M3E Drone Survey Speed to Capture RAW Images

[malli35998]

I have a 2 year project starting next year that involves shooting 4 x 100 acres surveys each quarter. Both JPEG and RAW images are required. Since the M3E has a mechanical shutter, how fast can I fly drone surveys? Ideal speed for RAW image acquisition?

 

[Meta4]

I have a 2 year project starting next year that involves shooting 4 x 100 acres surveys each quarter. Both JPEG and RAW images are required. Since the M3E has a mechanical shutter, how fast can I fly drone surveys? Ideal speed for RAW image acquisition?

Do you really need raw images?
jpg is fine for mapping and normally not needed.
If shooting jpg alone you can fly at 20-30 mph for mapping missions.
Raw images are going to take longer to write to the SD card and might slow things down.
Do some test flying to see how things work out.

 

[malli35998]

Yes, I need RAW images. This is one of the requirements for a 2 year AI project. I don’t currently own a M3E drone so my question is for those who do and have experience shooting drone surveys including RAW images.

 

[ExUmbra.Solutions]

While it is a bit strange to need RAWs for a survey, especially for orthomosaic and photogrammetry processing I assume they have their reasons. Your limiting factor isn't going to be the mechanical shutter, it’s generally going to choke at the SD card write speed so getting the best cards you can will be your biggest mitigation to any issues.

While it is a mechanical shutter you are talking about shutters that can shooting in 1/2000th is a second or faster so not an issue at all. The reason they limit the drone to the 1 second or more you see for the timed shutter option is again on the write speed.

Besides having a top speed SD card my other recommendation would be to shoot only RAW and process those into the required JPEGs so the drone isn‘t trying to shoot and write both while flying.

I am not sure what flight control software or processing requirements you have or even what you mean by survey since we all tend to use that word a little loosely. If you are Implying that you want to fly a single or double grid (or smart oblique with the M3E) 100 acres is A LOT of area to cover. I rarely fly above 15 mph for any sort of RGB or IR survey and you will be looking at a massive time or battery commitment if you are at a reasonable altitude. Is there a GSD requirement stated?

I’ve done many large surveys like this but I fly it with a PhaseOne or P1 sensor on an M300 where I can achieve a low GSD while at a higher altitude to drastically cut down on my flight times. Despite the fantastic sensor in the M3E it doesn’t compare to the sensor size in one of these larger platforms and your GSD will suffer a serious trade off if you gain altitude to offset your large coverage area without the larger sensor to offset that.

 

[malli35998]

Thanks for the info. I have flown over 100 NADIR surveys ranging from 4 acres to 750 acres. 25-30+ surveys greater than 100 acres. I generally fly at 250ft AGL and 15 mph. I use SanDisk Extreme Pro Micro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 Memory Card (256GB) cards.Rated write speed
90 MB/s. Normally, I capture JPEG only. This is a special project requiring both JPEG and RAW images. Your suggestion to shoot RAW images vs JPEG and RAW is a good one. The drones are currently use have rolling shutters vs a mechanical shutter. Hence, my interest in the M3E drone for this project.

 

[TonyPHX]

The RAW image is only going to make the images take forever to process with no value to the project over JPG in my opinion. Seems like somebody is thinking more is better.

 

[RocketBrew]

I often shoot RAW+JPEG when creating an ortho image of a large site rather than "survey" data. This allows me to edit and more closely match the other photos I shoot in RAW.

I have found that 11.5 MPH works with a good fast SD Card.

Because I can fly at least twice that for JPEG only, I do that when possible!

A good fast SD Card is key, even for JPEG only, I was unable to fly as fast when I had to use an older backup card. Now my M3E backup cards are all newer and faster...

 

[malli35998]

I often shoot RAW+JPEG when creating an ortho image of a large site rather than "survey" data. This allows me to edit and more closely match the other photos I shoot in RAW.

I have found that 11.5 MPH works with a good fast SD Card.

Because I can fly at least twice that for JPEG only, I do that when possible!

A good fast SD Card is key, even for JPEG only, I was unable to fly as fast when I had to use an older backup card. Now my M3E backup cards are all newer and faster...

Thanks so much! Most useful info I have received.

 

[malli35998]

Thanks so much! Most useful info I have received.

I generally use SanDisk Extreme Pro Micro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 Memory Card (256GB). Write speeds up to 90 mb/sec. Any faster recommendations?

 

[Meta4]

I generally use SanDisk Extreme Pro Micro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 Memory Card (256GB). Write speeds up to 90 mb/sec. Any faster recommendations?

A faster card won't do anything.
You cannot record any faster than the camera writes.

 

[malli35998]

Thanks so much! Most useful info I have received.

What altitude and overlap do you generally use for your surveys? I typically fly 250 ft AGL with 80/80 overlap. Overlap is probably overkill.