Is it possible to capture survey images with 2 cameras at the same time (with a Matrice 210 RTK)?
My thinking is this: we’d have a wide angle camera (X4S, 24mm equiv) capturing at 70% overlap, PLUS a longer focal length (X5S with 50mm equiv) capturing alongside it, which would result in about 30% overlap. The longer lens will give much higher spatial resolution, and the wider lens will ensure all areas are mapped.
My hope is that we can effectively use the wider images to help the longer images stitch together more reliably, but the final product (a 2D orthomosaic) would have the much higher resolution of the longer FL, compared with using the wider lens on its own.
Can Drone Deploy facilitate the capture sequence for both cameras (I believe they sync together on the UAV anyway)?
Is there any reason the above plan would not work?
NB: cross-posted on the Pix4D forum as well. We don’t have the equipment yet to test this, so hoping to understand as much as possible before buying the gear.
Hmm, intuition more than my knowledge about map stitching technology tells me that this is no go. Apparently you’re trying to employ the approach for shooting high resolution panoramic image. Indeed, 25mm lens will render amazingly detailed quilt, but at the expense of much more images to be taken, approx. twice what X4S must deliver. Moreover, mapping software will have to control shooting of two parallel sequences, synced somehow. If you’re after map resolution (who aren’t?), why don’t you just fly lower? Finally, as for now DroneDeploy doesn’t support M200 series, I believe.
You’re right, generally the longer lens would require more photos, but the reason is because there is a need to maintain a very high overlap (~70%). That overlap is needed not so much to physically render those areas of the scene (it is theoretically possible to stitch perfectly rectilinear images with basically 0% overlap), it’s to give the software enough overlapping detail to perform the stitch properly using point-matching algorithms.
If we can provide the software with plenty of overlap of both the short FL images with each other (think of this as creating a complete but lower resolution mosaic), and the longer FL images with the shorter ones (think of this as overlaying each long FL image onto the already complete mosaic), then maybe it could work?
The advantage of this over flying lower is that we can cover a larger area in the same time. If it works, there would be a significant advantage in the amount of area covered, the resolution obtained, and the time of flights.
I thought the M200 series was recently added to the supported list? Maybe I was wrong?
I don’t know about the app triggering the two cameras at the same time.
I have used two “cameras” regarding processing and it is similar in principle to what you are talking about.
Sometimes I will fly at two altitudes and upload both sets as one map. The higher one supports better alignment and stitching and the lower one supports better resolution. I did this with a P3P at 150 and 300 feet. I uploaded each separately and both together to test variations in resolution. The 150 foot gave .8 in/px resolution and the 300 foot gave 1.5 in/px. Both together gave .9 in/px. If the lower one works, I use it. If not, I lose very little with the combined set. The altitudes may need to be adjusted depending on subject matter.
@Gary thanks for the response. That does seem to answer part of what I’m wondering. Did you shoot the lower altitude flight with a normal (~70%) amount of overlap? I guess the main thing I’m wondering is whether the wider FL (in your case higher alt.) images can be used to compensate for the fact that the longer FL (or lower alt.) images don’t have much overlap. I’d be only getting about 28% overlap on those longer FL images, so the wider ones will almost certainly be needed.