If you Don't Understand LiDAR Yet

This is a great video on LiDAR for those that don't quite yet understand how it works.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

Why LiDAR is Better Than Stupid Photogrammetry

As I explained in my last post on DroneDeploy... not everyone is going to somehow be a professional mapping expert just because they learned how to stitch together images in Drone Deploy or Pix4d.  It simply isn't going to happen.

The funniest part to me is that most of these supposed "experts" don't even know the name of the actual service they are selling.  It's called Photogrammetry you nobs!

Photogrammetry is the act of stitching together hundreds of images to create an ultra high resolution 3D picture of an area.  Without going into too much detail, basically you calculate the angle of the ground you are mapping based on hundreds of images put together and the alterations in the ground based on these images.  For a very long time this was actually the accepted method of conducting ground surveys for difficult to reach locations.  It was extremely expensive to do from aircraft and most engineers and surveyors shudder when they hear the name.

So if you are using DroneDeploy or Pix4D, that is in essence what you are doing.  Which is ok, because those programs actually allow you to create pretty good data sets.  And if you are using GCPS you can even get good elevation and location data.

But now enter LiDAR.  The king of mapping.

Every engineer and surveyor will almost be beside himself if you mention LiDAR.  They use it for EVERYTHING!  If they are conducting initial site surveys, trying to put together elevation profiles, looking for basic topographical maps...any of those things, and these guys will just about go to their knees for you to get this data!

If you now put that LiDAR in the air.  These engineers will be literally bending over backwards to have you take their money.  Just take a look at this company doing UAV LiDAR...Flight Evolved.  They look like a couple of kids, but it seems like they have the right idea.  They claim you can cut costs by close to 50% and that is damned impressive.  I think it is technology like this that will be changing the face of surveying forever.

If I were a surveyor right now... I would be grabbing my ankles and be preparing to kiss my ass goodbye, because companies like Flight Evolved are soon going to be running the show.  If I wasn't retired, I would be checking out their job postings to see if I couldn't get hired!

UAV Mapping & The Dirty Secret about DroneDeploy

Every A-hole with a Phantom 3 and access to DroneDeploy is touting their stuff as the next huge Ag comp
any.  Here I will let you in on a little secret...your data sucks, your prices are too high, and you are never going to make it in the UAV industry as an Ag specialist.

Here is the deal.  Drone Deploy is an extremely cool piece of software.

For every weekend warrior, or Dad who is trying to justify buying cool technology to his wife, Drone Deploy is the coolest thing around.

They tell you exactly how to create the 3D orthomosaics, if you get the little NDVI filter for your camera lens, you can create awesome NDVI maps, and if you are really good you may even break into Pix4D itself and start goofing around with their software.  But here is the deal... It's not that hard to do.

Let me paint you something of a word picture here...

Imagine you are a farmer that makes $80,000 a year by working your ass off to grow crops.  Some drone pilot comes up to you and says he can give you amazing data on your crops with this little rink-a-dink drone.  You think that is pretty cool...until he quotes you a price in the thousands.  This drone guy obviously needs to pay his bills, cover his equipment, and make it worth his while to do all of the data processing.



But the problem is...the technology is so simple that this farmer could pay for his equipment by just doing himself once.  All he needs is a $700 Ag Phantom 2 and a subscription to drone deploy.  Then he can stand in the middle of his own field, hit go, and create all of his own NDVI maps.

Everyone in this industry for some reason thinks they are discovering some new, uncharted territory that will change the face of the Ag industry.  But this is just unfortunately not true.

So at the end of the day, I think all you weekend warriors need to take a more hardy look at what you are trying to accomplish with your drones.

Yeah you can make some cool stuff with Drone Deploy, but ultimately, a viable business option it is not.

Welcome to My blog

WELCOME

If you don't like what I have to say...well screw you I don't care anyways.

I'm here to talk about what I know which is LiDAR, surveying, and mapping.  That is all I'm going to talk about, so I hope you enjoy it.  Expect a few updates here and there, and whenever something catches my fancy, plan on me sharing it.

-Bob