Bandwagon's Drones Thread
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Bandwagon
Kolohe
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Catapulted back into the busy season with some big sites this month. Heading out of town to do a ~800 acre solar site next week, and on my way to try to finish a 2,500 acre site this morning. Pretty windy out, so not too optimistic.
I set out about 40 targets on this ~4mile site on Monday, then went and flew it yesterday:
I set out about 40 targets on this ~4mile site on Monday, then went and flew it yesterday:
damn son. that looks sweet. i assume they are going to be redoing/paving/maybe widening that road?
our flying season is over in my area except for certain sites that allow me to see the ground vs tree leaves.
our flying season is over in my area except for certain sites that allow me to see the ground vs tree leaves.
Bandwagon
Kolohe
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You should spend a month flying all your upcoming project sites when this season comes in. Do you guys have a big enough backlog for you to see them coming?
When winter is approaching, I get out and fly all of our approved contracts And Proposals if the PM thinks we have a good chance of winning it.
I still ran out of work for about 3 weeks at the end of winter, but it kept me a lot busier when the snow was on the ground.
Here's the 2500ac site I came out to fly today. ~30mph winds, so heading back home.
When winter is approaching, I get out and fly all of our approved contracts And Proposals if the PM thinks we have a good chance of winning it.
I still ran out of work for about 3 weeks at the end of winter, but it kept me a lot busier when the snow was on the ground.
Here's the 2500ac site I came out to fly today. ~30mph winds, so heading back home.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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It feels like something should get bombed at the end of that video.
How do they feel about you driving on their winter wheat?
Bandwagon
Kolohe
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No one likes it when we drive on their wheat, but they know we're going to have to be out there on a 4wheeler or in a car to get the survey done. He knows, but they always get butthurt about it. /shrug.
This one was crazy, too. There's not a single dirt road on the interior that's actually drivable. They planted everywhere, including the dirt roads that show up on satellite.
what they expect you to WALK?
and what backlog? unfortunately for the drone work, we do maybe 6 a year currently since most of our work does not need a full topo workup beyond a couple of spot shots and we are mostly urban/suburban not much rural in my area.
would LOVE to get that ebee rtk machine though 3cm accuracy with minimal survey ties? i could fly pretty much my entire city with the ebee in one flight..(double checks area of city,,,nope would take 2 flights it is 16 sq miles.)what is interesting is if i did this, i could find actual markers with state plane coords and actually get decent control-without any "gcp" control points that we would set- via the pictures i'd be able to find the granite town markers that surround the site and the interstate highway granite markers(i know where a bunch are visible)
90% of our work is in Boston, of which 80% is BWSC plans for people redoing their water/fire/sewer/ and/or adding infiltration. we are a small firm, but do around 200ish projects in boston a year(at ~4k per project depending on the scope) (2 person field crew. the boss, 2 full time on computer(me, one other) who occasionally sub out for field work, our PLS who is part time (~25-30hrs a week) 2 people to answer the phone and the office manager-and one guy to accompany the boss to meetings(literally that is all he does now) and 2 PE's that are part time. - I am a land surveyor by profession, not licensed yet, gotta pass a fucking state test that has given me fits- if i lived in kentucky or NJ i'd be licensed since i passed the 6hr federal test already(those two states only require the federal test).
and what backlog? unfortunately for the drone work, we do maybe 6 a year currently since most of our work does not need a full topo workup beyond a couple of spot shots and we are mostly urban/suburban not much rural in my area.
would LOVE to get that ebee rtk machine though 3cm accuracy with minimal survey ties? i could fly pretty much my entire city with the ebee in one flight..(double checks area of city,,,nope would take 2 flights it is 16 sq miles.)what is interesting is if i did this, i could find actual markers with state plane coords and actually get decent control-without any "gcp" control points that we would set- via the pictures i'd be able to find the granite town markers that surround the site and the interstate highway granite markers(i know where a bunch are visible)
90% of our work is in Boston, of which 80% is BWSC plans for people redoing their water/fire/sewer/ and/or adding infiltration. we are a small firm, but do around 200ish projects in boston a year(at ~4k per project depending on the scope) (2 person field crew. the boss, 2 full time on computer(me, one other) who occasionally sub out for field work, our PLS who is part time (~25-30hrs a week) 2 people to answer the phone and the office manager-and one guy to accompany the boss to meetings(literally that is all he does now) and 2 PE's that are part time. - I am a land surveyor by profession, not licensed yet, gotta pass a fucking state test that has given me fits- if i lived in kentucky or NJ i'd be licensed since i passed the 6hr federal test already(those two states only require the federal test).
Bandwagon
Kolohe
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FYI, I think that the RTK drones are a waste at the moment if you're doing 3D, depending on what you're using to process.
Pix4d doesn't offer NAVD88 as a vertical system right now, though they've said they're working on it for like 3 years now. It'll be an issue If you're working off a geoid model, since your only other options are to use EGM-XX, do a uniform shift, or just set it as "Arbitrary" and use your GCP elevations.
I still get a ~0.04' uniform horizontal shift on all my orthos when I pull them into CAD or GIS and compare against control. Drives me crazy and I can't figure out why it happens. I thought it was resampling/compression for the longest time, but I just compared some uncompressed geotiffs to a jp2 and sid, and they're all the same.
Pix4d doesn't offer NAVD88 as a vertical system right now, though they've said they're working on it for like 3 years now. It'll be an issue If you're working off a geoid model, since your only other options are to use EGM-XX, do a uniform shift, or just set it as "Arbitrary" and use your GCP elevations.
I still get a ~0.04' uniform horizontal shift on all my orthos when I pull them into CAD or GIS and compare against control. Drives me crazy and I can't figure out why it happens. I thought it was resampling/compression for the longest time, but I just compared some uncompressed geotiffs to a jp2 and sid, and they're all the same.
i tend to run the topo arbitrary and export pix4d as a dxf at 1 or 2 foot contours. then i adjust the topo to whatever benchmark i need for the area/city i am in- i look at pix4d, find a mh that i know the elevation is, and adjust the datum of the imported dxf by the difference of the pix4d topo and my benchmark elevation, then recontour the drawing with the new adjusted contours so that they are all even feet. example pix4d says X manhole is elevation 16.75 at the center, my research has that same manhole at 25.43 i take the difference- 8.68, adjust the contours i inserted into the dwg file up by 8.68(contourthat was "16" is now 24.68) "18" is 26.68 etc), then open the terrain manager, redefine the tin using the adjusted contours then contour at 1 or 2 foot even foot contours & erase the imported dxf contours.
boston to navd88 adjustment is 6.46' (boston city base is 6.46' LOWER than navd88 (elevation -6.46 on navd88) city of newton is -6.48ish city of peabody is something else etc
i have a pdf that lists most of the datum adjustments for massachusetts to navd88 (in metric of course)
a few fun things i have found- NOT VIA DRONE- is occasionally someone will fuckup a benchmark and totally fubar up an elevation certificate--just had one in east boston where the city has city base elevations on the rims- asbuilt- and a surveyor set a benchmark on a utility pole that verifies the manhole rims within a hundredth or two, using that information i did an elevation certificate...and someone else using gps had the elevations different by over 3 feet
boston to navd88 adjustment is 6.46' (boston city base is 6.46' LOWER than navd88 (elevation -6.46 on navd88) city of newton is -6.48ish city of peabody is something else etc
i have a pdf that lists most of the datum adjustments for massachusetts to navd88 (in metric of course)
a few fun things i have found- NOT VIA DRONE- is occasionally someone will fuckup a benchmark and totally fubar up an elevation certificate--just had one in east boston where the city has city base elevations on the rims- asbuilt- and a surveyor set a benchmark on a utility pole that verifies the manhole rims within a hundredth or two, using that information i did an elevation certificate...and someone else using gps had the elevations different by over 3 feet
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Bandwagon
Kolohe
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Do you guys even work off the geoid on sites that small? Guessing not?
I understand the basics of the geoid, ellipsoid and grid to ground scaling, but I'd really like to know that stuff inside & out. I was oblivious to it until we did a ~6 mile long corridor and I couldnt figure out why my Z-delta at each end was about -0.12', but the interior of the site was +/-0.06'
I understand the basics of the geoid, ellipsoid and grid to ground scaling, but I'd really like to know that stuff inside & out. I was oblivious to it until we did a ~6 mile long corridor and I couldnt figure out why my Z-delta at each end was about -0.12', but the interior of the site was +/-0.06'
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Yeah, I get where you're coming from but I know how they feel too. You have to drive on the grain to spray it and it doesn't crush that much in the scheme of things but those tire tracks will be there the whole summer and it bugs the hell out of me looking at them all year in an otherwise pristine field. It makes me wish my sprayer had autosteer because at least with those they're nice and straight but mine meander around no matter how hard I try to follow the GPS.
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BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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That's pretty sweet. Probably costs a bit more than a mavic 2 though...
we just use real elevations referencing either the city base elevation benchmarks or navd88(or ngvd29)benchmarks. To date we have never have had to adjust for geoid- we do not use GPS EXCEPT for the location data in the pictures for pix4d.
we did catch a guy screwing up elevations WITH GPS...he forgot to go from geoid to real elevations and was off by 0.6'-he was trying to argue that the site was in the flood plain, we did a level loop (to 0.01') over the span of a mile each way and said, no it isn't. asked him what nearby benchmark did you use to calibrate your gps vertical to?...and he hadn't calibrated.
we did catch a guy screwing up elevations WITH GPS...he forgot to go from geoid to real elevations and was off by 0.6'-he was trying to argue that the site was in the flood plain, we did a level loop (to 0.01') over the span of a mile each way and said, no it isn't. asked him what nearby benchmark did you use to calibrate your gps vertical to?...and he hadn't calibrated.
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Bandwagon
Kolohe
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Just had a nice little reunion with my buddies at Micasense, and they agreed to send a camera to one of our wetland scientists for the rest of the year. He's pumped. Going to end up being stressful for me because there's 5x as many pictures from mapping jobs with this thing, and also I can't pre-plan the missions for him when he's using this camera. Definitely the easiest mapping camera I used before joining my current work and trying the eBee (and P4p eventually), but much more frustrating to use than something directly integrated with the drone.
Got a nice bit of kudos/ego boost, too. I guess they've had a lot of trouble finding people that can conduct the flights reliably since I ditched my company.
Got a nice bit of kudos/ego boost, too. I guess they've had a lot of trouble finding people that can conduct the flights reliably since I ditched my company.
Bandwagon
Kolohe
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Here's a quick animation of this big ass site. You can see my car on 8 different peaks:
Mass has a law for surveyors that makes it legal for us to trespass on other than our client's property. we just have to give them notification that we are doing it in advance.
granted most police won't enforce it if the neighbor protests by say,...Sitting on the Fucking Wall Corner that has a nice Drill Hole in it that you want to locate for your control survey (happened) but in the instance of drone work for location/topographic survey , i'd post a hanger a few days before the flight/survey on the neighbor's door.
This notice is to inform you that between xxx and yyy date we are going to be performing a survey of the land for an adjacent property. According to MGL part 4 title 1 chapter 266 section 120c. we might need to enter onto your property to acertain the location of the property boundaries and topographic nature of the land. this is your notice of the fact that we may have to enter onto your property.
The pertinent laws:
malegislature.gov
"Whenever a land surveyor registered under chapter one hundred and twelve deems it reasonably necessary to enter upon adjoining lands to make surveys of any description included under ''Practice of land surveying'', as defined in section eighty-one D of said chapter one hundred and twelve, for any private person, excluding any public authority, public utility or railroad, the land surveyor or his authorized agents or employees may, after reasonable notice, enter upon lands, waters and premises, not including buildings, in the commonwealth, within a reasonable distance from the property line of the land being surveyed, and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass. Nothing in this act shall relieve a land surveyor of liability for damage caused by entry to adjoining property, by himself or his agents or employees. "
definition of "practice of land surveying:
malegislature.gov
''Practice of land surveying'', any service or work, the adequate performance of which involves the application of special knowledge of the principles of mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences, and the relevant requirements of law for adequate evidence to the act of measuring and locating lines, angles, elevations, natural and manmade features in the air, on the surface of the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes, for the monumenting of property boundaries, for locating or relocating any of the fixed works embraced within the practice of civil engineering, and for the platting, and layout of lands and subdivisions thereof, including the topography, alignment and grades of streets, and for the preparation and perpetuation of maps, record plats, field note records and property descriptions that represent these surveys.
if they bitch, they bitch, but we have followed the law and now are not guilty of trespass for any surveying work performed (of any nature including drone since the definition includes topography
granted most police won't enforce it if the neighbor protests by say,...Sitting on the Fucking Wall Corner that has a nice Drill Hole in it that you want to locate for your control survey (happened) but in the instance of drone work for location/topographic survey , i'd post a hanger a few days before the flight/survey on the neighbor's door.
This notice is to inform you that between xxx and yyy date we are going to be performing a survey of the land for an adjacent property. According to MGL part 4 title 1 chapter 266 section 120c. we might need to enter onto your property to acertain the location of the property boundaries and topographic nature of the land. this is your notice of the fact that we may have to enter onto your property.
The pertinent laws:
General Law - Part IV, Title I, Chapter 266, Section 120C
malegislature.gov
"Whenever a land surveyor registered under chapter one hundred and twelve deems it reasonably necessary to enter upon adjoining lands to make surveys of any description included under ''Practice of land surveying'', as defined in section eighty-one D of said chapter one hundred and twelve, for any private person, excluding any public authority, public utility or railroad, the land surveyor or his authorized agents or employees may, after reasonable notice, enter upon lands, waters and premises, not including buildings, in the commonwealth, within a reasonable distance from the property line of the land being surveyed, and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass. Nothing in this act shall relieve a land surveyor of liability for damage caused by entry to adjoining property, by himself or his agents or employees. "
definition of "practice of land surveying:
General Law - Part I, Title XVI, Chapter 112, Section 81D
malegislature.gov
''Practice of land surveying'', any service or work, the adequate performance of which involves the application of special knowledge of the principles of mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences, and the relevant requirements of law for adequate evidence to the act of measuring and locating lines, angles, elevations, natural and manmade features in the air, on the surface of the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes, for the monumenting of property boundaries, for locating or relocating any of the fixed works embraced within the practice of civil engineering, and for the platting, and layout of lands and subdivisions thereof, including the topography, alignment and grades of streets, and for the preparation and perpetuation of maps, record plats, field note records and property descriptions that represent these surveys.
if they bitch, they bitch, but we have followed the law and now are not guilty of trespass for any surveying work performed (of any nature including drone since the definition includes topography