Mavic 3e/Matrice 4e vs Mavic 3 Pro accuracy with Orthomosiacs

[mavicpilotsnumpty]

Stupid question. Total newby with mapping. I used my Mavic 3 pro recently to map a forest. Only because that’s the only big drone I have. I have tried to use Pix4d but it has been quite complicated and have not been able to create an ortho mosaic map with the trial to export. Drone deploy took awhile but created an incredibly detailed map being able to see very small detailed points on the. The error rate on DroneDeploy suggests it is 0.6m. Having looked on Google that suggests it has been quite accurate.

Measuring very different control points I put on the ground to rear world objects using annotated points the map seems very accurate.

Given the price of a used Mavic 3e vs new Matrice 4e which is not massively different, I am wondering how much more accurate the RTK enterprise models would be over the Mavic 3 Pro to justify the £3500 price of the Matrice.

 

[Dave Pitman]

If you use a good network of accurately placed ground control points, and use them in the photogrammetry processing, you can achieve centimeter level global accuracy orthophotos and surfaces with the M3P.

If you want to rely on the drone to capture the highest precision photo capture camera positions, it is not possible with the M3P because, A, The gps receiver is not precise. And B. there is no mechanism for the location data to be written into the photo exif/xmp data that occurs with the M3E or M4E.

The potential accuracy difference between the M3E and the M4E is negligible. The consideration would be cost, and what other feature improvement on the M4E over the M3E you find as worth the cost. If cost is not consideration, then the newest model is probably the best bet. If you already have a battery family for the M3P, then that might be another plus to go with the M3E as they use the same batteries.

With the M3E, you would also need to purchase the RTK module, about $300 on Ebay. The module is built into the M4E. The M4E with the built in module can be a liability for tower inspection. But if you don't plan to do that ever, then it is not a factor.