Site Planning Tutorial: Step by Step

Table of Contents

• How to Access the Planning Tool 
  • From within a site 
  • From the Site view (overview page) 
• 1. Understanding the Planning Tool Home 
  • 1.1 Create a New Plan
  • 1.2 Import a Local Plan (.dryad)
  • 1.3 Access Your Plans
  • 1.4 Manage Plans (Rename, Duplicate, Delete)
  • 1.5 View Deployments
• 2. Accessing the Planning Tool 
• 3. Creating a New Plan 
  • 3.1 Find Site Location
  • 3.2 Draw Three (3) Paths
    • Draw a hiking path
    • Draw a power line path
    • Draw a roadway path
  • 3.3 Drawing Coverage Areas 
    • How to draw a new coverage area
    • Add an inaccessible area
  • 3.4 Add connectivity zones 
    • Add Border Gateways
    • Add Mesh Gateways
• 4. Add comments
• 5. Saving Your Plan
• 6. Create A Deployment
• 7. Export Planning Summary

This tutorial guides you through the full workflow, from accessing the Planning Tool, creating proposals, editing coverage areas, and preparing deployments, to managing deployment.

How to Access the Planning Tool

Accessing the Planning Tool is simple:

From within a site:

1. Log in to the Site Management App.

2. Select the site you want to work on.

3. In the left-hand menu, click Planning tool

4. You will first land on the Planning tool home, open or create a plan.

5. The Planning Tool will load and display your site on the map.

6. From there, you can enter the Planning Tool Home and begin preparing your deployment plan.

2. From the Site view (overview page):

1. Log in to Silvanet Site Management App.

2. In the Site Management, where you can see all your sites and their maps, click on the three-dot menu next to the desired site.

3. Select Planning Tool to open the planning interface directly.

When you open the Planning tool section of a site, you are first taken to the Planning Tool Home. This page allows you to create, manage, and compare multiple planning proposals before entering the Planning Tool.

1. Understanding the Planning Tool Home

The Planning Tool Home displays all planning proposals created for the site.
It allows teams to collaborate and explore different design options without affecting each other’s work.

Here you can:

1. Create a New Plan

Create multiple new plans for each site. Able to compare alternative plans for different budgets or scenarios.

2. Import a Local Plan (.dryad)

If you previously exported a plan or received a plan file from someone, you can re-import it using. Upload a saved local .dryad plan file using Import a Local Plan.

3. Access Your Plans

Each plan appears as a card showing:

• A map preview

• Key statistics (areas, number of devices, LoRa coverage, etc.)

• The last modified date

• Plan name

Click on the plan card to open it in the Planning Tool.

4. Manage Plans (Rename, Duplicate, Delete)

Each plan has a three-dot menu with:

• Rename Plan

• Duplicate Plan

  • Useful for creating budget variations or testing different layouts

• Delete Plan

  • Removes the proposal permanently

5. View Deployments

In addition to plan management, the Planning Tool Home also provides access to site deployment history.

By clicking View Deployments in the top-right corner, you can see a complete list of:

Planned Deployments: 

• Set to Deploy: Plans they are due or in process of deployment.

Past Deployments: 

• Past deployments (Legacy Deployment) 

• Cancelled plans

This page helps you understand the deployment lifecycle of the site, review what has already been installed, and verify which plans were deployed or cancelled.

2. Accessing the Planning Tool 

1. You can either select an existing draft plan in the Planning Tool home or create a new plan.

2. Select and enter the Planning Tool. 

3. Creating a New Plan

Click Create a new plan to enter the planning workspace.

3.1 Find Site Location 

In the Planning tool, find a suitable location for the Site. You can select any location as an example.

In this tutorial, we make a plan to deploy Silvanet in an area in northern British Columbia, Canada. It includes a deep valley, thick forests, a settlement, power lines, roadways and forestry paths.

3.2 Draw Three (3) Paths

They can be set as hiking paths, power lines, roads or railroads.

1. Create a path. 

Select the Draw Path tool. Select a starting point and drag the path along the route. End the path by double-clicking on the map.

The Planning tool has determined where to place the Wildfire Sensors in the path.

2. Describe the path: 

In the Path Settings panel shown on the left enter the following information:

• Name: Enter a descriptive name. 
• Path type: Select Hiking Path. 
• Protection Level: Select Mid. 

The slider is used to determine Wildfire Sensor density (Low, Mid, High).

The distance between Sensors affects the amount deployed. The higher the protection level, the shorter the distance between Sensors.

3. (Optional) Add Wildfire Sensors to path: 

Select Manual Planning, then select Add Sensor. Try placing an additional Sensor icon somewhere in the path. Notice the Sensor number increments by 1.

Draw a power Line path 

The same way as above, only now change the path Type to Power Line.

Draw a roadway path

Notice the increased density of Sensors for a roadway compared to a hiking path.

You should now have three paths shown on the map.

3.3 Drawing Coverage Areas

Coverage areas define where sensors can be deployed and where communication must be ensured.

How to draw a new coverage area: 

1. Click Add Area (polygon icon).

2. Click multiple times on the map to draw the shape.

3. Close the polygon by clicking on the first point.

4. Name the area (e.g., “Core Coverage Area”).

5. Describe the area: 

Enter the following information in the Area Settings panel:

• Name: Enter a descriptive name, such as North Ridge. 

• Surface area: This is automatically generated. 

• Accessible: For this area, do not select this. This slider sets the area as inaccessible (such as private property, military area, restricted area). 

• Protection Level: Select Mid. Use the slider to determine Wildfire Sensor density (Low, Mid, High). The distance between Sensors affects the amount deployed. The higher the protection level, the shorter the distance between Wildfire Sensors. 

Add an inaccessible area 

In this area, define an inaccessible area. This is an area that is off-limits and cannot be used to deploy Sensors.

Use the Draw Area tool to define this area but in this case, slide the Accessible selector to Off. The area then is defined without Wildfire Sensors.

3.4 Add connectivity zones

Create a connectivity Zone Manually 

See more: What is Automated Gateway Placement and How Does It Work?

Add Border Gateways

1. Select Plan Connectivity from the toolbar.
2. Select Add Gateway and place the Gateway icon on the map. 

Remember, it needs to be placed where it can get mobile connectivity and good access to solar irradiation. Double-click the Gateway icon to add the Gateway.

See more: Site Planning with a Fixed Border Gateway Location: Step-by-Step Guide

  3. Select the Gateway from the side menu to open the Edit Gateway dialog, then select the following: 

• Name
• Gateway type
• Installation Height
• Network
• Power Type: 
• Latitude/Longitude
• Delete Gateway

Blue overlay: The line-of-sight of the Gateway is indicated by an irregular blue overlay that shows areas where the Gateway has connectivity.

Network Coverage bar

Notice the Network Coverage progress bar. This indicates the percentage of coverage achieved. The goal is 95% network coverage.

Add Mesh Gateways

Next, add Mesh Gateways to build up a Connectivity Mesh.

• Ensure you add a Mesh Gateway within the blue zone of the Border Gateway. This ensures the Mesh Gateway has connectivity to the Border Gateway.

Add a Mesh gateway using the same procedure as adding a Border Gateway but select Mesh Gateway from the Gateway Type.

Continue adding more Gateways until the Site has sufficient network coverage (minimum 95%)

 

 

4. Add comments

Use the Comment in the toolbar  to add a few relevant comments to the map. They can be anything you notice about the terrain, the amount of human activity, anything you think needs to be noted directly in the plan.

5. Saving Your Plan

When you are finished:

• Click Save Plan at the top-right corner

• The plan will now appear in the Planning Tool home

 

6. Create A Deployment

Once you have chosen the plan you want to deploy, click Create a Deployment from within the selected proposal.

It transfers the finalized plan from the Planning Tool (Site Management App) to the Deployment App.

See more: What does the ‘"Create a Deployment" button do?

 

7. Export Planning Summary

From the Planning tool, select Planning Summary.

After completing the Site plan, you can export a Planning Summary document as either a .docx file or a CSV file. Selecting Site overview document (.docx) generates an editable .docx file that includes an overview of site planning, details of the connectivity network and a comprehensive view of each planned packet. It also provides an estimate of the deployment time.

See more: Exporting the Planning Summary