Program to Pre-Fly the "perimeter" and then create the MAP from that?

[BigAl07]

I've got some landslides to document that are irregular in shape and the exact locations aren't known until we get on site. My thought process is I could fly to the edges of the slide areas, click a button to "Define" the perimeter, continue to go around the area defining each point and then launch the automated flight program (DroneDeploy for instance).

Is there a program that will allow me to create the outline of the area while in flight and then the program create and fly the mission in a grid pattern taking the images as required?

I've used MapsMadeEasy and DroneDeploy and to the best of my knowledge neither of those will allow In Flight point generation.

Any suggestions?

 

[shooter]

I've got some landslides to document that are irregular in shape and the exact locations aren't known until we get on site. My thought process is I could fly to the edges of the slide areas, click a button to "Define" the perimeter, continue to go around the area defining each point and then launch the automated flight program (DroneDeploy for instance).

Is there a program that will allow me to create the outline of the area while in flight and then the program create and fly the mission in a grid pattern taking the images as required?

I've used MapsMadeEasy and DroneDeploy and to the best of my knowledge neither of those will allow In Flight point generation.

Any suggestions?

The only platform and related flight control software I'm aware of that can do that is the FLIR SkyRaider. It has the capability to take a real-time photo of an area which is then overlaid onto existing map imagery. The operator can then plot waypoints, or in your case, a grid that covers the real-time photo area. Unfortunately, this platform isn't available to the average "Joe Pilot."

 

[MapMaker53]

If all else fails, you could fly the perimeter with Litchi, which I believe shows you current coordinates as you fly. Periodically, read off key coordinates so your assistant can write them down. Then call up Google Earth Pro and add placemarkers based on those coordinates. At least that will give you a general idea of the extent of the slide(s) when setting up your grid while comparing landmarks on the two aerials. Would be helpful to use a laptop to drop the placemarks onto Google Earth for reference. Just a suggestion from a non-techie. A bit time consuming, but could be done in the field. Actually, faster would be for your assistant to just enter the placemarkers into Google Earth as you read them off.

 

[BigAl07]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the suggestions. Now for the WEATHER to play nice so we can hike in and document the areas. The things I get myself into LOL.

 

[adm_geomatics]

If your drone is supported by Litchi then that's what I would use. You can plan as you fly. Dropping waypoints on the screen and then filling it in or using them to export a KML to plan in another software like DroneDeploy.

 

[lou101]

I think this new program named Hammer will do it.

Drone Mapping Software | 4D Structural Inspections | Hammer Missions

Hammer Missions provides a versatile drone flight planning app and data processing software for 3D Mapping, building inspections, surveys and a variety of other use-cases. Our software helps drone businesses and enterprise UAV teams collect and analyze drone data for 3D infrastructure surveys &...

www.hammermissions.com

Good luck.

 

[lou101]

I just checked their website. In the section under tutorials- horizontal inspections, I found this:
"Note: A shape can also be drawn by flying the drone to the appropriate GPS coordinates and tapping the back (right) button on the remote controller.
4. Once you are happy with the shape, click OK on the right panel. This will generate a dotted grid for inspection in the drawn shape."

 

[adm_geomatics]

We came across this program not too long ago and just crossed my mind. Has anyone used it? This flight mode maybe?

UGCS

 

[Alexey Dobrovolskiy]

I'm CTO of SPH Engineering, developer of UgCS. Can answer on any questions

 

[Alexey Dobrovolskiy]

For scenario described in this thread you can use 2 approaches in UgCS:

- fly manually over points of interest and set marks on the map where the drone is. Later you can use Photogrammetry tool to generate mission to map all the territory



- fly photogrammetry mission over all area with low GSD, collect imaginery and process it in UgCS Mapper (currently, it is included in UgCS Pro). Import actual map back into UgCS and plan a new photogrammetry mission using an actual map.

Short video describing this scenario -

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one more video about UgCS Mapper -

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[adm_geomatics]

In similar fashion to @Alexey Dobrovolskiy 's advice you can do a similar method with Litchi and DroneDeploy. Maybe with just a DroneDeploy Live Map which process in about 15-20 minutes after the flight. You can then plan on that map.

 

[Kristina Fowler]

I've got some landslides to document that are irregular in shape and the exact locations aren't known until we get on site. My thought process is I could fly to the edges of the slide areas, click a button to "Define" the perimeter, continue to go around the area defining each point and then launch the automated flight program (DroneDeploy for instance).

Is there a program that will allow me to create the outline of the area while in flight and then the program create and fly the mission in a grid pattern taking the images as required?

I've used MapsMadeEasy and DroneDeploy and to the best of my knowledge neither of those will allow In Flight point generation.

Any suggestions?

Al - you might try AutoPilot (by Hangar). See the image below. I use a P4P.

Manually fly to a start point. Hit the "C2" button on the underside of the controller and you'll get the popup shown on right - then hit "New Waypoint at Start" to drop a start-point (#1) on the map. Then manually fly to the next point you want to record, hit C2 gain, but this time hit "New Waypoint at End" to drop your next point (#2). Continue the process (wash-rinse-repeat) until you've dropped all your points down. Then save the waypoint mission (Done > Save as). There are actually 8 waypoints here. I merged waypoint #8 with waypoint #1 (after creating your last waypoint near waypoint 1, drag it directly over waypoint 1 and it will prompt you to merge the two waypoints which will complete the circuit).

You'll also notice at the top of the popup, it gives you GPS info about the exact point your drone is located at the time ("Use Location") which you could be useful for future projects.

If you want to only take obliques or video, this should work well. However, it will not let you convert the waypoint mission into a crosshatch grid for mapping.

You can also drop multiple focus points ("New Focus Trigger") for your camera to lock on to specific points inside the waypoint route as you fly (both stills and video). Your camera will continuously lock onto that point regardless of drone movement until it reaches the next focus trigger.

Disclaimer about AutoPilot: Their Customer Service went dark a long time ago but the app still works very well.

You might also try a similar (free) app called Dronelink created by the same developer (I think) who also created AutoPilot (same look and feel).

Hope this helps...

 

[BigAl07]

Thank you very much for the very detailed reply.

I've used AutoPilot (I was a big HANGAR fan when they had Customer Service) before.

We hiked in to the locations this morning and shot the mud slides manually. I've put a feature request in for DD to possibly allow this type of functionality into their app.

 

[adm_geomatics]

Thank you very much for the very detailed reply.

I've used AutoPilot (I was a big HANGAR fan when they had Customer Service) before.

We hiked in to the locations this morning and shot the mud slides manually. I've put a feature request in for DD to possibly allow this type of functionality into their app.

Thanks for the update and feature request to DroneDeploy. They really do have good CSR’s and work hard at getting our requests in line with there vision.

I think Hangar’s software is pretty good, but they are (were) right down the road from me and were like used car salesmen basically doing everything they could to get info out of me, but finally got the hint. Or maybe it was just them getting bought by Airmap. I wonder if that has anything to do with their customer service.