Detecting Obstacles with LiDAR Sensors in Drones

The drone market is growing fast and so is the need for obstacle detection technologies and accurate sensing. LiDAR offers an accurate 3D map of a drone’s surroundings, performs well in bad weather conditions, and is easy to add to drones for use.

Drone LiDAR service with LiDAR sensing is becoming an important technology for autonomous drones. Drone LiDAR consulting services help users utilize LiDAR sensing for industries needing accurate obstacle detection.

Why LiDAR Sensing Is Great for Drones

LiDAR is great for several reasons: it’s a versatile technology that complements other detection methods, even outperforming them. It became a game changer for drone and unmanned vehicle manufacturers over using traditional sensing technologies (i.e. sonar or radar) due to its flexibility with specifications, integration, and form factor.

Some drones use ultrasound and stereo cameras, but these have limited range. LiDAR has no such limitations. While stereo cameras can create high-res images, they’re more sensitive to varying light conditions.

Scanning LiDAR vs. Solid-State LiDAR

It’s important to understand the difference between scanning and solid-state LiDAR. Scanning LiDAR is known as the technology that enabled revolutionary changes such as high-resolution terrain mapping or Google self-driving cars. Scanning LiDAR can create precise depictions of their surroundings; however, it comes at a high cost. This technology is often expensive, heavy, bulky, and requires fragile mechanical mobility. These factors make it not a great resource for commercial UAVs.

Solid-state (also known as fixed-beam) LiDAR is different than scanning LiDAR. Rather than being projected in several directions as single-point rays, the light source that’s the detection medium is emitted in a fixed, diffused beam. While limited in resolution and range compared to scanning, solid-state LiDAR is smaller, lighter, and require less processing.

Solid-state LiDAR has no moving parts which offer better durability. While they lack the range, resolution, and sensitivity, they are less expensive than scanning LiDAR for drone applications.

LiDAR Sensing Helping Applications for Drones and UAVs

With drone LiDAR service and sensing used for navigation, applications are varied and can include collision warning, pilot assistance, or higher levels of autonomy. Sensors are also capable of altimetry to ensure smooth takeoff and landing.

Can Drones Have a Full 360-degree View of their Environment? 

Currently, there isn’t a fully autonomous system available to provide accurate multi-directional sense-and-avoid technology for commercial UAVs. They need to be able to detect potential obstacles, determine the risk of a collision, and take action by overriding a pilot’s input (if needed) in a 360-degree sphere around the device.

This may be a few years away for consumer and commercial drones. While the sensor technology exists, other core functionalities need to be perfected such as artificial intelligence and perception algorithms. Weight and price are also significant factors for drone use. LiDAR will likely be a key factor in autonomous drones with a sensor fusion approach including LiDAR sensing for collision avoidance systems.

At Insitu, we offer professional drone LiDAR consulting and drone LiDAR service to help organizations gain accurate obstacle detection. If you’re interested in learning more about our drone LiDAR consulting services, contact us today.

Precision Agriculture Improves Crop Yields for Farmers

As the world’s population continues to increase, so does the need to produce more food globally. Farmers struggle to keep up with demand while dealing with setbacks such as weather-related incidents and poor crop yields. To adapt to the increased need while managing challenges, farmers are forgoing traditional farming methods in exchange for precision farming. Precision agriculture helps reduce waste, increase crop yields, and reduce security or economic risks.

Traditional farming methods focus on managing entire fields. Decisions are made to plant, irrigate, harvest, and apply fertilizer or pesticides based on conditions in the region and historical data. With precision agriculture, farmers use a combination of robots, sensors, mapping tools, GPS, and data analytic software to monitor a plant’s health. Precision farming allows farmers to customize care for their plants (i.e. more water, less water, more fertilizer or pesticides) without increasing labor costs.

Drones equipped with cameras and sensors can wirelessly send real-time data and images on individual plants. The information can include leaf shape, stem size, and moisture levels nearby the plant. Computers review the data and look for signs of stress and health. Precision ag feedback is immediate enabling farmers to deliver water, fertilizer, or pesticides in specific doses to the necessary areas. Precision agriculture technology can also tell farmers the best time to plant or harvest their crops.

By taking the guesswork out of farming, precision ag saves times, reduces chemical and water use, and promotes higher and healthier crop yields while reducing waste. With these time and money-savers combined, farmers are seeing an increase in their bottom line while conserving resources and chemical-use.

While it all sounds too good to be true, not all growers are adopting precision farming for various reasons. The upfront cost of equipment poses a significant barrier. This includes the expense to scale technology to large row-crop production systems. In addition, a lack of high-speed internet or broadband can be an obstacle in some remote locations. While other experienced farmers may be wary of technology or less computer-savvy for the startup process and data collection.

Yet even with these challenges, the cost savings over time may help offset current financial concerns. If long-time producers are hesitant to embrace new technology, the next generation of tech-savvy farmers may be quicker to adopt the precision ag approach to farming. As demand for food continues to increase, precision farming could be the solution needed to effectively and efficiently manage food production.

At Insitu, we specialize in precision agriculture drones and technology to help growers improve farming methods and increase crop yields. Learn more about precision farming technology by contacting us today.

Aerial Survey Service and Uses in Mining

While aerial photography has been used in geological surveys since the early 1900s, recent years have brought significant advances in technology for aerial survey and mapping. New companies are emerging to offer comprehensive aerial survey service and drone consulting to help industries, such as mining, capitalize on the benefits of drone or unmanned aerial system (UAS) technology and software solutions.
Aerial surveying allows you to collect information by using aerial photography or remote sensing technology with infrared, gamma, or ultraviolet rays. Aerial survey service and mapping can detect mine surface deformations and monitor changes with immediate, real-time data.

Aerial Survey Service in Mining

Surveying has been used in mining for many years to assisting mining companies with exploration, mine design, feasibility, development, operations, and more. Most of the historic methods included aerial photography and photogrammetry. Results heavily depended upon the experience, skill, knowledge, weather, and the speed of an aerial survey consulting company and mine survey staff.

While basic principles of mine surveying have remained largely unchanged throughout time, the instruments used to gather data have not. Aerial survey service, Lidar, drones, terrestrial laser scanning, software, and more have become an essential part of mine surveying today.

With active mining operations, aerial survey mapping is a necessary tool to discover mine surface deformations while monitoring changes to depths of pits, waste dump height, and tailing dump levels. Aerial survey simplifies and speeds up the exploration process making it the go-to for many mine exploration companies. Detail has been significantly enhanced due to the availability and combinations of radar, multi-spectral, and IR imaging. Several flyovers allow prospects to be seen in varying light during different seasons, reducing the cost of regional exploration by reducing repeated trips to a location for reassessment.
Spatial data derived from digital mapping can support a wide range of mining activities, including:

• Exploration
• Resource evaluation
• Design or construction of mine infrastructure
• Calculating the pit, ore body, and void volumes to plan mines
• Occasional calculation of pit, bench, and spoil service volumes for auditing payments to contractors
• Occasional calculation of volumes for accounting and inventory purposes
• Environmental monitoring, planning, and reporting for a mining operation

Aerial survey consulting and aerial survey service for the mining industry are critical for conducting successful mining operations. These methods, the technology, and software have revolutionized mining exploration by changing the way mining operations are conducted.

At Insitu, we specialize in aerial survey consulting and drone consulting to help industries like mining gain the most value out of today’s survey technology and methods. Contact us today to learn more about aerial survey service options for your mining operation.

Engineering the Future of Drones for Commercial Use

Once just a small community of drone-hobbyists, drones have become a worldwide phenomenon. When FAA regulations changed in 2016, it paved the way for UAV software technology improvements and dramatic changes to the drone industry in the coming years.

FAA Loosens Regulations on Drone Use

In June 2016, the FAA released new guidelines allowing the expansion of drones for commercial use. The new guidelines included:

•  Pilots must be at least 16 years old
• Pilots must hold a remote pilot airman certificate issued by the FAA
• Operation is only allowed during daylight or twilight with the appropriate lighting
• Drones must stay in visual line of sight of the pilot
• Drones cannot go beyond a maximum ground speed of 100 mph and an altitude of 400 feet

These rules are in place for UAV surveillance, survey, real estate photography, research, site inspections, and more. As technology improves and regulations are revised, other uses such as drone delivery may continue to expand the industry.

Engineering Drones for Commercial Use

Only recently have drones for commercial use reached the mainstream market, but universities have been engineering and building drones for decades. For many years, engineering students at universities have studied advanced control algorithms used to keep drones flying level and straight.

Engineers are continually working on drones and related technology including innovative UAV software, automation, and sensors. In addition, researchers are developing navigation systems that don’t need to rely on GPS satellites. This means drones could navigate underground, in deep canyons, or inside buildings where GPS signals are inaccessible. These technology advances could significantly expand the usefulness of drones.

Research groups are also working on ways to detect gas leaks from oil pipelines by using drones. This is a significant task given the millions of miles of pipelines across the country. By attaching methane-sniffing sensors on drones, it would make it easier for drones to fly the pipeline routes, register the location and volume of a leak, and signal repair and cleanup crews.

Expansion of Agriculture and Environmental Work

Drones for commercial use have largely expanded in agricultural and environmental work. Perhaps the most significant factor is how easy it is for drones to collect data.

Thermal cameras on drones allow researchers to learn more about water consumption rates on several varieties of crops. Data collected by the drones are so detailed that companies can gain better estimates of crop yield. Farmers can know precisely how big their harvest will be and how much money they’ll make. This allows them to make better budget decisions and forecasting for their business.

Drones are also useful for aerial UAV surveillance and survey mapping. In the past, researchers were limited to walking and taking pictures of areas which could disrupt wildlife. Drones can collect data more frequently and accurately while doing a better job of mapping and analyzing environmental information. This enables environmental workers to prepare local communities in advance of possible environmental disasters such as erosion or flooding.

At Insitu, we specialize in drones for commercial use and UAV software technologies. Contact us to learn more about our programs. 

Civilian Drones Increasing: Understanding Drone Use and Regulations

Soon you’ll see more drones hovering over you in the sky. It’s estimated that nearly two million consumer drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) will be sold this year around the world. By 2020, the world drone market could top $127 billion, according to PwC.

While drones have been used by the military for many years, civilian and commercial sales have risen, and so have safety concerns amongst regulators and law enforcement agencies. Their main concerns are about potential drone crashes into stadiums or collisions with airplanes.

In 2016, the government allowed new rules making it easier for companies to use drones for commercial purposes such as aerial survey, verifying insurance claims, and boosting agricultural crop yields. This has also led to new industries for aerial survey consulting and drone consulting.

What Are Drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)?

Drones, or UAVs, are similar to what airplane hobbyists have used for decades, but are a much more advanced version. They come in helicopter and airplane options and are typically piloted from the ground by a human with a radio controller. Some varieties are capable of autonomous flight based on programmed coordinates.

What Can Drones Be Used For?

Many hobbyists buy drones for the entertainment and challenge of flying an object in the sky. One of the more popular reasons is capturing high-quality photographs and video from an aerial vantage point.

Since the government made it easier to use drones for commercial purposes, companies can use drones for several tasks including aerial survey consulting, drone consulting, aerial photography, emergency response, etc. Regulations currently do not allow package delivery, something Amazon and Google are eager to get approved.

Companies interested in using drones for their business has even expanded to include the real estate industry, news organizations, farmers, emergency responders, and more.

Do Drones Pose Any Risks?

Perhaps the biggest safety concern is if drones were to collide with an aircraft and endanger passengers. In some cases, drones capturing aerial footage of wildfires has hindered airplane and helicopter pilots trying to put out the blaze. In addition, drones have crashed near crowded events such as football games and the U.S. Open. Drones may also violate privacy or could be used in crimes to smuggle drugs and weapons into prisons. To combat these concerns, some drone developers are designing software to keep people from flying their drones into restricted airspace.

In 2016, new rules governing commercial drone use were released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This allowed a broad range of industries to use drones under 55 pounds with a few restrictions:

·         Drones must be operated by a pilot who is at least 16 years old and has passed a written test.

·         Drones can only be flown below 400 feet during the day.

·         Drones cannot come within five miles of airports.

The rules did not allow delivery of packages which Google and Amazon have pushed the FAA to allow to significantly reduce their ground-based delivery. Some experts suggest it won’t be long until their goal may become a reality.

In addition, rules from 2015 require all owners of remote-controlled recreational drones to register in a national database. Drone owners must submit their name, home address, and email address to the FAA.

Certain states are passing their own regulations. At least twenty states have passed increased restrictions on consumer drones in efforts to keep them away from schools, churches, parks, and neighborhoods.

Are you interested in learning more about commercial drones for your business? At Insitu, we offer drone consulting and aerial survey consulting services to help you find the right equipment and software to suit your needs. Contact us to learn how we can help you. 

Understanding Precision, Accuracy, and Error for High Accuracy Photogrammetry Survey

Accuracy, precision, and error are words often used interchangeably and can be confusing when trying to decipher what they mean. While some applications require high precision, others require high accuracy. When it comes to high accuracy photogrammetry (HAP) survey, it’s important to understand what each of these terms mean.

The dartboard principal is often used to describe the difference between precision and accuracy. When a player is aiming to hit the bullseye, this can be thought of as the reference or real value. Each dart throw could be thought of as taking a measurement. This measurement wants to fall on the real value or bullseye. After evaluating multiple throws, you can calculate the accuracy and precision of a player.

What Is Precision?

While precision is about the spread of the data, high precision is obtained by all throws (or measurements) being grouped together in a tight cluster. Even if they miss the dartboard completely, when the darts are grouped closely together, the precision of the throw is high. Variance quantifies the precision of a measurement which is found by calculating the difference between an individual measurement from the mean of all measurements.

What Is Accuracy?

Accuracy is about positioning the throws (or measurements) according to the bullseye (or reference). The spread of the measurements may be large but are still accurate when centered on the real value. When you average a series of measurements to find their mean, you can eliminate the variance and calculate the accuracy of the throws. This happens by finding the difference between the mean value of the reference and the throws.

What Is Error?

Error is discovered by the sum of the accuracy and the variance of a single measurement. Many surveyors use the root mean squared error (RMSE) for error distribution with approximately 68.3% of samples falling within +/- the value of the RMSE. Another popular measure of error distribution is the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy (NSSDA). This is similar to the RMSE except it encompasses 95.5% of the sampled points. By averaging multiple samples, the variance component of error can be eliminated to reduce the error of a measurement.

What’s More Important: Accurate or Precise Data?

So far, we know precision is about the spread of data and accuracy is the average position of the measurements from the reference point. But what is important for High AccuracyPhotogrammetry survey?

Two main types of measurement are common for HAP survey:

1.      Relative Measurements – the measurement of one point in a survey with respect to another point in a survey.

2.      Global Measurements – the measurement of a positioned measurement with respect to an external reference (i.e. British National Grid).

If you are interested in measurements with respect to an external reference, such as British National Grid, high accuracy is required. If you are merely interested in measuring a property of something relative to something else in a survey, high precision is needed. High accuracy and high precision aren’t always required and can affect the costs of a survey. Understanding the differences and which you need can help save you money.

Interested in learning more? At Insitu, we create innovative UAVs and technology solutions for HAP survey. Contact us for more information.

UAV 101: Intro to LiDAR Mapping and High Accuracy Photogrammetry for Survey

Use of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) mapping and high accuracy photogrammetry applications are rapidly increasing. UAVs with GPS are more cost-effective for aerial HAP survey compared to manned aircraft with traditional photogrammetry. These drones now contain cameras and small computers making survey accuracy down to the centimeter possible.

Learn more about drone mapping technology and industries benefiting from UAVs.

What Is UAV High Accuracy Photogrammetry?

High accuracy photogrammetry (HAP) survey involves the science of making measurements from photographs. It creates an output of a map, drawing, or 3D model of a land mass or object.

To create 3D maps from aerial photogrammetry, the camera is mounted on a UAV pointed toward the ground. If measuring a statue or monument, the camera is mounted horizontally on the drone.

As the UAV flies along a programmed flight path called a waypoint, multiple overlapping photos of the model or ground are taken at a rate of 80-90%. This rate of overlap would be impossible based on pilot navigation alone. Waypoint navigation technology is essential for a UAV to achieve 80-90% overlap accuracy. 

The Basics of LiDAR and Drone Mapping

With UAV LiDAR, a laser scanner is mounted on a UAV to measure the height of objects in the landscape below. These scanners can capture hundreds of square miles in a single day.

By achieving accurate measurements, 3D models can be created for design, planning, and decision making processes throughout many industries. LiDAR sensors are especially useful in agriculture where they can pierce dense canopy and vegetation, making it possible to capture the earth at a higher accuracy than satellites.

With UAV HAP survey and LiDAR mapping, many products can be created from aerial imagery, including:

·         3D building models

·         Contour maps

·         Surface models

·         Geospatially corrected aerial images (orthophotos)

·         Volumetric surveys

Precision 3D images can benefit the following industries by increasing efficiency and reducing costs:

·         Archaeology

·         Cellular network planning

·         Coastline management

·         Flood modeling

·         Forestry management and planning

·         Oil and gas exploration

·         Pollution modeling

·         Transport planning

·         Urban planning

·         Quarries and minerals

Top DJI UAVs for 3D Mapping and High Accuracy Photogrammetry

·         DJI Mavic Pro: Perfect for HAP survey and LiDAR mapping applications. Flight control and stabilization allows this quadcopter to fly still and create accurate point clouds and 3D maps with software.

·         DJI Matrice 100: With DJI’s easy-to-fly technology, this drone has additional expansion bays for cameras, infrared sensors, and LiDAR scanners for 3D maps. Enhanced GPS allows for high accuracy photogrammetry.

·         DJI Phantom 4 Pro: Uses dual navigation and flies perfectly smooth. It has a 4k camera and uses waypoint navigation. The Phantom 4 is one of the most popular quadcopters for 3D imaging.

·         DJI Phantom 3 and Inspire 1: These models now have waypoint navigation and can be used for photogrammetry. The best software to use with DJI drones is the Pix4Dmapper Mesh DJI edition.

Other Popular UAVs for Photogrammetry

·         SenseFly eBee Pro Mapping UAV: A fixed-wing, fully autonomous drone which captures high-resolution aerial photos for 2D orthomosaics and 3D models. It can cover 4.6 miles in a single flight and comes with two software packages: eMotion and Postflight Terra 3D.

·         3DR X8-M Drone for Aerial Mapping: Includes a quadcopter, Canon high-resolution 12 MP digital camera, and Pix4DMapper software for rendering photos into 3D maps. This drone offers the right balance of technology for precision aerial maps and surveys.

·         3DR Aero-M Fixed Wing UAV: This is the all-in-one solution for high-resolution visual-spectrum aerial maps. You can acquire detailed data for large-scale operations such as construction, farming, search and rescue, and conservation. Includes the Canon S100 high-resolution 12 MP camera.

At Insitu, we offer services and software solutions for commercial and military UAV. Contact us to learn more.