Where would you use it if you were in my position?
Four beastly 12S 120A ESCs
u/KaiMaxkgo — 5 hours ago
r/UAVmapping
Fellow Sherlocks, given only this limited video footage, can your sharp insights pinpoint the cause of the drone crash?
u/KaiMaxkgo — 3 days ago
▲ 4 r/UAVmapping
Beginner Mapping for Sitework
Hey all, I’m a small scale site contractor and I’d like to get into mapping for soil quantities. What are the basics? Any recommendations on user friendly software? We specialize in smaller earthmoving projects and some utility work.
I’m a long time DJI user but I have no experience on the post processing side.
I have an Emlid base rover setup with RTK that I use for layout.
Thanks
u/Specialist-Dark8843 — 2 days ago
Self Hosted Digital Land Twin with Meshtastic Integration
Hi everyone! I made this open source digital twin platform with meshtastic integration. I'm currently using it to monitor my dogs that frequently run off, but soon I'll be getting sheep in too. It has a lot of other features, but the real time tracking is probably the coolest.
The integration is exposed to an MCP server, so you can ask an AI about your devices.
Full source code: https://github.com/zymazza/mazzap
u/iamjeremybentham — 3 days ago
Mavic 4 Pro vs Avata 360 vs combined capture for Gaussian Splatting
I tested the same industrial site with two different drone capture approaches. There's 4 stages in this comparison.
-The first reconstruction uses only Mavic 4 Pro images. It gives better overall site coverage, especially from above, but the building itself lacks close-range detail (≈1H flight time).
-The second one uses only Avata 360 images. The building has more local detail, but the surrounding area is much weaker because the flight was shorter and closer (13min flight time).
-The third version combines both drone datasets, which gave the best raw result.
-The final version uses the same combined dataset, but with longer training and cleanup to remove floaters.
The capture light wasn't stable, sunny/cloudy changes.
This is just a practical 3DGS workflow comparison for visual documentation.
u/Lucky-Living-2812 — 3 days ago
▲ 11 r/UAVmapping
Where to sell?
Does anyone have recommendations on places to sell some niche UAS and sensors? Stuff like a Harris heavy lift carrier drone or a GeoCue 3D imaging sensor? The company I work for would prefer not to have to open an eBay account if we could just find a survey equipment resale company that would take them.
u/Kakakoww — 3 days ago
▲ 91 r/UAVmapping
Gaussian Splatting Based Rooftop Edges Distortion Free Orthomosaics
Hey everyone,
I wanted to share a recent breakthrough I had with a dataset I just processed. I took 395 nadir images captured by a M3E with 80m flight height and processed use the platform I developed (aimed to generate orthomosaics). Traditional orthomosaics always seem to struggle with certain geometric artifacts, but gaussian splatting nailed it. Here are a few things that seriously impressed me:
- Perfect Streetlight Reconstruction: Almost all the streetlights were completely restored in their exact, precise locations. Usually, thin vertical structures like poles get warped or completely omitted, but they look flawless here.
- Sharp Rooftop Edges: Complex and intricate roof structures maintained incredibly crisp and sharp edges. There's none of that usual "melting" effect you see around roof boundaries.
- Natural Vegetation: Trees and bushes actually look natural instead of looking like distorted, blocky blobs of green mesh.
- Original-Level Clarity: The overall texture clarity and sharpness of the final orthophoto are almost identical to the raw, original images.
u/Think-Dot-9090 — 5 days ago
▲ 7 r/UAVmapping
DJI teasing an M400 related product
Any idea what that could be? "Priceless below"? Is that a near surface geophysics instrument? An airbag? Just a weird tagline and they are announcing the M450 (or 410?)?
u/NilsTillander — 4 days ago
▲ 3 r/UAVmapping
Las or laz viewer through browser
Is there a free online las viewer. Where I can put the point cloud and my contractor can view it though his browser
u/Prestigious-Code2821 — 3 days ago
▲ 2 r/UAVmapping
Ortho software
Currently I’m creating ortho’s using terrain creator/virtual surveyor for my ortho’s but a guy at work wanted one for GIS so I sent it over and he is telling me it’s “peppered” with specs of “no data” that come up as just empty spaces.
This only happens in trees, and I’m not really sure what’s going on but we were already thinking of using a different software to process photogrammetry.
We also have a L3 so we do use DJI Terra, anyone process photogrammetry in Terra? I know lidar needs to be further processed for better accuracy but I’ve never used it with photogrammetry.
I’ve used meta shape and want a big fan. Also used pix4d but boss says it’s expensive
Any other suggestions?
u/IHACB — 4 days ago
OpenSfM v1.0
OpenSfM v1.0 is here, and it's a big leap : https://github.com/OpenSfM/OpenSfM
The original OpenSfM (github.com/mapillary/opensfm), the Structure-from-Motion engine behind OpenDroneMap and WebODM, is no longer maintained.
As former maintainers, we couldn't let it go. So we went back to work, and improved it on many fronts : faster, more scalable (a long standing issue was speed) and capable of taking you from raw photos to finished GIS deliverables in a single pipeline.
We focused the v1.0 on aerial and GIS workflows :
- Much faster SfM (from Python to C++ SfM loop, GPU OpenCL matching) and support for very large scenes (randomised bundle adjuster).
- More robust SfM in general.
- A completely new dense pipeline, on GPU (OpenCL), with PatchMatch + TSDF-on-SVO + Refinement. Produces clean dense clouds quite fast, to LAS/LAZ/PLY exports. However, the mesh is crap (but it's in the works)
- On the side of the dense, a new DSM & Orthophoto pipeline, again on GPU (OpenCL). GeoTIFF export (with correct CRS projection warps)
- A revamped quality report : clear SfM metrics, GPS/GCP and checkpoint accuracy tables, and DSM/ortho previews. It can be now localized (metric/imperial, 5 languages) and also customised. PDF export.
Hopefully it'll be integrated in WebODM/ODX/ODM soon enough.
I had a blast working on this these past two months,I hope the mapping/surveying community will enjoy it.
Ha, and it runs on Linux and macOS. Windows just needs some love (update the conda-locks).
u/BossDeFinAuloin — 6 days ago
▲ 7 r/UAVmapping
Ground-based mobile mapping — anyone figured out how to monitor GPS stream remotely while the vehicle is running?
I know this sub is mostly drone stuff but figured there'd be some crossover with people doing ground-based mobile mapping too.
We're running a mapping van — LiDAR, 360 cameras, survey GNSS outputting NMEA over RS-232 into the onboard PC. It works great for acquisition. The issue is our base camp needs to see the live GPS stream for real-time coverage QC while the vehicle is driving the corridor, ideally without anyone riding along just to stare at a screen.
The COM port is already taken by the acquisition software so nothing else can open it locally. We tried com0com to split it but ran into driver signing issues on Windows 11. Is this just a solved problem I'm not aware of, or is everyone just accepting that someone has to ride in the van?
u/Oopsiforgotmyoldacc — 5 days ago
Survey Equipment Suggestions - Bipod and pole that can travel
I need precision GNSS locations for record and mapping. Use of equipment includes marking locations and RTK type work with drone mapping. I travel to locations by air travel and want light, collapsable, and not too expensive gear. The thing I am having the hardest time finding is a survey pole bipod that collapses to about two feet in length and can attach to my 5' carbon fiber monopod. Closest thing I have found is a SECO 5217-05 Mini Bipod or SitePro Thumb Release Mini Bipod. Has anyone used either of these two bipods? or have used something like it? I am not a licensed surveyor nor plan to be one. Outside of some contracting work for a Licensed Surveyor, nothing I do requires a license and I don't do this type of work full time. If an actual Surveyor has experience with these type of equipment, would love to hear from you.
u/CorreiaAGS — 5 days ago
▲ 6 r/UAVmapping
Mavic 3E VS Matrice 4E
We have a Matrice 300 drone and are looking for a smaller drone that is easier to mobilize for our remote work. We are interested in using photogrammetry to create orthomosaics and DEMs of our sites. Should we favor the Mavic 3E or the Matrice 4E (considering we already have a Matrice 300 with a LiDAR) ?
u/OutsideHoliday2063 — 6 days ago
▲ 14 r/UAVmapping
Looking for feedback on a photogrammetry mission QA/QC report I built
I’ve been doing more drone mapping lately, and one thing that has always bothered me is how difficult it is to quickly answer the question:
“Did this mission actually capture everything needed for a high-quality reconstruction?”
Yes, we can inspect logs, EXIF, MRK files, RINEX files, etc., but that usually means opening several different tools and manually checking everything after returning from the field.
So I spent the last few days vibe coding a utility I’m calling MissionQC.
It ingests DJI MRK files, RINEX OBS/NAV files, and image metadata, then generates a PDF report summarizing things like:
- GNSS Health Score
- RTK fix percentage
- Observation duration
- Missing OBS epochs
- Constellation coverage
- Carrier phase and multi-frequency observations
- Flight path visualization
- Height profile
- Camera spacing and position analytics
- Exposure consistency
- Shutter speed compliance
- White balance consistency
- Mechanical shutter status
- RINEX and navigation file validation
- Warnings for anything that looks suspicious
The idea is to catch problems while you’re still on-site instead of discovering them back in the office.
I’d really appreciate feedback from people who do drone mapping, surveying, or PPK workflows.
What important checks am I missing?
What would make a report like this genuinely useful before leaving a project site?
I’ve attached a sample report, and I’d love to hear both the good and the bad. Be brutal.
Thank you!
u/brandtales — 7 days ago
▲ 4 r/UAVmapping
DJI Terra - Black lines on orthophoto when importing to Civil 3D
I generated a 2D map (Map titling turned off) with DJI Terra 5.2.5. using a LiDAR point cloud mission. DJI Terra shows the 2D map as a single image, but when I import the tif file into Civil 3D, a series of orthogonal black lines appear on the ortho as if they were tiled. The black lines aren't cut lines since the adjacent "tiles" don't line up if you were to stick them together.
The tif is 1 GB and the output CRS was NAD83 UTM. I used horizontal and vertical datums for the GCPs and checkshots.
Does anyone what is the cause and how to prevent the black lines?
u/AlpineLassitude — 5 days ago
▲ 8 r/UAVmapping
Intel Falcon 8+
Anybody out there still flying the Falcon 8? We’ve got two Falcon 8s, two controllers and two cameras and a stack of batteries we are looking to get rid of. Would make a fine parts stash if you are using this platform.
u/mdhoover — 6 days ago
▲ 2 r/UAVmapping
Fast offline LAS/LAZ viewer for iPad/Mac — real need or dumb idea?
Question for drone mapping / LiDAR folks: is there a need for a fast offline LAS/LAZ point-cloud viewer?
I’m a solo Mac/iOS developer and I’ve been experimenting with a native Apple Silicon point-cloud renderer. The basic idea would not be another full processing suite like Pix4D, DroneDeploy, CloudCompare, etc.
The idea is smaller:
A native iPad/Mac app where you can open a large LAS/LAZ point cloud locally, inspect it smoothly, maybe measure basic distances/elevation, save views, and export a quick client walkthrough video — without uploading the file or needing internet on-site.
The use case I’m trying to validate is:
- check a scan before leaving a site
- review large point clouds offline
- show a client a clean flythrough
- avoid fighting a heavy desktop/web viewer just to inspect/share the data
I’m not a surveyor, so I’m not pretending this would replace real survey/CAD workflows. I’m trying to figure out whether a focused “field viewer / client walkthrough” tool would actually be useful or if existing tools already solve this well enough.
A few questions:
- Do you currently open LAS/LAZ point clouds in the field?
- What do you use now?
- What annoys you about the current workflow?
- Would offline iPad/Mac viewing matter?
- Would simple measurement + flythrough export be useful, or is that not enough?
- Would anyone be willing to test an early build with a real file?
Brutal feedback is welcome. I’d rather find out now if this is useless before I build the wrong thing.
u/newtophillyfromkc — 7 days ago
Discord Servers for Remote Sensing People?
Hello all, as the title states, I'm curious if there is one or more discord servers you might recommend for remote sensing people?
u/Lowcountry-Soccer — 7 days ago
Drones
Hi I live in Georgia and I am in the aviation industry. Trying to become an airline pilot almost done with my private pilot license. I’ve been thinking about trying to do drones as a job in the mean time, a possible side gig in the future, or something I can pivot to if piloting airplanes doesn’t work out. I have a few questions.
How similar is the drone faa written knowledge test from a private pilot test?
Would I need to buy a drone and equipment or can a company hire me and offer that stuff?
Will company train me or will I have to do my own train for ex photographing, mapping, land surveying?
Preferable I would like to get hired at a company full time that can offer me training and a drone. What are some good companies that do that? Now if that’s not an option I don’t mind purchasing whatever I need to work.
If I can’t get hired quickly what are things I can do to better my chances and things I can do to make me prepared?
u/Few_Rock_1038 — 7 days ago