Hey Michael… did you get a moment to look at the project? I understand you’re busy.
Thanks, John Petty
I do not see them in my login nor have I seen any email invites.
Thanks Michael. I sent the invite to the DroneDeploy@discourse.com. Is there another email I should send it to?
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I don’t know what that email is but I will PM you mine.
I can now see the maps on my dashboard and at first glance I can say that this is one of those situations where an agreed baseline needs to be set and held but I am also seeing about about a 5ft variance in elevations between 1 & 2. I picked the center of the shack. It’s probably not the best thing to calibrate the map to but there really wasn’t anything else that I saw that could be confirmed as a constant. If you use the single point calibration on a point like this it will allow you to set a custom elevation base plane so that you can get a better apples-to-apples comparison.
To me it looks like they are mixing materials so unfortunately there’s probably no leverage to separate the materials. Our projects start off like this but the piles slowly separate as time goes on.
Hey Michael, if I’m understanding this correctly, I would need to use the building as an elevation reference? They mentioned not being able to determine the y axis. Would this be a reason to have to use GPC‘s?
If you want to have all the maps aligned so that you could copy and modify annotations to the next map the I would suggest 4 GCP’s but this is just an isolated area so I think just annotating each map separately should do what you need. Think about the duration of the project as well. GCP’s relieve some headaches for this kind of work but are not really efficient for just a few maps. If you have something like an annual contract for monthly flights then it probably makes more sense but just placing one marker to do a single point vertical adjustment to is a must without GCP’s in my opinion. Maybe just pick a spot for the next flight and put something down for moving forward. It would be more accurate than just an arbitrary spot on the roof.
I really appreciate your input. I have been trying to avoid buying the equipment needed for ground control points. However, they are interested in hiring me to do monthly volume measurements. And it sounds like, if I’m understanding you correctly, I might need the new equipment.
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I think in the long run it would be in your best interests to head that way especially if they expand the area and you pick up more clients. It takes allot of the guesswork out and gives you a layer of protection that your maps are consistent and accurate. If you have NTRIP services in you area the GNSS gear is not really that expensive. Since you are in wide open areas you could start with one Emlid RS+ but if you see yourself getting into areas with allot of trees or buildings then the RS2 is probably a better choice. They are more expensive but it puts you at the level of a receiver that cost $10k+ for $2k.
Thank you for the information. I have a Phantom 4 pro. Would I be able to use this with the RS receiver or do I need to go to the RTK?
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The Emlid receiver would be solely for setting GCP’s and collecting any other survey data. Where do most of your flights take place? We can find out if there are free network RTK services. It would be the difference of $2,200 for an RS2 vs $7,500 for a Phantom RTK…
Right now just the one job. I’m also a truck driver and gone five days out of the week… 29355 entree, sc. there and 29301 Spartanburg, SC
I found two sites that are running off the same network and competitors of each other but I didn’t see any free services. Looks like it was only $600/yr but let me verify that with a couple of contacts I have in that area to verify.
Just to be clear, the RS is what I need to gather data on the GCP’s. Then I would send the data to DroneDeploy plus the images from the Phantom 4 Pro and DD would stitch it together with the corrected measurements? No RTK drone needed?
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That is correct. GCP’s will help keep the map pinned down and will greatly reduce the error in between them. Each flight thereafter will be almost perfectly aligned. As the surface area grows this becomes more important.
I appreciate all the information and your patience with this.
I would need to use the building as an elevation reference? They mentioned not being able to determine the y axis.. .
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You need to find something that is a constant elevation so that you can use the elevation calibration tool to make sure maps are as relative to each other as possible. Without GCP’s this will help a little but the elevations on each map are going to be different just because of the error in the drone’s native GPS. I think maybe they meant Z axis (elevation). The elevation you use to calibrate by doesn’t matter. It could be 500ft or 5000ft, just as long as that spot is the same elevation every time. The larger the area you map and the more area each stockpile covers the bigger the need for GCP’s or an RTK drone and checkpoints.