 'lon': -74.0}, {'lat': 40.01, 'lon': -74.01}, {'lat': 40.02, 'lon': -74.02}]
total_distance = 0
for i in range(len(waypoints)-1):
    wp1 = waypoints[i]
    wp2 = waypoints[i+1]
    dist = ((wp2['lat'] - wp1['lat'])**2 + (wp2['lon'] - wp1['lon'])**2)**0.5
    total_distance += dist
print(round(total_distance, 5))

A 0.01

B 0.02

C 0.02828

D 0.04

💡 Hint

Use the Pythagorean theorem to find distance between points.

Each segment distance is sqrt((0.01)^2 + (0.01)^2) = 0.014142, total for two segments is 0.028284, rounded to 0.02828.