Fly mission based on polyline shapefile?

MavicMapper · Jan 11, 2019

I am seeking to fly a mission on my M2P along the alignment of some polylines from a GIS shapefile. Specifically, I am wanting to fly the alignment of some minor roadways for the purpose of photographing pavement distresses and building orthomosaics.

Does anyone know of a way to accomplish this? I have been using Pix4D capture to plan missions but I do not know of a way to fly a predefined polyline using this app. I realize that I could manually plot the mission but I want to avoid that as I have many roadway alignments to fly. Are there other apps that have this capability?

Full disclosure: I am very new to drone mapping so forgive me if my question is very elementary. It would be great if there is a quick and dirty solution that I don’t know about!

Many thanks in advance!

HawkView · Jan 12, 2019

The DroneDeploy app has an add-in module to import shape files.

Moosewax · Jan 12, 2019

MavicMapper said:
I am seeking to fly a mission on my M2P along the alignment of some polylines from a GIS shapefile. Specifically, I am wanting to fly the alignment of some minor roadways for the purpose of photographing pavement distresses and building orthomosaics.

Does anyone know of a way to accomplish this? I have been using Pix4D capture to plan missions but I do not know of a way to fly a predefined polyline using this app. I realize that I could manually plot the mission but I want to avoid that as I have many roadway alignments to fly. Are there other apps that have this capability?

Full disclosure: I am very new to drone mapping so forgive me if my question is very elementary. It would be great if there is a quick and dirty solution that I don’t know about!

Many thanks in advance!

I don't believe Drone Deploy or Pix4D capture support polyline planning. They just assume polygons.

UgCS definitely can create a waypoint Mission from polylines, I believe Map Pilot and possibly Litchi do as well.

MavicMapper · May 30, 2019

Bringing my thread back, I am also curious if there are any options to fly missions based on polygon shapefiles. Anyone done this?

I am still yet to try out UGCS or Litchi. I plan to use the trial versions first. But my wishful thinking is telling me to keep searching for a free option. I just want to prove out this methodology before I get my enterprise to spend money on a software that may or may not work for what I am trying to accomplish.

For a refresher, I want to fly 2D or 3D autonomous mapping missions based on a polyline or polygon shapefile. Would be so nice if Pix4Dcapture has this capability, as I am very comfortable with this app!

Merman · Aug 21, 2019

Just joined and reading through some threads and thought I'd give some input on this

Just finishing up my first commercial project and had to do a low AGL beach survey around an island following the inner reef and outer reef. All this was working from a ship.

I used DJI GSpro waypoint route then set the camera to take pictures on time interval. Easiest method for creating the route was making it in Google Earth or GIS software then uploading via the webserver to the iPad. Since I was on a moving platform, I created a base polyline file then edited the point and swapped the start/end based on where the ship was to maximize efficiency.

R Martin · Aug 22, 2019

MavicMapper said:
Bringing my thread back, I am also curious if there are any options to fly missions based on polygon shapefiles. Anyone done this?

I am still yet to try out UGCS or Litchi. I plan to use the trial versions first. But my wishful thinking is telling me to keep searching for a free option. I just want to prove out this methodology before I get my enterprise to spend money on a software that may or may not work for what I am trying to accomplish.

For a refresher, I want to fly 2D or 3D autonomous mapping missions based on a polyline or polygon shapefile. Would be so nice if Pix4Dcapture has this capability, as I am very comfortable with this app!

I do this all the time but I do not use DJI products. You have a lot more flexibility with higher-end UAVs than with the prosumer products. Hope you are able to figure out a solution to meet your needs.

AMann · Oct 14, 2019

HawkView said:
The DroneDeploy app has an add-in module to import shape files.
View attachment 1056 View attachment 1056

How are people getting DroneDeploy for free? When I look at pricing, they only offer it as a 14-day trial. I teach and wouldnt be using it commercially.

HawkView · Oct 14, 2019

The app is free to use, then you can process the images with any software.

AMann said:
How are people getting DroneDeploy for free? When I look at pricing, they only offer it as a 14-day trial. I teach and wouldnt be using it commercially.