Best app to map large areas

hydrocynus · May 26, 2018

Hello, I need to map an area of about 3000 acres. I have pix4d but the capture app does not really manage well the resuming of a mission when the battery has to be changed. I have looked at UGCS which seems a good option and that I would run off my toughbook as well as the IOS only app map pilot.

I use a DJI 4 pro ( I have 2 with 8 batteries).

Can this also be done with mission planner?

The idea would be to get the geotagged pictures and to feed them to pix4d for stitching.

I will be also using my VTOL fixed wing with RTK for land elevation mapping but I use MP for it.

Thanks!

FlyAlongside · May 26, 2018

Have you tried Ground Station Pro?
It resumes after a battery change.

racin06 · May 31, 2018

DroneDeploy has an excellent flight planner and manages resuming flights very well as a result of battery changes.

FlyAlongside · May 31, 2018

I haven't tried Drone Deploy yet, but didn't like Pix4D Capture very much compared to DJI's Ground Station Pro.
Does Drone Deploy resume where it left off after a battery change?

racin06 · May 31, 2018

Yes, DroneDeploy returns the drone to where it left off and does this flawlessly.

vgo195 · Jun 2, 2018

Map Pilot works flawless with multibattery missions.

Harleydude · Jun 4, 2018

If you have a VTOL, why are you going to use the P4P? While the P4P will take much better photos, it will take you a week of flying all day to cover 3,000 acres (Roughly 70-80 flights by my estimate). And the P4P doesn't have RTK, so you'll need GCP's if you want an accurate deliverable.

If you plan on mapping with your P4P...

Chances are, with 3,000 acres, you're going to have to manage elevations. GS Pro doesn't take terrain into account. Map Pilot does. And I'm sure you'll be away from WiFi, and maybe even away from Cell service. So you're going to need to plan ahead and cache all data before leaving your house. I find that Map Pilot (v2.8.1) works quite well for this. And it handles battery changes and mishaps quite well.

I'm curious...if you have a VTOL, why are you going to mess around with using a P4P?

D

FlyAlongside · Jun 14, 2018

Harleydude said:
If you have a VTOL, why are you going to use the P4P? While the P4P will take much better photos, it will take you a week of flying all day to cover 3,000 acres (Roughly 70-80 flights by my estimate). And the P4P doesn't have RTK, so you'll need GCP's if you want an accurate deliverable.

If you plan on mapping with your P4P...

Chances are, with 3,000 acres, you're going to have to manage elevations. GS Pro doesn't take terrain into account. Map Pilot does. And I'm sure you'll be away from WiFi, and maybe even away from Cell service. So you're going to need to plan ahead and cache all data before leaving your house. I find that Map Pilot (v2.8.1) works quite well for this. And it handles battery changes and mishaps quite well.

I'm curious...if you have a VTOL, why are you going to mess around with using a P4P?

D

what does Map Pilot base the terrain elevations off of?

Harleydude · Jun 14, 2018

FlyAlongside said:
what does Map Pilot base the terrain elevations off of?

SRTM (Shuttle RADAR Topography Mission). It's UBER accurate. In some cases, it even takes buildings into account (which I actually wish it didn't). I think you have to pay extra for it. It's worth every penny. But, like the map data, you need to cache it BEFORE you head out into a place away from WiFi and/or Cell service.

FlyAlongside · Jun 14, 2018

Harleydude said:
SRTM (Shuttle RADAR Topography Mission). It's UBER accurate. In some cases, it even takes buildings into account (which I actually wish it didn't). I think you have to pay extra for it. It's worth every penny. But, like the map data, you need to cache it BEFORE you head out into a place away from WiFi and/or Cell service.

Thanks Harleydude!
Sounds really good. What about trees?
How long have you had experience with it?

Harleydude · Jun 14, 2018

FlyAlongside said:
Thanks Harleydude!
Sounds really good. What about trees?

The bad news is, I'm in New Mexico. We don't have trees....<;^) Seriously, I don't know. I can't even speculate. Logically, I can say that if it's profiling buildings, it would think it would profile trees (or groups of trees).