CIOApplications
static-image
  • Home
  • Applications
      • Auction Software
      • Audit Management
      • Bioinformatics
      • Business Continuity
      • Business Intelligence
      • Chatbot
      • Club Management
      • Collaboration
      • CPQ
      • Custom Software Development
      • CRM
      • Data Platform
      • Digital Experience
      • e-Discovery
      • E-Signature
      • Employee Engagement
      • EAM
      • Enterprise Communications
      • Enterprise Mobility
      • Enterprise Reporting Software
      • Enterprise Search
      • Forestry
      • GIS
      • GRC
      • Human Resource
      • Indoor Positioning
      • Innovation Management
      • InsurTech
      • Intellectual Property
      • IT Infrastructure
      • IT Operations Management
      • IT Service Management
      • License Management
      • Low Code Platform
      • Maintenance Management
      • Managed IT Services
      • MarTech
      • Master Data Management
      • Order Management
      • Parking Management
      • Personalization
      • Portal Software
      • Procurement Tech
      • Publishing Software
      • Quality Management System
      • Remote Monitoring
      • Remote Support
      • RFID
      • Sales Tech
      • Software Asset Management
      • Software Testing
      • Task Management
      • Unified Communications
      • Visitor Management
      • Voice Recognition
      • Web Design and Development
      • Workflow
      • Workplace Management
  • Verticals
      • Automotive
      • Banking
      • BioTechnology
      • Casino
      • Construction
      • CPG
      • Contact Center
      • Education
      • Energy
      • Field Service
      • Fintech
      • Food and Beverages
      • Government
      • Healthcare
      • Legal
      • Life Sciences
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Media and Entertainment
      • Retail
      • Travel and Hospitality
      • Utilities
  • Technologies
      • 3D Scanning
      • Agile
      • API
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Augmented Reality
      • Blockchain
      • CAD/CAM
      • Cloud
      • Container Management
      • Cyber Security
      • Data Analytics
      • Data Center
      • DevOps
      • Drone
      • Graphics
      • Hyper Converged Infrastructure
      • Image Recognition
      • IoT
      • Lidar
      • Machine Learning
      • Machine Vision and Imaging
      • Nano Tech
      • Networking
      • Predictive Analytics
      • PropTech
      • RF and Microwave
      • Robotic Process Automation
      • Robotics
      • Security
      • Simulation
      • Smart Labelling
      • Space Tech
      • Telematics
      • Virtual Assistant
  • Company Eco System
      • Adobe
      • Amazon
      • Avaya
      • ESRI
      • Google
      • IBM
      • Infor
      • Microsoft
      • Mitel Partners
      • National Instruments
      • NetSuite
      • Oracle
      • Progress
      • Qlik Partner
      • Riverbed
      • Salesforce
      • SAP
      • ServiceNow
      • SiteCore
      • Splunk Partner
      • VMware
  • News
  • conferences
  • Newsletter
  • Whitepaper
  • About us
  • Specials

  • Menu
      • Amazon
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Auction Software
      • Blockchain
      • CAD/CAM
      • Club Management
      • CPQ
      • Digital Experience
      • E-Signature
      • Education
      • Energy
      • Enterprise Mobility
      • Food and Beverages
      • GRC
      • Healthcare
      • Image Recognition
      • Indoor Positioning
      • Infor
      • Intellectual Property
      • IoT
      • Legal
      • Lidar
      • Logistics
      • NetSuite
      • Personalization
      • Predictive Analytics
      • Quality Management System
      • Remote Monitoring
      • Retail
      • RF and Microwave
      • Riverbed
      • Simulation
      • Task Management
      • Utilities
      • VMware
      • Workflow
  • VMware
  • Amazon
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Auction Software
  • Blockchain
  • CAD/CAM
  • Club Management
  • CPQ
Specials
  • Specials

  • Amazon
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Auction Software
  • Blockchain
  • CAD/CAM
  • Club Management
  • CPQ
  • Digital Experience
  • E-Signature
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Enterprise Mobility
  • Food and Beverages
  • GRC
  • Healthcare
  • Image Recognition
  • Indoor Positioning
  • Infor
  • Intellectual Property
  • IoT
  • Legal
  • Lidar
  • Logistics
  • NetSuite
  • Personalization
  • Predictive Analytics
  • Quality Management System
  • Remote Monitoring
  • Retail
  • RF and Microwave
  • Riverbed
  • Simulation
  • Task Management
  • Utilities
  • VMware
  • Workflow
×
#

CIO Applications Weekly Brief

Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from CIO Applications

Subscribe

loading
  • Home
  • Drone
Editor's Pick (1 - 4 of 8)
left
CIO Hall Of Faces

CIO Hall Of Faces
Tom Basiliere, CIO, Provant

Drones are Coming to your Business

Drones are Coming to your Business
Tom Basiliere, CIO, Provant Health

Is Your Organization Ready For Drones?

Is Your Organization Ready For Drones?
Dr. Jonathan Reichental, CIO, City Of Palo Alto

Leveraging Drones to Increase Safety and Productivity

Leveraging Drones to Increase Safety and Productivity
Hugo Vasquez, Deputy CIO, The AES Corporation

Integrating Drones into the Most Complex Airspace in the World

Integrating Drones into the Most Complex Airspace in the World
Sean S Torpey, CIO, AIT Office of Information Services, FAA

Understanding and Implementing Data Collection and Analysis with Unmanned Aerial Systems

Understanding and Implementing Data Collection and Analysis with...
Jon Amdur, Vice President, Senior Technical Manager, Kleinfelder

The Sky Truly is the Limit

The Sky Truly is the Limit
Sam Perry, MBA, ACHE, Director of Operations, McKenzie County Healthcare Systems, Inc.

The days of Dull, Dirty, Dangerous are done. Your ever-loyal Drone wants to do so much more

The days of Dull, Dirty, Dangerous are done. Your ever-loyal Drone...
Josh Dittmar, Systems Engineering Integration and Test, Northrop Grumman

right

Thank you for Subscribing to CIO Applications Weekly Brief

Big Data That Flies: Data Acquisition With Aerial Drones

By Robert E. Sinclair, Corporate CAD Technology Manager, Civil & Environmental Consultants

Tweet
content-image

Robert E. Sinclair, Corporate CAD Technology Manager, Civil & Environmental Consultants

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have moved from “cool toy” to “essential workhorse” in the minds of many businesspeople – particularly those in the construction, oil and gas, mining, and aggregate industries. Along the way, drones are helping to chart new territory not just on the ground, but in the speedy gathering and analysis of large data sets.

Meeting a Real Need

About three years ago, our engineering and environmental consulting firm started to see the benefit that drones might offer to our clients. They wanted access to fast, reliable maps, and images of the ground. This stemmed from their need to know the topography of a planned construction site, how much soil and rock would have to be moved to build a road or widen a rock cut, or how to avoid having an impact on an environmentally sensitive area.

Traditionally, they’d employ a crew of surveyors who might take several weeks to produce a map of the site. Or, they would commission a manned aircraft to capture images – a process that might require a month’s lead time or even a rescheduled flight time due to weather delays. Then, it could take at least another month to process the data.

We figured that drones could get our clients the data they need quickly to support good decision-making, and we could do so cost-effectively. And maybe we could also provide site-specific information our clients couldn’t obtain any other way.

The right equipment and processes are essential

The devices used for this kind of work are far from the backyard toys made popular by the big-box electronic stores. They require significant training and qualifications to fly.

We use two types of drones: some are equipped for photogrammetry (the science of making measurements from photographs) and some equipped with LiDAR scanners. (LiDAR, a combination of “light” and “radar,” can create an image of the surface that cuts through vegetation such as trees).

We’ve hired an FAA-certified commercial aircraft pilot as part of our team to help us plan our flights in a safe way that avoids obstructions, such as transmission lines, cellular towers, and manned aircraft in controlled airspace.

There can be millions of data points acquired during each drone flight, which are used to create a point cloud to offer the deliverables requested by clients.


A typical project might involve flying over a 300-acre site to map it. The points we measure are less than a millimeter apart, and each data point contains information on its color as well as its position in three dimensions. There can be millions of data points acquired during each drone flight. Those data points are what we use to create a point cloud, which is the foundation for most of the deliverables requested by clients.

The resulting files can range from several hundred gigabytes up to about a terabyte in size. Server space is quite costly, so in addition to investing in a $10,000 supercomputer, we have invested in an array of Solid State Drives (SSDs). We can store the data and process it on the SSDs, and then house the data off-site for disaster recovery purposes.

Our firm’s survey teams are key to our process in that they establish ground control points – points on the survey area whose exact location is established using ground surveying techniques. This helps to establish the accuracy of the drone-generated data.

We take all of the drone-generated data and post-process it through programs like Pix4D drone mapping and photogrammetry software, among others. We then import the data into AutoCAD® Civil 3D®, where we can manipulate and utilize the data for a number of purposes, such as to prepare volume calculations or as the basis for our engineering designs.

In addition to acquired data, we can integrate survey data and publicly available GIS data for a property. This allows us to identify existing site features, such as property boundaries or rights-of-way, and overlay that information with our acquired geo referenced data. Other key data, such as the location of wetlands, endangered-species habitats, and water bodies, provided by our firm’s environmental and ecological professionals, helps to create a more robust and complete deliverable.

The resulting deliverables depend on the needs of the client. Some want a 3D model of their site, others want help determining the amount of material in a stockpile, and some just want an aerial photo of their property. A 3D model can even be presented using augmented or virtual reality to help stakeholders visualize a completed project in context. The information provided is often key to our clients’ decision-making.

Flying Right

A few of our lessons learned along the way:

Fly legally and safely: Always follow commercial FAA regulations with certified FAA drone pilots.

Don’t fight the weather: Drones are not at their best during high winds, and rain or snow can produce low-quality data. We help manage our clients’ expectations in the case of bad weather.

Consistency is key: It’s best to complete a data acquisition exercise in one flight, if possible, so that there are no problems with sites that look different under cloud than they do on a sunny day.

Don’t fly during blasting: If blasting is going to be performed nearby, pick another time to fly.

Pick a good place for controlling the drone: Find a spot where you will have a line of sight to the drone over the whole mapping area.

Big data, big storage: Make sure your organization has the server space to accommodate the amount of data that will be acquired, and, if not, find an alternative storage solution.

 

Read Also:

Top Drone Technology Solution Companies 

Top Drone Tech Consulting Companies

tag

Drone

AutoCAD

GIS

Read Also

Integrating Drones into the Most Complex Airspace in the World

Integrating Drones into the Most Complex Airspace in the World

Sean S Torpey, CIO, AIT Office of Information Services, FAA
Understanding and Implementing Data Collection and Analysis with Unmanned Aerial Systems

Understanding and Implementing Data Collection and Analysis with Unmanned Aerial Systems

Jon Amdur, Vice President, Senior Technical Manager, Kleinfelder
The Sky Truly is the Limit

The Sky Truly is the Limit

Sam Perry, MBA, ACHE, Director of Operations, McKenzie County Healthcare Systems, Inc.
The days of Dull, Dirty, Dangerous are done. Your ever-loyal Drone wants to do so much more

The days of Dull, Dirty, Dangerous are done. Your ever-loyal Drone wants to do so much more

Josh Dittmar, Systems Engineering Integration and Test, Northrop Grumman

Weekly Brief

loading
ON THE DECK

Drone 2018

Top Vendors

Drone 2018

Top Vendors

Drone 2017

Top Vendors

Previous Next

Featured Vendors

  • Drone Aviation Corp: Reinventing Unmanned Tether
    Drone Aviation Corp: Reinventing Unmanned Tether
  • FlyGuys: Improving Outcomes across the Drone Ecosystem
    FlyGuys: Improving Outcomes across the Drone Ecosystem
  • Aerial Applications: Disaster Recovery with Drone-based Digital Asset Management
    Aerial Applications: Disaster Recovery with Drone-based Digital Asset Management
  • Firmatek: Simplifying the Mapping Process with Drones
    Firmatek: Simplifying the Mapping Process with Drones

Copyright © 2019 CIOApplications. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy |  Sitemap  |  Subscribe

follow on linkedin follow on twitter follow on rss
This content is copyright protected close

However, if you would like to share the information in this article, you may use the link below:

https://drone.cioapplications.com/cxoinsights/big-data-that-flies-data-acquisition-with-aerial-drones-nid-1443.html