From Drone U to You – July 2, 2018
“Have you given up on epic flying? A recap of the drone industry”
Hey Fellow Dronies!
As I attempt to offer more and more insight into the industry and grow our community of learners, I wanted to write a personal message to everyone who has supported Drone U in our weekly Fly-Lights email.
Something I learned:
In recent weeks before my wedding, I went into a major deep dive into drone mapping with Pix4D. While in Denver with Pix4D, we recorded one of the best podcasts we have ever published. It’s Episode 795, and we talk about how the smallest nuances can dramatically affect the accuracy of your maps. I would highly recommend listening to that show.
In addition, many of you who listen to the show know that I’ve been an advocate AGAINST random yahoo’s teaching the local enforcement officers how to do “crime scene mapping”. Being the son of a lawyer who almost inherited our family law firm, I understand how the smallest legal nuances can affect someone’s life FOREVER.
So I’ve been on a mission to create a system for the ultimate checklist to ensure survey grade accuracy with any type of mapping, especially crime scene mapping. I’m not a surveyor. But after working with a few surveying companies, I feel extremely confident in this new process that will become a class here at Drone U.
In my quest to ensure that the right systems would be implemented in the United States, I learned that some of the mapping drones I recommend…. are in fact awful for mapping. I recently learned that the Yuneec Series of drones all have rolling shutters. And I just learnt how this can affect the maps in a negative way.
We noticed a significant difference in the Ground Sampling Distance when comparing the Phantom 4 Pro to the Yuneec H520, a drone I personally like. The Yuneec H520 is really stable and allows an operator to fly more days out of the year. But, even when you correct for the rolling shutter in post processing with Pix4D, the rate of error still fluctuates.
During the comparison, we realized that the GSD from the Phantom at 90 feet was .77 cm gsd. The Yuneec map came back at .73 gsd but only after there was a correction. Check out the full review here.
Long story short, I’ve realized unless a camera has a mechanical or global shutter, it is NOT a good mapping drone. Even the Phantom 4 Pro isn’t a “true” global shutter but a mechanical shutter.
Long story short, the Phantom 4 Pro is still the best mapping drone.
In addition, we just received the new Phantom 4 Pro V2 and began flying it and testing it. Yes, the drone is 4db quieter than the Phantom 4 Pro. But, is it really worth it? Not in my opinion.
The P4P V2 flies in a more unstable manner, especially on descents. In addition, it is not nearly as agile. Moreover, Pix4D and MapsMadeEasy have yet to connect with the drone. Wondering if you should buy the Phantom 4 Pro V2 right away… the decision is ultimately up to you but personally, I would wait.
Thank you for being a part of this growing community. I greatly appreciate your support of Drone U.
Make sure to check out the Construction Mapping class, Subject Tracking class and the Night Photography class that just launched on the site!
See you next week!
Paul