Advice for large Photogrammetry Job

[ApexxAviation]

Hi everyone, I recently accepted a job for a mine where I will need to capture the volume of specific mine dumps (piles of rock and dirt). The mine dumps are spread out across of the side of a mountain. Im afraid the mountain slope will be too steep to to access and use GCPs. Im thinking of upgrading/renting a Mavic 3 E with RTK and a base station for this specific job. Im also worried about the vegetation and slope of these piles. Any thoughts on what would be a good set up (Drone and Software) to successfully capture these?

 

[adm_geomatics]

The Mavic 3E would definitely be a smart move. Using realtime terrain following is huge and provides a much more consist GSD than the inaccurate DEM's from the web. Processing software is agnostic , but very reliant on the GSD for accuracy. I personally use Metashape, but do have to use client systems occasionally. WebODM is free and decent for terrain work, but not so good at structures. Reality Capture from Epic is better for structural.

 

[WildDoktor]

...Reality Capture from Epic is better for structural.

Thanks for the Reality Capture suggestion; I just tried it out on a couple orthos. Takes up less system resources than WebODM / docker desktop, and the initial results look great!

 

[rainy]

I feel like I learned something new.

 

[Viewpoint]

Keep in mind your state laws on surveying. In my state, performing this work falls under professional certification and requires a license.

 

[John Githens]

Hi everyone, I recently accepted a job for a mine where I will need to capture the volume of specific mine dumps (piles of rock and dirt). The mine dumps are spread out across of the side of a mountain. Im afraid the mountain slope will be too steep to to access and use GCPs. Im thinking of upgrading/renting a Mavic 3 E with RTK and a base station for this specific job. Im also worried about the vegetation and slope of these piles. Any thoughts on what would be a good set up (Drone and Software) to successfully capture these?

You might also want to look at the Virtual Surveyor software product.

 

[adm_geomatics]

You might also want to look at the Virtual Surveyor software product.

Virtual Surveyor does not perform image alignment, generate point clouds, or create orthomosaics. It is not a full photogrammetry processing software like Agisoft Metashape, Pix4D, or RealityCapture. Instead, it is designed to work with pre-processed datasets, typically point clouds, DEMs, and orthomosaics, that were created using other photogrammetry software or LiDAR.

 

[John Githens]

Virtual Surveyor does not perform image alignment, generate point clouds, or create orthomosaics. It is not a full photogrammetry processing software like Agisoft Metashape, Pix4D, or RealityCapture. Instead, it is designed to work with pre-processed datasets, typically point clouds, DEMs, and orthomosaics, that were created using other photogrammetry software or LiDAR.

Given the initial poster's interest in measuring mine dumps, it seemed reasonable for at least educational purposes to suggest looking at the YouTube video about the new Terrain Creator. Also, the poster was concerned about the risk of placing ground targets to be Ground Control Points on the hillside. I have no affiliation with VirtualSurveyor.com, so any questions or comments should be directed to the developers.
(I am using a Mavic 3E with the RTK Module, then later using KlauPPK software and local (a few miles away) CORS data back in my office. Placing ground targets for GCPs is not feasible in one of my projects.)

 

[adm_geomatics]

Given the initial poster's interest in measuring mine dumps, it seemed reasonable for at least educational purposes to suggest looking at the YouTube video about the new Terrain Creator. Also, the poster was concerned about the risk of placing ground targets to be Ground Control Points on the hillside. I have no affiliation with VirtualSurveyor.com, so any questions or comments should be directed to the developers.
(I am using a Mavic 3E with the RTK Module, then later using KlauPPK software and local (a few miles away) CORS data back in my office. Placing ground targets for GCPs is not feasible in one of my projects.)

That’s great, but all I did was clarify that Virtual Surveyor is not photogrammetry software even though they consistently put the word photogrammetry in their marketing material.