Drone surveying

I started with the MapPilot (MapsMadeEasy app) timings, but found they were off by quite a bit. 100-200 ms, This is a big improvement on the exif tag timings and a major improvement on the PIX4D capture photo timings, but not good enough. I now capture the photo trigger event on the drone and pass it to the reach rtk unit as a timing mark. I think that I have this accurate to about 30ms (15cm at 5m/s). The reach antenna is as you see it, this is vertically over the camera when the drone is flying at 5m/s, the offset can therefore be taken off the altitude to get camera position. If you are really serious you can access the IMU data in mappilot log files and correct even further.
My method of capturing the DJI trigger event and turning it into a timing mark for the reach is simple and does not involve opening the drone up or permanently modifying it in any way. After a little more testing and the polishing of the workflow, a bit of python scripting, etc, I will be ready to either sell finished Phantom cradles for reach that include the timing mark generator or plans for the same. e-mail me at simon.allen@spatialanalytics.com.au to know more.

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