Survey and Drone Mapping - what do I need?

If you want to save a buck try OpenDroneMap. Its getting there. Load it up on local machine or run on Amazon EC2 and serve outputs to PostGIS, pay only for what you use (time)

I prefer Pix4D. Alternatively, send me your data and I’ll process it for you for a nominal fee :sunglasses:.

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I have tried ODM and the only way you can try the software for free is to get it off of GitHub. It takes some command line experience so it can get messy, but works pretty good. Not a big fan of their point clouds, but the orthomosaic are great. Otherwise you have to pay for it before you can download it.

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Besides the discontinued DJI Phantom 4 Pro v2, and besides the type of rolling shutters, which I understand are not good for mapping using the Mavic 2, is there another drone model that anyone can definitely recommend? Obviously there is a range of cost and project variables…so something average or above average cost etc. I would assume a recommended camera also? The Mavic 2 is fixed it appears. Again, new to all of this.

@timd1971 I am in similar situation but have been flying for years. DJI is gonna drop the ball, I do not have faith in longevity. They are not tailored for my needs and screw the Phantom 4 RTK ($$$$).

As such I need to replace my Phantom 4 Pro that has a few too many miles. The only thing I liked about it was the ease of flying and its halfway decent camera. I think I have grown out of what is available currently in the commercial market (cost effectively). I am going to start building specific to my needs and not look back or worry about if DJI is gonna release that next drone or not.

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I guess this is why they discontinued the Phantom 4? So you have to buy their whole RTK kit to get it.

Yeah, just from my new experience reading about all of this, seem like DJI is really dropping the ball here in many ways.

So besides building one, which I really don’t have the time for. Does anyone know what is the next best option that is ready to go and works with drone mapping?

I am also looking at Yuneec. I think @michaelL has flown a few of their rigs, maybe he could chime in.

https://us.yuneec.com/

Maybe I’ll build one and if you like it I’ll send you one @timd1971! But in all seriousness someone is going to fill this mid-size mapping platform gap soon. Its almost a joke how few companies have entered the arena afraid to compete with DJI. If I had other options I would have dropped my DJI years ago.

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I’ll have to start looking into all this.

Parrot?
https://www.parrot.com/business-solutions-us/

I have had very good luck with the Yuneec H520. They have an RTK model out as well. The normal kit is more than the stock Phantom 4 Pro kit, but it has many advantages over the P4P and a couple of disadvantages.

Pros (In My Opinion):

  • Higher stance makes it much safer/easier to land.
  • Hexacopter so you can lose a prop and it will drop the opposite motor to fly like a quadcopter.
  • Landing gear retracts.
  • The camera yaw is 360 degrees and can be panned manually and with the rectractable landing gear you have an unobstructed view.
  • Does better in the wind (because it is bigger and has 6 props)
  • Battery life is about 3-5 minutes longer.
  • While the images are not as pretty off the camera they do not do on the fly manipulation like DJI does which leads to immediate degradation of detail. The photos are much easier to correct and make “pretty”.

Cons:

  • It’s about 30% larger.
  • Not compatible with DroneDeploy or many other flight apps, but it is compatible with Pix4D Capture.
  • It costs about $2K more.
  • Not a mechanical shutter.
  • Photos are not as pretty off the camera.

Overall I rate the H520 as a more stable and versatile aircraft, but not necessarily a better mapper. Downside is that there is not another drone in the $2K price range that has a mechanical or global shutter. You would have to get up to aircraft that can carry the larger cameras to get the same images quality or better and that means a chunk of change.

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Hi everyone, apologies for the delay, things have been flat out busy with work and family. I’m still digesting all of the information here! I do want to thank everyone for their input. I’ll sit down this weekend and look through things in a bit more detail, but I think I can strike a balance between budget and accuracy with the tips and direction provided here. I’ll try and respond in more detail this weekend - I don’t want to be one of those random forum posters who asks everyone a question, gets good replies, and then is never heard from again! Haha. Cheers all.

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Yeah, I mean really… Come back with some intelligent questions. JK - Just giving the new guy a hard time, LOL. most of us would gladly accept a private message as well if you think that a question doesn’t necessarily benefit the thread.

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no problem @LDR2020! ; )

I am glad you started this post as I am in the same boat also, but I’ve got a lot of the Reach RS stuff down, just new to drones. These guys/gals here really are great.

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