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Drones Could 3D-Map Scores of Hectares of Land In Just a Few Hours
sciencehabit writes: Unmanned drones aren't just for warfare. In recent years, they've been used to map wildlife and monitor crop growth. But current software can't always handle the vast volume of images they gather. Now, researchers have developed an algorithm that will allow drones to 3D-map scores of hectares of land in less than a day — an advance that is important for cost-effective farming, disaster relief, and surveillance operations.
Their computer program directly projects the points from each photo onto a 3D space without knowing the exact shape of the land or the camera positions. As a result, the tie points don't necessarily match up, which means the same corn plant can have two projections on the model. When that happens, the algorithm automatically takes the middle point between the two projections as the more accurate location and adjusts the camera position accordingly, one image at a time. Because the algorithm tweaks far fewer things at each step, the shortcut drastically speeds up calculations. Once the software has adjusted the camera positions for all the photos, the software repeats the entire process — starting from projecting the points to the 3D space — to correct for any errors.
Their computer program directly projects the points from each photo onto a 3D space without knowing the exact shape of the land or the camera positions. As a result, the tie points don't necessarily match up, which means the same corn plant can have two projections on the model. When that happens, the algorithm automatically takes the middle point between the two projections as the more accurate location and adjusts the camera position accordingly, one image at a time. Because the algorithm tweaks far fewer things at each step, the shortcut drastically speeds up calculations. Once the software has adjusted the camera positions for all the photos, the software repeats the entire process — starting from projecting the points to the 3D space — to correct for any errors.
There is photogrammetry software that has been doing this for some years already. Of course it's much better to have camera positions available, and control points on the ground to verify the model.
Scores of hectares! Imagine the hectares.
what does it mean scores of hectares? [checks google]
For the 'mericuns, one score hectare is 49 acres. for the people who insist on SK/mks, one score hectare is 200,000 m^2. For the left-brain thinkers, there are 17 score hectares in Central Park in NYC or 64 football fields in one score hectare.
Scores of Hectares? Really guys?
Why, with our revolutionary fly-a-micating devices, which are capable of travelling at dozens of furlongs per fortnight, we will be able to monitor the Aether, and map the location of the peasants houses to within a few rods, thus ensuring we can maximize tithing.
A spokesman for the government was overcome with the vapors at the excitement of it all, and needed to be leeched lest her spleen overtake the rest of her humors and leave her dyspeptic and the evil spirits sway her from her normal temperament.
Off the record, a spokesman was hopeful that the new phrenology module would be available in version III.V, and evil people will be easily spotted from the air, and can then be rounded up for burning at the stake.
Goode Frye was optimistic this would remove the threat of the witches which have been stealing the souls of babies.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Depending on the accuracy obtained, such mapping would be highly useful on our farm for figuring out drainage. Some areas of a field might drain better with only a very small slope, if we knew where to put the channel. Currently the only real option is to drive over the field with an RTK GPS receiver and make a GIS map of elevations. Which works well enough (depending on the grid resolution; can get really old driving every 10 feet over 160 acres), but takes quite a long time to do.
So it makes it better, then makes that better?
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Talking with a large farm owner over the weekend who is ready to start using Drones to cover about 5500 acres as a supplement to their current sat. imagery. They were told no by the FAA, which says they will not be able to accommodate farming drones until 2016 at the earliest.
So instead of figuring out how it's going to benefit the farmer and working through the leading edge adoption issues with farms who are motivated to give it a try, they are regulating them out of existence, before it can even get started.
I can certainly understand the need for regulations as problems arise, but to write the regulations before there is an issue is just a typical stupid gov response. The FAA will make the entire process more expensive, more cumbersome and more restrictive than it needs to be without any real world experiences upon which to regulate.
It would be simple to set a weight, height and radius limit for farming drone use. Could be done in just a couple of days with 2-3 smart people but that is just too easy for gov work.
I've always been fascinated when software makes dramatic enhancements to the capabilities of existing hardware and data. Like a few years ago there was the release of the TLD algorithm which suddenly turned my old webcam into an futuristic object recognition/tracking device!
What I wonder is, when these software enhancements are made, does hardware usually evolve to converge with the software? Meaning, in this example, if the software is using a new method for processing point data, does that not mean the hardware could be made to collect point data in a way more conducive to this new method?
And is this kind of progress a common thing? Is it common or rare this leapfrog progressive dance of hardware and software?
of how new technology removes the need for space. The Space Age is truly dead, we are now in the Information Age. Cheap information gathering and processing! The high-energy dreams of the past are dead, welcome to the low-energy present!
Drones Could 3D-Map Scores of Hectares of Land In Just a Baker's Dozen of Milli-fortnights
Fixed for consistency.
The images are projected into 3D space to find overlaps, but from reading TFA, it sounds like the output is still a good old fashioned 2D photo, just one covering an awfully big area.
I heartily approve of this romp poking fun at archaic terminology. Hectares, art thou serious bros?
Scores of hectares per day? What year is it, 1890?
TFA mentions around a thousand images of a 40 hectare farm being converted by the new algorithm in 4 hours, so that's 6 km^2/day, or just under 62 acres per hour. Also the drone flies exactly the same; this is the post-processing of the images that has been sped up, not the drone.
Still today in spite of all the technological advance, if you buy a property, you may need to pay for a land survey.
It will be given on cryptic and imprecise angles w.r.t. a reference landmark. Surveyors will ask around $300 per marker if one want the data in GPS coordinates.
If all the maps are written in GPS coordiantes, then it is easy to plan your land, from where to put the barn to how to sub-divide for housing.
If drones can provide high accuracy (+/- 0.5 inch or better) markers, than surveyors become historical artifacts.
They are nothing more than notaries. But unlike notaries, the measurements they validate does vary from one surveyor to another. High accuracy GPS coordinates would not have that problem: a properly measured marker stays measured, if one resurvey within a few days by another set of drones.
So why do we keep around surveyors?
Also see:
Baker's dozens of morgens
Grosses of brass
Forty rods to the hogshead
Of course, this was exactly the kind of legitimate purpose people wanted drones to have all along, so actually much older than the drone issues people are usually excited about.
But the 3-D modelling math sounds very cool.
What the hell are you all talking about?
when you were already out plowing or harvesting or fertilizing the fields? Why wouldn't you just do this continually over time to improve your maps, once you made the investment in the GPS receiver?
Obviously a deliberate affront on the metric system!