Mavic 3E - Mapping / Modeling

[Torchbearer]

Hey guys - as many of you know, I'm wanting to get into mapping/modeling work and trying to figure out which drone to get for this. I've been thinking maybe a Phantom 4 Pro, but now with the Mavic 3E being announced with a mechanical shutter, I'm thinking that may be the way to go

What do you think?

 

[jaja6009]

While the Phantom 4 Pro V2 will always be a great low budget choice for mapping when used with GCPs, the Mavic 3 Enterprise will just flat out be a better, more consistent and more accurate solution.

You will pay more for it than a Phantom 4 Pro, but this looks to be the new small sUAS standard.

Benefits

• The RTK module will enable it to eliminate or reduce the number of GCPs (Not Check Points).
• 4/3 CMOS sensor has larger pixels and with the larger sensor will have more data per image for photogrammetry
• Mechanical Shutter up to 2000
• CMOS sensor specs superior to P4P or RTK so you can fly higher for equal GSD for a faster mission
• Longer Flight Time

I still am wondering if this sUAS will be like the Phantom 4 RTK and have the lens distortions in the image's metadata. Not a huge deal, but I have good luck with them in Agisoft.

Do you have a business plan for investing such a large amount of money into this platform?
Some states will civilly sue you if you perform mapping while not being a PLS (Surveyor).
Just somethings to keep in mind.

 

[Torchbearer]

Thanks for the reply. Okay cool, I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything

I'm not a surveyor. I did look into it when I became interested in this stuff, but it looks like I needed to be on that track at the beginning of college (I'm in finance )

I appreciate you pointing this out though because I just recently learned this

What I really like is modeling buildings, cell towers, construction equipment, bridges, etc. Been spending tons of time at construction sites and on Reality Capture. Though I feel like I'll need to add more services to make this worth while

For surveying work, I'd like to partner with a PLS. It sounds like that's the most common route to go from this position

I'd like to learn how to do that type of work and get a good at it before I begin reaching out to local surveyors. I expect that I'll be learning on unpaid jobs I create for myself on weekends.

Interested in any other thoughts you have. I'm just getting started. Here from the FPV side of things because I love this stuff, but I have a ton to learn

 

[jaja6009]

Thanks for the reply. Okay cool, I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything

I'm not a surveyor. I did look into it when I became interested in this stuff, but it looks like I needed to be on that track at the beginning of college (I'm in finance )

I appreciate you pointing this out though because I just recently learned this

What I really like is modeling buildings, cell towers, construction equipment, bridges, etc. Been spending tons of time at construction sites and on Reality Capture. Though I feel like I'll need to add more services to make this worth while

For surveying work, I'd like to partner with a PLS. It sounds like that's the most common route to go from this position

I'd like to learn how to do that type of work and get a good at it before I begin reaching out to local surveyors. I expect that I'll be learning on unpaid jobs I create for myself on weekends.

Interested in any other thoughts you have. I'm just getting started. Here from the FPV side of things because I love this stuff, but I have a ton to learn

I would start with learning about what products you can legally offer in your state in terms of mapping.
Next, you would truly need to learn construction and surveying. A surveyor would expect you to know coordinate systems, datums, ellipsoids, geoids, local grids at a minimum.

Just buying the new M3E alone will not magically make your maps surveyor grade. You will need have access to corrections for the sUAS. NTRIP, CORs, base unit etc. Some states have free NTRIP, but CORs are free for PPK.

With the proliferation and ease of access of sUAS and mapping software, there are a lot of people who can do basic mapping. To stand above them you really need to understand mapping. I can have my 15 year old nephew make a map in Drone Deploy in 5 minutes. It will be pretty, high resolution and be georeferenced. It will have value. When I ask him about what datum its in, and why the coordinates are shifted and the elevations are incorrect, he will not be able to answer that. If I asked him to rectify it to a local grid I made in that area, he would again not understand. When I ask him to at least tell me how inaccurate it is and why, he will also not have a clue.

Selling maps as progression of a project is legal when done correctly for your state, but will not command the large dollar prices of a professionally ASPRS guided map with a state stamp on it will.



I would really make an effort to make a business plan. It will answer a lot of your questions.

Write your business plan

Your business plan is the foundation of your business. Learn how to write a business plan quickly and efficiently with a business plan template.

www.sba.gov

The above will walk you through it. Do the full process and at least you will have an idea of your strategic goals.
If this takes you any less then a few weeks, you have not done the research needed.
A business plan needs to be done completely, starting a small business is hard work, needs to research all elements from laws, regs, budget, products offered, education, startup costs, recurring costs, insurances, taxes, and more.

Buying a drone (tool) and then forcing it to a use case can be a bad decision.
Some people on this site have succeeded in making a viable drone business that offers mapping. The majority of them will tell you it was a long road to get their products and services to where they are now.
See if your college offers any surveyor classes, GIS or Remote Sensing. Take them for a strong base and foundation.
Just searching the posts in this site and reading all of them will help you to understand the different subjects in drone mapping and the problems people run into.

 

[BigL]

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of your business plan. Jaja6009 makes a lot of good points.

 

[Enorda]

I took a mapping course (mapping and modeling, and then had nothing on modeling). What it did was give me a bunch of projects to work on, some with provided sources, some I went out and did on my own, and did things like utility inspections.

None of these were survey grade. I did not use RTK, mostly a P4P, but got experience with qGIS, CAD, topography maps. They discuss GCPs, and I made a couple myself, but without a surveyor placing it, it is still only locally referenced.

It was a great introduction to learn what I didn't know. I think it lists for about $500, not positive as I got a package deal. Also lead to things that can provide contract jobs, like I did a parking lot analysis and grading, which can be done without needing survey grade, because it is just looking for wear, cracks, etc which big box stores need to determine when to repave or resurface.

Anyway, I have 2 p4ps, and I am thinking about the M3E, just for new technology, honestly the P4P did a good job, and was perfect low cost for learning, and getting a couple jobs. And the course was great in allowing me to see what customer deliverables may be necessary.

And you might want to talk to a surveyor. The ones I spoke with so far have mostly said they just use their GNSS sticks and do not need a drone, unless the site was huge like 100+ acres which a lot of times are government and they have their own. The surveyor that did my 20 acre odd shaped lot, was done in about 2 hours, and didn't have any need for an overlay of a photogrammetric map, that his clients didn't have that need.

Good luck, I haven't had much time to work on it, but this is definitely the direction I am heading as well, as a non-surveyor wanting to do maps, topography, building modeling, inspections, etc.