Seeking advice for a career in Drone Surveying

[ZenSamurai]

Hi! So out of the blue, I've decided to get into drone photogrammetry, mapping/survey. Any advice on where to start? I was thinking of changing my Mini 2 for a proper drone and learning but adding all the costs of drone + courses + software and we break the bank. Another option I was thinking of was looking apprentice/assistant drone surveyor, but couldn't find any around London at the moment. Any advice will be much appreciated, or if you know someone in the business or offering this service that might be interested please let me know. Cheers

 

[Phantomrain.org]

This is a tricky slope as you will need to match up the drone with the Software :
You might start with Dronelink and consider getting the Mavic 2 pro to start with to get a feel for this.

Learning the software and what drone works best with that software is half the battle.
Good Luck

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water and survive near death falls.

 

[SethB]

I couldn’t say about the UK, but in my area of the Northwest USA I would certainly recommend a technical or trade school for geospatial information systems learning.

One of my early mentors flew farmland for a large organic food company, his work was about 10% flying and 90% working with the data for precision farming. This was his full-time job.

You should look into the local and regional licensing requirements for survey work - different areas may require professional education or certification. That varies a lot over the USA, I have no clue about the UK.

 

[MikeGilley]

Hi! So out of the blue, I've decided to get into drone photogrammetry, mapping/survey. Any advice on where to start? I was thinking of changing my Mini 2 for a proper drone and learning but adding all the costs of drone + courses + software and we break the bank. Another option I was thinking of was looking apprentice/assistant drone surveyor, but couldn't find any around London at the moment. Any advice will be much appreciated, or if you know someone in the business or offering this service that might be interested please let me know. Cheers

I think you expressed a really good idea when you brought up an apprenticeship. Not sure how easy or difficult it would be to find one that pays, but even finding an opportunity to be an unpaid apprentice would be a valuable education to help you discover enough about it to confirm you have a passion for it.

I think the educational part is hugely important as a starting point for the following reasons:

1) The education is important so you have the qualifications and credentials that are expected of someone that will perform mapping/surveying. I live near Chicago and my local community college (Harper College) offers a Drone Technology and Applications Certificate program offered through their Geography Dept: See Harper College Drone Technology and Applications Certificate program. I think of this kind of foundational education as the minimum level of education one should pursue.

2) Once you earn a certificate (or equivalent) in mapping/surveying, you'll be able to better have a meaningful conversation with people that could be prospective customers or a prospective employer. You'll also be in a better position to understand customer requirements and to determine what drone (along with other rover devices and services) may be required to produce the work products that are sought.

3) Then finally there's the selection of appropriate equipment with specs that are appropriate to supporting the mapping/surveying work that your customers or your employer need. Not all drones and camera payloads are capable of the level of (x, y, and z) positional accuracy, avoiding "rolling shutter issues", camera refresh speed, etc. You may also find more useful information through the MatricePilots forum where there are people that are doing this kind of work professionally.

Good luck! And let us know how things turn out.

Mike Gilley/Fox River Systems

 

[Felix le Chat]

Hi! So out of the blue, I've decided to get into drone photogrammetry, mapping/survey. Any advice on where to start? I was thinking of changing my Mini 2 for a proper drone and learning but adding all the costs of drone + courses + software and we break the bank. Another option I was thinking of was looking apprentice/assistant drone surveyor, but couldn't find any around London at the moment. Any advice will be much appreciated, or if you know someone in the business or offering this service that might be interested please let me know. Cheers

Best advice I can think to offer is to find a niche market, there are an increasing number of people undertaking this particular kind of work. Second suggestion would be to get a foundation qualification in forensic photography. Prospective clients take you a lot more seriously if you can show you work to forensic category #2 standards.

 

[PHZ]

I would suggest you get some experience working for a company that does mapping to learn the business. Throwing the drone up in the sky is a fraction of what you need to know/do.
There are some big changes about to arrive in the mapping sector. The technology is advancing quickly and the cost of entry is going up. The expectations in the map accuracy are going way past what has been the standard in the past. Having a surveying background, is much more valuable than knowing how to operate a drone.
Good luck in your journey.

 

[Meta4]

Having a surveying background, is much more valuable than knowing how to operate a drone.

Yes .. it's a lot easier to teach a surveyor to fly the drone, than to teach surveying to a drone flyer.

 

[ECI Air]

Yes .. it's a lot easier to teach a surveyor to fly the drone, than to teach surveying to a drone flyer.

So True, I am a heavy highway construction surveyor. I don't hold a license in surveying, but I work under a license surveyor. I got my license so I could fly for our company, but it hasn't happen yet.

When we use our drone, we have to go out and set targets and these targets have a GPS elevations on them. We end up shooting these targets between 100-180 times, (its about 1 sec per shot) with GPS . We shoot them that many times to get elevations pretty tight. That data is then sent to our main office and the drone operator does he office work, then comes out and flies.

 

[IronSky1]

Apprenticeships are what built our country in many skill areas. I started out 2 years in mechancial design then served 6 years as a tool and die maker and design engineer. (long time ago however, it gave me skills I still use daily.

I for one would like to see a lot more of it.