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2D mapping/measuring with H520 & E50

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Hi,

I have the E50 camera which is used for telecom mast surveys.

I have been asked by a friend if I can assist with measuring a plot of land that he is in the process of buying which is adjacent to land he currently owns . The land is being bought from his neighbour and measures roughly between 6-7 acres in size. The land was previously covered in trees which have recently been felled which would make using google earth to measure, difficult without using a drone to obtain GPS points for to feed back into GE. The area of land is not square which also makes it difficult.

Would it be possible to (with the camera I have ) carryout a mapping survey , stitch the photos together and then measure the area with software? I have looked at various software packages that can be trialled or used under a monthly subscription but don't want to spend money if it's not possible with the E50/ H520.

I will be picking up a Typhoon H3 soon but will very likely have to wait until the new year for that.

Regards

JB
 
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Every picture, produced by your camera, should have EXIF data inside. There will be available GPS coordinates and a height from the ground. The height will be roughly true, but coordinates are OK if you accept a few meters in error or less. This is true if the camera points straight to the ground and the drone is in a stable position at this moment. After that, I think, there are a lot of free solutions to pin coordinates on the map and to measure everything like a distance or plot or what you want to measure. Better is to try on the known place, where you can recheck the coordinates with some online map, but yes, with your equipment you can do the job. To do the task faster and from the first time, prepare a plan of shoots from point to point. Again is good to use a map to get preliminary coordinates and to try to be closer to them when you fly.

The planning is 90% of your success,
 
This job can be done with the 520 and E50. The H3 will not be as effective as there is no mapping software to control the flight and timing for taking photos (same scenario as with the H480 and H+). You might try consulting @chascoadmin , @terrence davidson , or @Dougcjohn for setup using the E50 as opposed to the E90.
 
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There is facility within the Yuneec DataPilotPlanner software on the H520 to use the E50 camera. You can then produce the map through Maps Made Easy - Home which is a pay-as-you-go online service and will allow for measurement. I can't remember if you can use GCPs with it though, so maps may not be too precise.
Or Carlson Photo Capture.
 
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Use the Yuneec DataPilot planner to create your survey map, then process the images with webODM (which is free)
 
I received your PM and info but I don't understand how an EXIF editor is going to relieve the need for a flight planning software as @DoomMeister pointed out. It's not about the correct data being present, which it already is with every GPS-enabled drone. It's about being able to collect large sets of data in an orderly and consistent fashion.

One thing that Typhoons have is a speed control so dialing that between 14-16mph and a 2-second capture interval you can map fairly well. You just have to keep track of landmarks so that you can make sure that everything is being captured at the half and thirds so you can maintain 65-75% side overlaps.
 
Preprocess and post-process things. If the guy knows exactly where he wants to fly, no reason to fly at all. Google Earth gives a good possibility to calculate plot or distance. Just pin the points, where you want to plan to fly and calculate what do you want.

The task, IMHO, is slightly different. To fly somewhere and watch the Landschaft, until the owner said this is the place. Around this place, the pilot makes a few shots. These shots should be further recognized, sorted and the data from the EXIF placed in the appropriate software.

Sounds sophisticated, and if the most of proposals were to buy or to pay for something, is no reason to explain in deep.
 
Hi,

I have the E50 camera which is used for telecom mast surveys.

I have been asked by a friend if I can assist with measuring a plot of land that he is in the process of buying which is adjacent to land he currently owns . The land is being bought from his neighbour and measures roughly between 6-7 acres in size. The land was previously covered in trees which have recently been felled which would make using google earth to measure, difficult without using a drone to obtain GPS points for to feed back into GE. The area of land is not square which also makes it difficult.

Would it be possible to (with the camera I have ) carryout a mapping survey , stitch the photos together and then measure the area with software? I have looked at various software packages that can be trialled or used under a monthly subscription but don't want to spend money if it's not possible with the E50/ H520.

I will be picking up a Typhoon H3 soon but will very likely have to wait until the new year for that.

Regards

JB
Hey,
You can use Microsoft I.C.E if you can still find it. It is a shareware image program that can stitch for mapping and other things as well.

Johnny
 
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Hey,
You can use Microsoft I.C.E if you can still find it. It is a shareware image program that can stitch for mapping and other things as well.

Johnny
We use ICE for panos and 360's but it is only good for very small maps and is not horizontally accurate or georeferenced.
 
To point one more source of error in this game. All measurements via WGS data should be corrected with:
1. Corrected altitude due to not equal density of the Earth all around the globe;
2. AMSL deviations in the measured plot.
3. Somewhere the drone gives already corrected altitude, somewhere raw one ... and somewhere only it knows what it gives.
Let me give an example. You want to buy a small peak like Everest. You have a superior drone, which is capable to fly in the stratosphere, so the Everest's are a small spoon for it. In the opposite of other 8000+ peaks, on this one no flat place on the top. So, you will deal a place on WGS 2 by 2 kilometres. How much exactly square kilometres you would buy and pay for them? 4 or a lot more?
 
Thanks to you all for taking the time to reply. I will give it a go over the holidays .
 

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