Drone Mapping

[Chaosrider]

I need to get a high level "Smart Pill" about how drone site mapping works. What the options are, what the equipment requirements are, that kind of thing.

Suggestions for reading material would be greatly appreciated!

Thx,

MM

 

[BigAl07]

First off what is the GOAL of the project? A cool high resolution picture to print? Or are you looking for measurable data?

 

[Chaosrider]

First off what is the GOAL of the project? A cool high resolution picture to print? Or are you looking for measurable data?

The mapping is the first phase of a perimeter control project for a large outdoor event.

In the operational phase, real-time FLIR monitoring will be necessary.

Intrusion detection is the high level objective.

Thx,

MM

 

[Camino Ken]

If I remember @Meta4 has done mapping projects. He might chime in. I’m sure there are others as well.

 

[Chaosrider]

If I remember @Meta4 has done mapping projects. He might chime in. I’m sure there are others as well.

Cool.

It's not an urgent need, but I do want to get this project scoped out for them.

Thx!

TCS

 

[BigAl07]

I usually "Fly" the mapping flights with Drone Deploy.

I used to do the processing with DroneDeploy or MapsMadeEasy but I now do my own processing once I built a laptop specifically for this task.

Check which Flight Apps are compatible with your specific aircraft before you get too deep into quoting/promising the project.

 

[Chaosrider]

I usually "Fly" the mapping flights with Drone Deploy.

I used to do the processing with DroneDeploy or MapsMadeEasy but I now do my own processing once I built a laptop specifically for this task.

Check which Flight Apps are compatible with your specific aircraft before you get too deep into quoting/promising the project.

I'm still in the early stages of requirements definition, but I already know the task is going to be way beyond the capacity of my humble little fleet of Mini-2s!

I think my role is going to be serving as rPIC for the overall mission, rather than doing any of the flying myself. Which is just fine!

Will I be able to snag some small amount of low-intensity non-mission flying time on some of the bigger drones that will be needed? I hope so!



Thx,

TCS

 

[SethB]

I'm still in the early stages of requirements definition, but I already know the task is going to be way beyond the capacity of my humble little fleet of Mini-2s!…

…Will I be able to snag some small amount of low-intensity non-mission flying time on some of the bigger drones that will be needed? I hope so!

In my experience flying big drones is like driving a big ol’ American car of yesteryear, one of those living rooms on wheels. By comparison a Mini 2 is more like a motorcycle.

Same skills. Cornering, braking, and handling potholes are different. A smooth ride with a big drone!

I’m always aware that I have a lot more money in the air with a big drone…

 

[Chaosrider]

In my experience flying big drones is like driving a big ol’ American car of yesteryear, one of those living rooms on wheels. By comparison a Mini 2 is more like a motorcycle.

Same skills. Cornering, braking, and handling potholes are different. A smooth ride with a big drone!

I’m always aware that I have a lot more money in the air with a big drone…

That's a particularly apt comparison for me.

I have a 1969 Mercury Grand Marquis, 19 ft long, and 4400 lbs! About 170,000 miles. Operational, registered, and insured. His name is Behemoth. I've had him for about 45 years. He was my "airport car" at a couple of different vacation destinations that I flew to regularly.

You don't actually steer him. You move the wheel in some direction, to suggest that he turn in that direction, and usually, eventually he does.

I also have two old motorcycles. Both Honda Goldwings, a 1975 (first year) and a 1983. Dino, and Beast. Operational, registered, and insured...and ridable starting tomorrow, when we get our first burst of heat for the spring! Beast has a little shy of 70,000 miles.

I like old machines...and I like to keep the running!

But give me cylinder head bolts to work on...don't give me little screws!!



MM

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

You don't actually steer him. You move the wheel in some direction, to suggest that he turn in that direction, and usually, eventually he does.

Still gotta love the old beasts.
You're driving a real machine there, and will outlast anything modern by 20x, maybe longer !

The mini 2 comparo, was thinking those little pocket trail bikes, and a 2 stroke at that !! ha ha
But still a might little drone for what's packed into them.

 

[Meta4]

The mapping is the first phase of a perimeter control project for a large outdoor event.
In the operational phase, real-time FLIR monitoring will be necessary.

It's not clear what mapping you need, but the basics for mapping are that you need to use one of the mapping apps which will help you plan the flight/s, control the drone to fly a precise grid and collect a large number of images with a 70+% overlap.
The images are loaded into photogrammetry software that turns hundreds of images into an orthophoto mosaic.
What you do with that depends on the project requirements.

You won't be able to use the Mini 2 and would need one of the drones that is supported by the app.

https://help.dronedeploy.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500004964842-Recommended-and-Supported-Drones

How big is the site that you want to map?
What's the terrain like and how much tree cover?

 

[Deleted member 93449]

This guys has a video that gives the very basics on drone mapping:

Drone mapping

 

[Chaosrider]

Still gotta love the old beasts.
You're driving a real machine there, and will outlast anything modern by 20x, maybe longer !

The mini 2 comparo, was thinking those little pocket trail bikes, and a 2 stroke at that !! ha ha
But still a might little drone for what's packed into them.

I haven't actually driven Behemoth in a couple of years. He's more like a family pet than a working car at this point. I should fire him up and take him for a romp up and down the hill.

The Mini-2s are indeed very impressive little beasts!

TCS

 

[Chaosrider]

It's not clear what mapping you need, but the basics for mapping are that you need to use one of the mapping apps which will help you plan the flight/s, control the drone to fly a precise grid and collect a large number of images with a 70+% overlap.
The images are loaded into photogrammetry software that turns hundreds of images into an orthophoto mosaic.
What you do with that depends on the project requirements.

You won't be able to use the Mini 2 and would need one of the drones that is supported by the app.

https://help.dronedeploy.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500004964842-Recommended-and-Supported-Drones

How big is the site that you want to map?
What's the terrain like and how much tree cover?

You're right...it's not clear yet! This is helpful thanks.

It's clear my Mini-2s aren't going to cut it for this mission. The most likely outcome is that I'll be hiring one or more pilots with bigger iron to do the job. But I just want to educate myself on the whole process before getting to that point. Which will include understanding what the various apps are and what they do, even though it's highly unlikely that I'll be personally dong any of the flying.

The size of the site can be approximated as a circle 7 miles in radius.

Very few trees, but a fair amount of sagebrush. Northern Nevada!

Thx,

MM

 

[Chaosrider]

This guys has a video that gives the very basics on drone mapping:

Drone mapping

I just added this to my growing list of "Mapping Smart Pill" sites!

Thx!



MM

 

[Zbip57]

There are many different mapping apps, but the big difference is which drones can be used. Apps like Litchi work even on the Mavic Mini. But, the Mini cannot upload a batch of waypoints and be sent on its way autonomously, because the Mini has no storage for such waypoints. In that case the app is actively steering the drone to each next waypoint. It requires a constant connection between the app and drone.

Other drones, like my older Phantom 3 Pro, can pre-load a large set of waypoints, and be sent off on its own to complete a mission.

I've been experimenting with mapping using MapsMadeEasy. Maps Made Easy - Home The many captured photos are uploaded to them and, for a fee, they stitch them and produce 3D renders etc. Other apps work similarly, offering "free" trials to get you hooked, then charging a subscription fee.

If you want to play truly for free, you can download and install the PIX4DCapture app and use that for automating the image capture process. Then, rather than uploading the many captured images for paid processing by them, you can instead process them on your own computer using the free Open Drone Map software.

There are different versions available. The simplest is WebODM. There is no subscription fee. The manual installation version is entirely free, but complex. I tried that one first, followed all the steps required, but kept getting error and failure messages. I found it's worth the small one-time cost to purchase the Windows "Installer" version, as that functioned perfectly. There's a 30 day money-back guarantee if you don't like it.

 

[BigAl07]

There are many different mapping apps, but the big difference is which drones can be used. Apps like Litchi work even on the Mavic Mini. But, the Mini cannot upload a batch of waypoints and be sent on its way autonomously, because the Mini has no storage for such waypoints. In that case the app is actively steering the drone to each next waypoint. It requires a constant connection between the app and drone.

Other drones, like my older Phantom 3 Pro, can pre-load a large set of waypoints, and be sent off on its own to complete a mission.

I've been experimenting with mapping using MapsMadeEasy. Maps Made Easy - Home The many captured photos are uploaded to them and, for a fee, they stitch them and produce 3D renders etc. Other apps work similarly, offering "free" trials to get you hooked, then charging a subscription fee.

If you want to play truly for free, you can download and install the PIX4DCapture app and use that for automating the image capture process. Then, rather than uploading the many captured images for paid processing by them, you can instead process them on your own computer using the free Open Drone Map software.

There are different versions available. The simplest is WebODM. There is no subscription fee. The manual installation version is entirely free, but complex. I tried that one first, followed all the steps required, but kept getting error and failure messages. I found it's worth the small one-time cost to purchase the Windows "Installer" version, as that functioned perfectly. There's a 30 day money-back guarantee if you don't like it.

Great input!!

I use DroneDeploy to create the flights (on the PC) and then to fly the aircraft and it works great and it's also FREE.

I never did get a reply from WebODM (I installed the PAID version) and just gave up on it unfortunately (good bye $50). I went ahead and went with Agisoft MetaShape and love it. I'm still learning the basics but I'm happy and my clients are happy so that's a WIN!!

 

[G Saunders]

Do you know about dronedeploy.com. Or if you've got server admin skills there's Open Drone Map.

Also, be careful with the terms 'mapping' or 'survey' since these are protected terms for licensed surveyors. 'Orthomosaic imagery' might be safer, but in some places surveyors are trying to claim that, too...

 

[Meta4]

The size of the site can be approximated as a circle 7 miles in radius.

This area would probably be too big for drone mapping and would be better done with conventional aerial mapping from a plane.
If you were to do it with a drone, flying at 400 ft you would have to make approximately 570 separate flights and capture about 217000 images.
With a single operator, flying 10 flights per day, that would take two months.
Finding a computer to handle that much data would be a huge problem.
This is not a job you could realistically do with a drone.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Maybe better to check out fixed wing drones, quite a few made for mapping purposes, and they are very efficient and much longer range then typical quad drones, even the more commercial type DJI units like the matrice etc.