Five layouts sized for a 4-acre pasture (~130 × 130 m). From a 6-gate beginner loop you can fly tomorrow to an 18-gate VQ2-grade course. Each is tuned to exercise a different behavior. Mix and match — same physical gates, different stake patterns.
01 · The five layouts at a glance
Build 18 portable gates (PVC + banner per the materials doc). Use whichever subset each layout calls for. Pull stakes, walk gates 30 m, restake — same physical inventory, completely different course.
| Layout | Gates | Lap length | Lap time @ 10 m/s | Field envelope | Skill focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Beginner loop | 6 | ~150 m | ~15 s | 60 × 60 m | First flights, debug stack |
| 2 · Sprint oval | 8 | ~300 m | ~30 s | 100 × 60 m | Top-speed straights, hard turns |
| 3 · Figure-8 | 14 | ~450 m | ~45 s | 120 × 80 m | Crossover altitude management |
| 4 · VQ2-grade FLAGSHIP | 18 | ~620 m | ~62 s | 130 × 100 m | All six VQ2 patterns |
| 5 · Linear sprint | 12 | ~400 m | ~40 s | 200 × 30 m | Long pastures, out-and-back |
Layout 1 · Beginner
Six gates arranged on a hexagon. Constant heading change, no straights — the detector never loses sight of a gate. Perfect for debugging the stack, tuning detector confidence, validating PnP against a known geometry.
Build this first. Cheap to lay out (4 stakes per gate), easy to confirm the geometry with a tape measure. If your detector + PnP + PID can't fly this, fix that before adding more gates.
Layout 2 · Sprint oval
Stretched oval with three gates per long straight, single gate at each tight end. Forces sustained acceleration through G1→G3 then aggressive deceleration into G4. Exercises throttle envelope.
If your stack flies the hex but stalls at speed, this is where you tune target_speed_ms higher and validate the PID under 12+ m/s closing rates. Hard turn at G4 and G8 — bank-coordinated yaw.
Layout 3 · Figure-8
Two loops sharing a center crossover. Crossing gates at different altitudes (G6 high at 3 m, G13 low at 1 m) force the autopilot to manage altitude actively. Detector must distinguish between the high and low gate at similar bearing.
Closest small-form approximation of the VQ2 elevation-pair patterns. If you nail this, the September qualifier elevation section won't surprise you.
Layout 4 · VQ2-grade ★ flagship
All 18 gates. Six sections — start, fast straight, hairpin, elevation pair, slalom, finish. Every behavior the September qualifier might score. The course you build toward.
Build toward this — don't start here. Train on the simpler layouts first, then chain sections. By the time you can lap this cleanly, you're physical-qualifier ready.
Layout 5 · Linear sprint
Two parallel rows of six gates, 25 m apart. Drone flies G1→G6 outbound, U-turn around a cone, returns G7→G12 inbound. For long thin pastures (200 m × 30 m). Fence line, tree line, or driveway makes a natural boundary.
Best fit for non-square fields. Also useful when you want the drone to operate with consistent heading (mostly N or S) for testing wind-tolerance under headwind/tailwind separately.
02 · Surveying the pasture
Lay out the course on the ground with survey flags first. Walk it. Adjust. Only then carry the 25 kg of gate hardware out to the field. Saves a lot of back-and-forth.
03 · Multi-course rotation
Once you have 18 portable gates (per the materials doc), rotating between layouts is a 30-minute pull-and-restake. Train different skills on different days without buying more hardware.
Tune detector confidence + PnP. Verify sim-to-real gap is acceptable. Confirm baseline.
Same gates rearranged. Push target speed up. Tune throttle envelope. Capture frames for training.
Now exercise altitude PID + crossover behavior. Two of the gates need a 3 m altitude — put them on cement blocks or sawhorses.
Everything you learned in Layouts 1–3 combined. Lap-time it. Log every attempt. Iterate gains.
The flexible-gate approach (PVC frame + printed banner) lets you treat the pasture like a chessboard. Pull, re-stake, fly something new in the same hour. Six skill drills, five courses, one inventory of gates.