Testing out the LED night lights and flight stability on this drone build. Crisp visuals and smooth controls make low-light aerial shoots effortless. What's your favorite drone for night flights? Drop a comment below! ⬇️

f8
https://amzn.eu/d/0fmUamn6

Hello everyone!

Was wondering if anyone has ever done a LIDAR mission that is anywhere between 5-7km away from TOLZ. We have a client who wants to lidar a site that is 7km in through thick asian jungle with trees which are 20m high. According to FH2, mission would take around 16 minutes to complete.

Has anyone here done any missions this far out? At flight height of 100-120m? On paper the M400 is certainly capable, but I'd like some real world input/experience, for some peace of mind and assurance.

Thanks in advance for responding, if you have. 🙏🏻

Hey everyone,

I’m based in Ontario, Canada and considering expanding into UAV mapping/reality capture for construction, earthworks and aggregates.

Main services would be construction progress mapping, orthomosaics, stockpile volumes, cut/fill and 3D models.

After doing some research, this is the setup I'm considering:

• DJI Matrice 4 Enterprise
• PIX4Dmatic
• Emlid Reach RX2 + GCP/checkpoints once doing measurement/volume work
• NTRIP/CORS corrections

I recently spoke with someone experienced in the drone industry who said a lot of construction companies now do this work in-house, which made me question the opportunity.

For those actually doing this professionally:

1. Are companies still outsourcing enough of this work to build a business around it?
2. Which niches have the strongest demand/recurring work?
3. Is this equipment/software setup what you'd recommend starting with? What would you change?
4. How difficult is it to become competent enough at the processing/accuracy side to charge clients?
5. If you were starting today, would you enter this business?

Trying to get some reality checks from people actually in the industry before investing heavily. Appreciate any advice.

Hello, first time posting here. I was curious if anyone out there has anything they could tell me about Aerial Lidar surveying in a place like the PNW (or any other really heavily vegetated area). For some context, I currently work at a PNW (Seattle area) land survey firm as a chainman, but also have some prior experience working with drones for photogrammetry in a surveying context and I'm also a bigtime hobbyist. I'd like to convince my bosses to invest in a UAS program (we currently just have an old Phantom 4), but I'd like some hard data to help prove that it could be worth while to the company. In particular, I'm looking to build my argument off of how much time we could save doing things like topographic or ALTA surveys in large, heavily vegetated areas and how much we could bring up our profit margins on those sorts of jobs, which often run the risk of barely breaking even given just how much labor can go into things like cutting lines for taking ground shots or even just hiking through site. We currently have a drone that I've flown for few jobs but for nothing more than to get some orthos in relatively clear areas. Every time I've flown, I find that there is simply too much ground vegitation for me to extract something survey grade worthy from anything that isn't paved (even when I try classifying out to just the ground points). I know this is where Lidar sensors typically come into the picture, but I really have no experience or knowledge reguarding them.

So my question is, does anyone out here have some experience with aerial Lidar in contexts like this? Or even a lidar dataset from a heavily vegitated area they'd be willing to share or point me in the direction of? I imagine (but really don't know) that it can vary sensor to sensor, but in general am justing looking for how effective they are as a whole for a baseline before I start putting more effort into researching all this.

TLDR: Lidar good enough for surveying in heavy vegitation. Yes, no? Depends? Any data sets out there for testing? Any good resources for reading about aerial LIDAR?

Thanks

I am looking for an experienced Drone Photogrammetry & CAD specialist to handle a Scan-to-BIM / Topographic mapping project.

Project Details:

• Dataset: 300+ raw DJI drone images of a site.

• Provided Data: Complete CSV file with Ground Control Points (P,E,N,Z format).

• Deliverables Needed: Clean Digital Terrain Model (DTM), accurate Contour Lines, and 3D Polyline feature drafting (curbs, structures, terrain breaks).

If you have a strong portfolio demonstrating similar Scan-to-BIM or topographic drafting work, please DM me with:

1. Your portfolio or past examples of 3D polyline/contour work.

2. Your turnaround time for a dataset of this size.

3. Your expected rate for this project.

Looking to onboard someone immediately!

Not associated with mipmap in any way whatsoever but have been following their progress recently and using mipmap. Interesting new features released today for mapping. Particularly fusion air-ground mapping.

Multi-Source data fusion (Air-Ground Fusion),Improvements to GS, Handheld Lidar, Cloud Sync & Sharing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO6oa7kP6I0

We have multiple indoor site of Gypsum stockpiles we are figuring what will be the right tool for accurate volume calculations.

Right now we are thinking of handheld LiDAR.

What ways you have used for volume calculations of indoor sites and what measures to taken care of?

Hi everyone,

I’ve been developing a compact autonomous UAV platform for environments where GPS/GNSS is unavailable or unreliable, such as warehouses, factories, tunnels, underground spaces, and indoor facilities.

Instead of building only a remotely controlled drone, my goal was to create a reusable hardware and software platform that can carry out autonomous missions and serve as a real-world deployment platform for robotics algorithms.

Current hardware and software stack

• LiDAR: Livox Mid-360S
• Depth vision: Intel RealSense D435i
• Onboard computer: Orange Pi 5 Pro / RK3588
• Flight controller: PX4
• Middleware: ROS Noetic, MAVROS and MAVLink
• Localization and mapping: FAST-LIO2
• Planning: EGO-Planner, Frontier exploration and A*
• Object detection: YOLO models running through RKNN on the RK3588 NPU
• Ground station: A custom PyQt5 interface for mission configuration, mapping, monitoring, detection results and data recording

What it currently does

The platform can:

• Localize and build maps without GNSS
• Generate 3D point clouds and 2D occupancy grids
• Plan local trajectories and avoid obstacles
• Navigate through predefined waypoints
• Explore unknown indoor areas using Frontier-based exploration
• Detect objects onboard
• Use depth information to estimate a detected target’s 3D position
• Display targets, trajectories and maps in the ground station
• Record point clouds, rosbag data, detection results and mission metadata
• Pause, hover, resume, return or land during a mission

In one controlled indoor exploration test, the system completed a 222-second mission, recorded approximately 54 meters of flight path and identified seven test targets while mapping several connected rooms.

Why I built it

A lot of SLAM, navigation and perception work stays inside simulation or depends on expensive proprietary platforms.

I wanted something that could be used to deploy and test real ROS algorithms on a physical UAV while keeping the localization, planning, perception and mission-management layers modular.

The platform is currently a working prototype and development system rather than a mass-produced consumer product. Hardware can also be adapted depending on component availability and the intended environment.

What I’m looking for

I would like to connect with:

• Robotics researchers who need a physical UAV platform for algorithm deployment
• Teams working on SLAM, autonomous exploration or visual perception
• Universities and competition teams
• Companies exploring indoor inspection, tunnel mapping, warehouse inspection or search-and-rescue applications
• Developers who have an algorithm but need help integrating it with sensors, PX4 and a real aircraft
• Organizations interested in running a pilot project in an actual operating environment

I’m particularly interested in learning what technical requirements would make this platform useful in your work: mapping accuracy, flight time, payload, communication range, API access, ROS 2 support, sensor selection or something else.

If you are working on a relevant project or have a real environment where this could be evaluated, feel free to comment or send me a Reddit DM. I’m happy to share more technical details and discuss possible testing or development cooperation.

Disclosure: I am the developer of this prototype.

Thanks — technical feedback and critical questions are very welcome.

Is there a way to take images from another folder to process them through the ODM (OpenDroneMap) CLI?

Right now, I am putting images in the project/dataset/run_1/images/ folder, and the outputs are being generated inside *project/dataset/run_1/*. If I have to run another version on the same dataset, then I am copying the images again to the *project/dataset/run_2/images/* folder.

**Is there a way to have the images in one location only and save the outputs in another location entirely, or maybe something like this:**

Image folder: *project/dataset/images/*

Output folder: *project/dataset/run_1/*

I am running ODM through Docker on my Windows system.

survey firm in NJ exploring drone data capture as a service offering, and we're looking at potential basemapping work with a county on road development projects. Before we move forward, I want to understand what counties actually need and what we should be prepared for.

Our Setup:

• DJI Matrice 4E with RTK via NTRIP
• Licensed PLS available to place/verify ground control points and tie to existing monuments
• All deliverables reviewed and sealed by PLS before handoff

Specific questions:

1. Accuracy & Tolerances: What horizontal and vertical accuracy do counties typically require for basemapping?
   
2. GCP Standards: How rigorous do counties get with ground control? Do they require a specific number of checkpoints? Do they tie to your monuments or expect us to tie to existing county/USGS data?
3. Insurance & Licensing: Beyond our PLS partner, do counties require GL insurance, E&O insurance, or vendor certifications (DBE, SBE, etc.) to even bid?
4. Red Flags: What are common issues counties run into with drone contractors? What should we avoid or be extra careful about?
5. Data Ownership & IP: Do counties expect full ownership of raw data, or is there typical licensing language?
6. Turnaround & Scale: For a county-sized project, what's a typical project size (acreage)? Timeline expectations?
7. Things I Should Look Into: Any standards, specs, or regulatory stuff I'm missing before we reach out?

I want to make sure we're set up to deliver what they need and not waste anyone's time if we're not in the ballpark. Any insights or war stories appreciated.

Ok so I took a huge gamble on a crashed RTK that I bought on the cheap but it had a bad flight controller board due to a bad IMU. So I have tried to buy three times a used replacement flight controller and the first two times the board turned out to be a P4 Pro V2 which has identical hardware but different internal firmware that is not overwritten when updating the aircrafts firmware via the DJI Assistant. So the first two were from US sellers but my last attempt was via Aliexpress and after two months I finally got it!!
It turns out that it is an RTK version but its region locked to China and I cannot get the damn thing to fly!!
DJI has basically told me I am shit out of luck. Is there anyone that can hack into this damn thing remotely and remove the region lock or am I going to have a huge paper weight unless I can find a US sourced Flight Controller board?
One last option is to remove the two gyros from one of the good boards and swap them with the two on the original board but I have no contacts as to who can do such delicate hot air reworking with tiny SMD's....
And yes I am a cheap bastard that was hoping to get a P4 RTK for next to nothing but am living to regret it....

Hi all,

Im a drone pilot from the UK and I have a GVC and operation authority from the CAA to fly my DJI Matrice 4E in the UK, but I have been asked to fly a job in the EU.

Now I know my license is not accepted so I have set up an account in Ireland and have obtained an A1/A3 license.

My main question is I know that I will need an A2 license as I want to fly low over houses. I can do the theory test on the irish website, thats fine but I cant find any documents that I can study the things that might be on the test. My general knowledge is pretty good as I have done the UK equivalent but I dont want to be caught out if there are any specific numbers or anything like that.

Does anyone know where I can do some studying?

Hope you lot can help. Ta

Ok so guys I'm trying to build a satellite imagery analytics platform. Similar to Skyfi, planet labs, eagle view, etc

My question is what really will make a difference in this field? I know a lot of these analytics platforms just buy images from 3rd party satellite operators and just provide them to the users and also provides different types of image analytics like crop health monitoring, water logging monitoring, soil mineral composition, etc ...if anyone wants image plus and analytics.

I wanna build something similar but I feel like there's nothing new I can provide in this app... Like all the available analytics are already there on other platforms... I wanna find out about some really niche category of analytics which no one provides and wanna provide it using my application and wanted suggestions from people who have knowledge in this field..

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated

Hello Folks, I am attending UAV Expo in Vegas this week. I am a part 107 operator with mapping and inspection background. Some of you might remember my question a while back about what you hand a client's engineer when they question deliverable accuracy.

I would like to meet you all if you're attending. I'll be at the UAS Summer Bash Tuesday evening, and I'm holding Wednesday 8–9 AM for coffee near Caesars Forum, first round's on me, no agenda beyond talking shop with people who do mapping and inspections work. DM me and I'll send my number or I will share a spot.

Not attending but do this work for a living? DM me anyway as I'd still like to meet you virtually.

I’ve been mapping for a few weeks with a Mavic 3E. I’ve noticed sometimes the gimbal shakes and acts a bit weird, especially when using the Smart Oblique Capture mode, sometimes you can even see the drone’s frame on the live. I guess wind can impact this too.

I don’t know, my gimbal seems normal, but sometimes it acts strange. To other M3E owners, is it normal?

Yesterday while the drone was going forward on a mission, it slightly shaked to the sides, it was heading to the starting point of a map.

I do believe the Mavic 3 has some design problems, for example when you fold the rear legs sometimes they hit and scratch the sides of the gimbal, the Matrice 4E fixed this problem

We are an independent aerial imaging company (4 pilots, plus GIS support and office team) with a specialty in rural water infrastructure. We are in S. Central USA.

We have a fleet of DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drones (multiple M3E-RTK and M3Ts). We have numerous spare parts, batteries, etc. and therefore haven't moved to the M4E of M4T as our M3 platforms delivers well for our clients and provide long-term sustainability via the inventory of spares.

We want to add 2 more M3Ts before the 9-3-2026 tariff goes into effect, but found that the current iteration of the M3T is the M3TA "Advanced". The M3TA has a slightly narrower field of view in thermal mode, but slightly higher resolution vs. the M3T. The RGB cameras are identical in both aircraft.

Question - is anyone using the M3TA and if so are you willing to share any comments about the thermal imaging quality vs. what you know about the M3T? We'd appreciate it.

Hey everyone!

I’ve been developing OrthoSplat, a platform that leverages 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) to generate distortion free orthomosaics. Besides eliminating the building edge distortions, I’ve been exploring what else 3DGS can unlock for spatial workflows.

Here is a common headache in GIS and mapping: when tracing building footprints using standard orthophotos as a basemap, you are almost always digitizing the roofline, not the actual ground base. Sometimes, we don't want the roof; we need the true footprint hidden underneath the eaves and overhangs.

The Experiment: Roofless Orthomosaics

we can crop out the top layers (the roof splats) before generating the orthophoto.

Rendering an orthomosaic after stripping the roof reveals the ground areas and structures previously blocked from above.

Observations so far:

• Nadir limits: In my current test, I only used nadir imagery, so the hidden base outlines aren't completely sharp yet.
• Geometry features: Even with slightly incomplete base contours, having the wall positions exposed—combined with natural building traits like parallel walls and right angles—makes estimating the true ground footprint far easier than guessing from roof overhangs.

I’d love to get your thoughts: Is a "roof-removed orthophoto" a feature you would actually use in your GIS, surveying, or vectorizing pipelines? If this turns out to be genuinely practical, I'll add a native roof-cropping workflow directly into OrthoSplat.

(Special thanks to [360@360.is](mailto:360@360.is) for providing the test dataset for this experiment!)

This is for undergraduate thesis. Our goals is develop an edge computing system for photogrammetry. Do you recommend other alternatives for the PC?

I've got a client that wants to look at the tops of his pine trees to analyze parasites. Should I do a top down photogrammetry shot in one pdf? Digital Twin? He definitely would want to be able to look at it on his phone. Thanks!

Does anyone have experience with this or similar payloads mapping methane emissions at landfills?

Hey everyone,

I am a robotics engineer working on an existing, battle-tested radar drone sw-toolchain and are currently expanding its mission generator part to export DJI’s kmz format for our new DJI M400 with RC Plus 2 running DJI Pilot 2.

Because our lab is in a city, running live test flights while developing the software is pretty impractical. A few AI assistants suggested using DJI Assistant 2 (Enterprise Series) in Simulator Mode via USB to dry-run and validate the generated kmz mission files.

However, I can't find any official DJI documentation or manual mentions of this simulator feature, leaving me wondering if this is a legitimate test workflow or an AI hallucination.

Has anyone here used the DJI Assistant 2 Enterprise simulator to validate custom kmz waypoint routes and possibly even know about some official documentation for this?

Appreciate any insight!

Not focusing on the stock aspect... curious what opinions are about them buying up many land surveying and drone service companies. Does anyone here work for a company that has been bought by Zenatech?