Combining Drone Point Clouds with Terrestrial Point Clouds

[Clinton Carman]

Currently I'm looking to expand into a setup where I can create and combine both terrestrial and aerial point clouds together into a single model; that way I can scan an entire property, both inside and outside of the house/structure. I already use a Matterport camera and am arranging to get the Leica BLK360 laser scanner to handle the ground/inside portion, but am a bit torn on what is best for the aerial side of things. I will be upgrading my drone soon so I figured I'd come here and ask you guys/gals for advice.

What would be the best option for a drone to create good point cloud data without going into aerial mounted LiDAR?

• Phantom 4 Pro
• Phantom 4 Pro RTK (when it is released)
• Inspire 1
• Inspire 2
• Matrice 200 series (bit pricey)
• Other suggestions?

Once I get the drone, what type of mapping software would you suggest I use for the aerial portion? I currently use Autodesk's setup with Recap Pro to edit the 3D models created by the ground units but am also open to suggestions to other setups as I'm still new to this.

• Dronedeploy
• Pix4d
• Site Scan (3DR)
• Other suggestions?

Thank you in advance for your time and responses!

 

[UAV_Mapper]

A Phantom 4 Pro will do what you want, we use them for point cloud creation on mapping projects and find it to be a great platform.

For software, we use Pix4D and Photoscan and they both have their advantages. I think Photoscan works better with buildings and surfaces and we tend to get a better product out of it. Pix4D is more user friendly, though. Neither of those will allow you to import other point clouds though, so you'll have to do your combined work in another application. The UAV data that I've tried to compile in Recap Pro is awful and I would steer clear, if that's an option. You'll probably have better luck bringing in a point cloud file from one of the other programs. The only other one you might look at is Bentley's Context Capture, it's supposed to be able to combine multiple types of datasets with relative ease, although I haven't really played with the feature.

 

[dronie326]

Phantom 4 Pro would be your best bet out of what's currently available from the list you provided. Perhaps an Intel Falcon 8+ if you want to go higher resolution and capture overhangs easier.
I don't have hands on experience using Bentley Context Capture but have heard it produces the best 3D models and have seen results that back up the claim.
I would be really interested to see your results. Combing exterior and interior scans to create a complete model is something I have thought about and wanted to do for a while now.

 

[Clinton Carman]

Thank you both for your suggestions! I actually found a great deal on a used P4P so I jumped on it.

To be clear, programs like Photoscan or Bentley ContextCapture are software that combine images into a point cloud, but they do NOT assist you in taking those images. If I were to choose that route, would I need to use something like DroneDeploy or Pix4d to help with the automated flight and time-interval imaging, then take those photos and dump them into the first two programs? Does DroneDeploy and Pix4d give you the individual photographs (which you could then take elsewhere), or only the 3D point-cloud?

If I were instead to use DroneDeploy or Pix4d to not only do the automated flights, but also create the 3D point-clouds, what are the differences between those point-clouds, and those created by Photoscan/ContextCapture?

Lastly, I've heard that Photoscan is a one-time cost of about $3,500 USD, any idea how much ContextCapture would run?

 

[UAV_Mapper]

but they do NOT assist you in taking those images

Correct, those are post-processing, desktop applications that take the acquired imagery and produce data products (such as orthomosaics, point clouds, digital elevation models, etc.).

To acquire the imagery with your P4P, you will need to connect your Android or iOS device and run an app. For mapping on an iOS device, I recommend Map Pilot or DJI's GS Pro. Others will recommend Drone Deploy or Pix4DCapture. All of those are free, but Map Pilot (made by Maps Made Easy) has a pay feature that will adjust your flying height to match the terrain, which is invaluable for areas with a lot of relief. Otherwise, GS Pro has distance/time/grid planning, DroneDeploy seems widely used (but I don't use it because we have our needs covered), and Pix4DCapture is mildly infuriating at times due to malfunction. You'll have to play around with which ones meet your needs. Litchi is highly rated for video planning.

Not sure how much ContextCapture costs, but I think it's similar to Pix4D. PhotoScan is the least expensive and doesn't have a subscription based service.