What can drone technology do for you? Brady Woodard & Erik - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

What can drone technology do for you?

Brady Woodard & Erik Nelson

Benefits

2

• Cover large project areas quickly
• Added value of aerial image
• Safety
• Mass data collection
• High detail
• Economical
• Versatile use
• Video, still images, photogrammetry, volumes, GIS integration, etc.

Challenges of Drone Operation

3

• Nature of photogrammetry
• Stitching multiple still images together

into one overall image

• Red tape on FAA
• Drone Pilots License
• Regulations
• Liability Insurance
• Additional Drone Coverage
• Property Access
• Identify property owners
• Technology and data
• Processing data can be a challenge
• File sizes are large
• Costs - lots of equipment to buy and

maintain

• This type of technology can

become outdated quickly

Multirotor vs. Fixed Wing

4

Multirotor

5

• Pros
• Handles the wind well (~25 mph)
• Able to stay directly in mission area
• Ability to hover for best vantage point
• Real time view
• High quality video and images from any angle

− Versatile uses

• Cons
• Unable to cover large work areas
• Limited battery life

Fixed Wing

6

• Pros
• Made specifically for photogrammetry
• Top-notch mission planning software
• Flight time of 35 minutes or more
• Cons
• Needs a larger area to complete mission
• Wind can make it tough to fly

− Winds need to be below 20 mph

Prepping for flight

7

Equipment

8

• Have a bird’s eye view
• f the territory rather

than walking the property for hours

• Survey crews can

scout prior to entering the site

What can drones do?

9

How does it work?

10

• Initial look at the

site from a safe location

GIS Integration

• Parcel Map Example
• Determine who the

adjacent landowners are along the flight plan

• Have an overall map

depicting the flight plan area

• Identify areas preflight as

past problem areas

• Goose River Flight

Example

• Map Flight Plan
• Manage Drone Flight

Photos

• Document Problem

Areas and Remediation Plans over time

11

GIS Integration

• Goose River

Flight Example

• No longer a

need for boots

• n the ground

12

DRONES FOR ENGINEERING/SURVEY

• Now partnering with SkySkopes for:
• LiDAR Mapping/Modeling
• Large Scale Photogrammetry
• Asset Inspections
• ROW Monitoring Mapping

AIRCRAFT & SENSORS

MFD 5000 Altus ORC 2 DJI M210 MiniRanger +/- 1-2 CM Accuracy 100k Points Per Sec. Mirage OGI Thermal Camera Ranger +/- 1 CM Accuracy 700k Points Per Sec 20MP Camera Flir Duo

Processing Options

Elevation Model Orthomosaic Colorized Point Cloud Classified Point Cloud

• Pix4D (Orthomosaic)
• Terrasolid, TopoDOT, Microstation

(LiDAR Processing) Software

PIX4D – PROCESSING

PIX4D – PROCESSING

FEATURE EXTRACTION EXAMPLES - TOPODOT

Recently Completed Projects

• ND State Mill
• Moccasin Creek & UND
• Refinery Tank Survey
• Railroad Bridge
• Highway Project

ND State Mill

Information: Approximately 300 acres

• Aerial - 220 acres
• Ground - 80 acres

Onsite Time: Aerial - 2.5-3 hrs Ground - 0.5 hrs

HIGHWAY PROJECTS

• Extremely difficult

survey 1:1 slopes and dense vegetation.

• LiDAR could accurately

survey through the trees and slopes.

• Penetrated dense tree

cover and vegetation

• Onsite about 6 hrs.
• Surveyed 3 sites

Total 10 miles

LIDAR POINT CLOUD – HIGHWAY PROJECT

• Full LiDAR collection
• Video of area fly through

LIDAR POINT CLOUD – HIGHWAY PROJECT

• Ground Classification only

Moccasin Creek & UND

Moccasin Creek

Information: Approximately 18 miles

• Aerial

photogrammetry

• Orthomosaics

Onsite Time: 2 Days

UND

Information: Approximately 300 acres

• Aerial

photogrammetry

• 3D Model

Onsite Time: 2 Days

Photogrammetry Based Volumes

3D RENDERING FROM PHOTOGRAMMETRY

QUESTIONS COMMENTS