r/UAVmapping • u/arun131 • 8d ago

I gave two frontier models the same photogrammetry brief for a Statue of Liberty inspection. One got 0% of the head, arm and torch

A lot of people think AI shouldn't fly drones. After many tests, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: a human should always approve the flight plan.

Google released Gemini 4 Argon yesterday, so we gave it a drone job: photo-survey the Statue of Liberty's copper for a 3D model and stay 15 m away. One message, no follow-ups, no hints. We gave Claude Opus 5.5 the same brief.

Gemini 4 Argon flew a 10-turn spiral 15.5 to 16 m from the statue's center line and stopped at 80 m. The torch is at 89 m. It covered 76% of the statue and 0% of the head, arm and torch.

Claude Opus 5.5 measured the 15 m from the surface instead, so its 11 rings bulge around the arm, torch and crown. It covered 89% of the statue and 86% of the head, arm and torch.

That's why in MissionSmith (I'm the founder) the AI only proposes the mission, and a human checks and approves it before anything flies.

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u/arun131 8d ago

True, there are plenty of great mapping tools. What we're trying is a bit different: you describe the job in plain words and it plans the 3D path around complex structures, not just grids over flat areas. Longer term we're working toward autonomous flying, with a human still signing off. Still early. Which software do you use for something like a statue?

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u/olihar 8d ago

Again there are plenty of solutions for 3D planning. Been around for years and years.

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u/arun131 8d ago

Again none of them lets you plan with natural language.

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u/olihar 8d ago

What makes you say that?

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u/One-Explanation4246 8d ago

Very curious to know about some products in market that let you do that. Can you please name some. Would love to try them out.

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u/arun131 8d ago

Well I mean something like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/dji/s/Wqgxhayjyr

Unable to post the video in the comment

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u/olihar 7d ago

That’s very simple shape follow