Mapping Mountainous terrain

[vgo195]

Hi,
I am a surveyor and plan to use Phantom 4 for mapping.
I am looking for mission planning apps that support terrain following or terrain aware as they call it.
The ones that I found are Map Pilot for iOS and DroneHarmony for Android.
Are you aware of other apps that support this feature?

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Here's a couple videos on the subject:

 

[doktorinjh]

The ones that I found are Map Pilot for iOS and DroneHarmony for Android.

We've used Map Pilot on iOS with reasonable success. There was a camera focusing issue in the older app versions, so make sure you have the latest updates. Occasionally we'll have trouble loading the mission to our P4P, but a reboot will solve it. Frustrating, but worth it for the terrain following.

 

[vgo195]

Thanks for the replies. Litchi app doesn't suit my needs because as i can see it does terrain follow only on specific route you set. I need the terrain following in the whole grid of the area to be mapped.
Map pilot on the other hand does what i want but i don't know if the elevation data are available in europe and also i think the 30m dtm they provide is not that accurate.
I have a dtm of my area in 10m grid which is accurate enough but map pilot does not import our own dtm. DroneHarmony is in beta stage and i am afraid to use it.
One other question i have is, if the dtm have elevations from the mean sea level (orthometric heights) how the drone handles them on site? Does the phantom's gps has included some geoid model to compute orthometric heights?
Thanks all.

 

[doktorinjh]

Does the phantom's gps has included some geoid model to compute orthometric heights?

I don't believe that the Phantom uses the elevation provided by the GPS for any of its height calculations, there are too many variables and too much fluctuation over time. I think it relies on the barometer and visual systems for normal flight. But, I would assume that Map Pilot takes the Phantom's elevation at the time of flight and makes an adjustment to the known DEM surface. Then it figures out how high your mission is and makes a plan from there.

You should shoot Map Pilot an email, they have been reasonably responsive to issues that we've had.

 

[turfstuf]

I just started using Map Pilot but haven’t used the terrain following feature yet. When planning the flight, it asks you to place a point near where you’re taking off.

The option to follow terrain was greyed-out until I was connected to the drone. My hunch is that’s when it computes the AGL heights for the mission.

But I’d do like doktorinjh said and contact them directly. Would like to hear what you find.

 

[RocketBrew]

I have used Map Pilot with Terrain-Aware active and it worked great on a 100+ acre quarry site with >400' elevation changes. It even appears to slow when approaching a steep incline to allow the drone to gain enough altitude before speeding up again.
Quarry

 

[turfstuf]

MapsMadeEasy has some videos on their site that clearly explain the terrain aware feature. Haven’t tried it yet but will use it soon.

 

[vgo195]

I sent them email but didn't get an answer yet. I wanted to know if we can provide our own dtm in order to use it for mapping. The function is already in droneharmony.

 

[Dave Pitman]

I haven't used it or know if you can import your own terrain data but another app is UgCS

I have used Map Pilot with terrain and it worked well.

 

[vgo195]

Ok thanks, I'll give it a shot.

 

[ADobrovolskiy]

It's screenshot from UgCS - automatically generated route with constant AGL. Also UgCS can import your DEM data if standard elevation data is outdated or inaccurate. By default UgCS uses elevation data from open sources like SRTM - as any other software.

 

[Giorgio Filosi]

It's screenshot from UgCS - automatically generated route with constant AGL. Also UgCS can import your DEM data if standard elevation data is outdated or inaccurate. By default UgCS uses elevation data from open sources like SRTM - as any other software.
View attachment 93049

Hi Alexey, my question is : Does desktop application support multiple batteries mission ?

 

[doktorinjh]

Does desktop application support multiple batteries mission ?

According to their product description page, yes it does (2nd row down): UgCS

 

[ADobrovolskiy]

According to their product description page, yes it does (2nd row down): UgCS

Yes, UgCS allows to start mission from any waypoint after battery swap.
Please see this video

 

[Giorgio Filosi]

Yes, UgCS allows to start mission from any waypoint after battery swap.
Please see this video

Thank you so much Alexey ... we use for months UgCS One and really is the most professional and full UAV application on market ... soon we will switch on Pro version, but One still so good for alone UAV mission !
Best regards from Italy

 

[ADobrovolskiy]

Thank you so much Alexey ... we use for months UgCS One and really is the most professional and full UAV application on market ... soon we will switch on Pro version, but One still so good for alone UAV mission !
Best regards from Italy

Thank you Giorgio for feedback.

In UgCS Pro most important additions for photogrammetry missions are
- geotagged images import - you can use fresh map for planning
- elevation data import - allows to plan much more precise and safe flights
- KML data import as borders for photogrammetry areas/area scan or as waypoints

 

[vgo195]

I finished my 1st flight for mapping using the Map Pilot app.
So far so good in capturing the area of interest. I used also the terrain aware feature that did good job (see attached pics). It seems that it took in account the ground elevations and adjust the drones height.
Now for the proccessing to see the results and compare to traditional surveyed area with GNSS RTK.

 

[doktorinjh]

compare to traditional surveyed area with GNSS RTK

Looks great! Have you tried/heard of CloudCompare? It's an open source application for comparing point clouds and mesh surfaces. It might be interesting to put both surveys into it to see where any differences occur.

 

[vgo195]

I will check it but i don't know if it works because the rtk survey is in .dxf format and the drone survey in .las format.
I was thinking to import the .las to civil 3d and do the comparison from there but for now I have to settle the settings of the photogrammetry software in order to get the best output.