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Used DroneDeploy to map a quarry

aerialphotosbrisbane

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One of my interests in using drones is for photogrammetry and 3D mapping. I recently did a 13 hectare map of a quarry near where I live. I programmed the flight on my desktop and sure enough there it was when I fired up my Ipad The flight time was approximately 10 minutes with the Mavic at 70 metres. Sure was impressive to see the drone take off into the sky and 10 minutes later land on the same spot.

The 3D model (can be viewed in real time ) is here DroneDeploy. Its made up of approx. 220 images. I also created a orthomosaic, the original being almost 17,000 byy 14,000 pixels. I resized and put on my Flickr page is anyone wants to see. goo.gl/VojHAR

Amazing technology that's for sure.
 
wow that is beyond cool messed around on there website and that is just amazing maybe it was more difficult to do than it looked by messing around with it but it appears like a point and click setup.

Definitely book marked although the price is a bit much for non professional but maybe xmas hehe
 
Hi McMavic,

When I get some more experience I want to offer 3D mapping along with my aerial photography, there are a few apps out there that can be used for image acquisition, over the next few months I intend to test them all.

Great time to be a Mavic pilot :)
 
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Hi McMavic,

When I get some more experience I want to offer 3D mapping along with my aerial photography, there are a few apps out there that can be used for image acquisition, over the next few months I intend to test them all.

Great time to be a Mavic pilot :)

Which apps are these?
 
Hi McMavic,

When I get some more experience I want to offer 3D mapping along with my aerial photography, there are a few apps out there that can be used for image acquisition, over the next few months I intend to test them all.

Great time to be a Mavic pilot :)
Hi! What apps have you had success with in capturing in focus imagery? I am using an Android phone (ipad mini 4 on the way) but am having no luck with Drone Deploy (not taking ANY images) and Pix4D (blurry even on slow 2mt/sec speed). Are there any "focusing" tips you can give as well as apps for Android (or ios) that are clever enough to focus and capture high clarity images with the mavic?
 
Hynekel,

Using DroneDeploy on IoS works well for me and I have flown 6 missions now. I have the mavic control panel C1 button setup to adjust shutter speed so I can get the correct exposure. I found using auto exposure always produces over exposed images. I keep the focus on autofocus and again all images have been captured perfectly. The mavic flies at 15m/s (75 metres AGL) and when you see it in the sky it looks pretty darn fast. Also make sure the white balance is off auto and either set to cloudy or sunny accordingly.

I read on the forum that the hyperfocal distance of the camera is 13m and I have to test this. So in theory when doing aerial mapping, just set the camera manually to 13m before you take off and everything from 13m to infinity is in focus.. my next thing to test :).

I also used pix4d - i did a circular capture of 36 images of a semi trailer and notices the first 2 images where blurred but the rest okay.. in this instance the mavic did not rotate around the semi that fast fast and the images were focused. .

The ipad mini should work a treat. Drop me a line if you have any other questions
 
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Hynekel,

Using DroneDeploy on IoS works well for me and I have flown 6 missions now. I have the mavic control panel C1 button setup to adjust shutter speed so I can get the correct exposure. I found using auto exposure always produces over exposed images. I keep the focus on autofocus and again all images have been captured perfectly. The mavic flies at 15m/s (75 metres AGL) and when you see it in the sky it looks pretty darn fast. Also make sure the white balance is off auto and either set to cloudy or sunny accordingly.

I read on the forum that the hyperfocal distance of the camera is 13m and I have to test this. So in theory when doing aerial mapping, just set the camera manually to 13m before you take off and everything from 13m to infinity is in focus.. my next thing to test :).

I also used pix4d - i did a circular capture of 36 images of a semi trailer and notices the first 2 images where blurred but the rest okay.. in this instance the mavic did not rotate around the semi that fast fast and the images were focused. .

The ipad mini should work a treat. Drop me a line if you have any other questions
EXCELLENT info!!! Thanks so much.
I called DroneDeploy support USA (Zac) in the last hour. His points basically mirror yours:
- ios is better than android generally
- there are ongoing issues with image capture that tech team are working on feverishly!!! They know the app is not working just now
-suggested i update/change sd card and make sure its a Class 10 card (of course :)
-the software now has inbuilt autofocus that re focuses regularly during flight (suggested every second or more but couldn't confirm exactly
-Over 60 mts best but 75mts is the optimum altitude to maximise data capture and stitching process "to get gold results"!
- take off at highest point of "to be mapped area" to avoid lower than 60mt flight altitude
-For greater resolution can fly lower than 60mts but not necessarily great results
-best to fly site on longest flight paths (ie minimise drone pases of site)
-Their Facebook page is an excellent resource/update notifier
Your advice is GREATLY appreciated. Will update my findings as and when. Would love to chat sometime, regardless.
 
Nice ortho (DD link now expired), do you have any surveying or photgrammetry background? Did you place and ground control?
 
Nice ortho (DD link now expired), do you have any surveying or photgrammetry background? Did you place and ground control?
Hi backerbay, my DD account has expired unfortunately but I will upload to shapeways when I figure out how to export and upload with textures.. I dont have any surveying or photogrammetry experience (boy is there a lot to learn !!) how about you ?

I have 10+ years working in photography and the 3D space so concepts are easy for me to understand [mostly :) ]. I have never places GPC's on any of my mapping missions .. this is the next thing I have to learn how to do.

I have mapped 2 quarries and 2 construction sites so far.. its remarkable to watch the mavic take off, fly and land in almost the same spot
 
Hi backerbay, my DD account has expired unfortunately but I will upload to shapeways when I figure out how to export and upload with textures.. I dont have any surveying or photogrammetry experience (boy is there a lot to learn !!) how about you ?

I have 10+ years working in photography and the 3D space so concepts are easy for me to understand [mostly :) ]. I have never places GPC's on any of my mapping missions .. this is the next thing I have to learn how to do.

I have mapped 2 quarries and 2 construction sites so far.. its remarkable to watch the mavic take off, fly and land in almost the same spot

I'm a surveyor, done a little bit of photogrammtery

Very easy to map and model, but not so easy to be able to make anything worth while to give to a client without some decent GCP in the survey
 
One of my interests in using drones is for photogrammetry and 3D mapping. I recently did a 13 hectare map of a quarry near where I live. I programmed the flight on my desktop and sure enough there it was when I fired up my Ipad The flight time was approximately 10 minutes with the Mavic at 70 metres. Sure was impressive to see the drone take off into the sky and 10 minutes later land on the same spot.

The 3D model (can be viewed in real time ) is here DroneDeploy. Its made up of approx. 220 images. I also created a orthomosaic, the original being almost 17,000 byy 14,000 pixels. I resized and put on my Flickr page is anyone wants to see. goo.gl/VojHAR

Amazing technology that's for sure.

Super impressed with your image quality with the Mavic. Since this last firmware update, I've had brutal focusing issues and this is after sending it in for repair. I don't think it's hardware issues as the fuzziness in not consistant from video to video.

How do you focus so evenly?
 
Achilles,

Thanks, my system is on the latest firmware and when flying missions using DroneDeploy, I leave the camera on autofocus and have had success multiple times. Your image quality issues, are they shooting random still, and video or when doing mapping runs?
 
Thanks for your updates. I'm looking forward to testing using a friends ios iPhone 6 to fly a mission later today.
BTW, at 70mts, what speed, overlap (front and side) and resolution are you getting (via the programmes specs) flying your missions? All settings on your setup would be appreciated to see if they work for me :)
Until I get my ipad mini 4 later this week I am a bit stuck using my Android phone to get CLEAR images. Pix4D admitted they have a focusing issues currently on their app when I contacted them Thursday (not sure if it's ios and Android, or just Android), and DroneDeploy are ALSO having issues with the Android app. See my post above. Hoping to have positive news by late today on the success of a mission using ios device and DroneDeploy app.
 
Hi Hynekel,

Interesting Pix4D says there is a focusing issue.. I found that on 2 of the first in a sequence of images I acquired.. the rest were in focus

For the quarry image above using DroneDeploy I flew at 70m, 16 hectares, about 8 minutes, 3cm/pix GSD . Under advanced>automatic camera setting off (to the left)
Sidelap 60%, frontlap 70% (I think default) with max flight speed at 15m/s.
Rotate the flight direction to be parallel to the longest run the mavic will take. I set the C1 dial to control the shutter speed and adjust before take off and inflight just before image capture takes place
I found with the Automatic Camera Settings selected, the images would be overexposed.

Here is another orthomosaic I did at another quarry map. Whites Hill Quarry Orthomosaic
The shutter was 1/1000 sec, ISO 100 . Also have WB manual to suit if sunny/cloudy.

In DD, plan the mission on your desktop before you leave and then open your ipad and load/ cache the maps before you go. In the field I use the personal hotspot on my iphone as well

Fly on 100% battery. I should cut and past this 1000 times. The mavic will suck battery power to get to 75m and after the first minute of flight the battery capacity will drop down to 92% or so. This was very disconcerting for for me as I calculated at this rate the mavic would run out of juice. Once the mavic started flying, the battery drain diminished and stabilized.

For the quarry in the Whites Hill Quarry Orthomosaic link, it was a 8 minute 18 hectares flight and the mavic landed with 38% battery.

Also how is the wind up at 75metres.. who knows but it will have a big impact on mavic performance.

My advice is to do a short run say max 2 mins just get get your confidence up. Once you get experience and can capture images successfully, extend your runs. I also advice to launch from the highest point you plan to map and not the lowest.

Make sure you open DJI go app first and check all the setting there are appropriate set you home point. then close and open DD.

also be prepared to take control of the mavic when it returns to the home position overhead and land it manually

Best wishes
 
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One of my interests in using drones is for photogrammetry and 3D mapping. I recently did a 13 hectare map of a quarry near where I live. I programmed the flight on my desktop and sure enough there it was when I fired up my Ipad The flight time was approximately 10 minutes with the Mavic at 70 metres. Sure was impressive to see the drone take off into the sky and 10 minutes later land on the same spot.

The 3D model (can be viewed in real time ) is here DroneDeploy. Its made up of approx. 220 images. I also created a orthomosaic, the original being almost 17,000 byy 14,000 pixels. I resized and put on my Flickr page is anyone wants to see. goo.gl/VojHAR

Amazing technology that's for sure.

I am a Mavic owner and Certified Photogrammetrist and Mapping Scientist in Remote Sensing with a decade of aerial data processing experience. Hit me up with any questions. I'll give you pointers. Always happy to help someone with interests in this.
 

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