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UAVS are expensive equipment that can get broken very easily – unless you take precautions
UAVs are now very much commonplace in surveying and it’s a rare application that hasn’t yet benefited from their presence. But commonplace doesn’t mean ordinary. Not only are they expensive, they require considerable skill to operate and maintain.
Planning a UAV’s flight for a survey isn’t quite the same as taking out a model plane for a flight round the park either. Want it to fly over something high? How high? Do you know? Are you sure? How accurate is the digital terrain model you’re using? Has it been updated recently?
There’s a world of threats your UAV may encounter while flying and replacing it if it gets broken is not going to be cheap or easy.
This issue, we look at a project to survey powerlines in the Czech Republic. As well as carefully planning flight paths using DTMs and DSMs, surveyor Jakub Karas outfitted his UAV with a specially fitted radar designed to stop the vehicle from accidentally colliding with wires. He explains all on page 37.
Meanwhile, on page 40, Alexey Dobrovolskiy offers a workflow designed to stop UAVs from colliding with trees – the most common cause of crashes during magnetic surveys. Think it’s easy flying
a UAV? Now try it with a magnetometer hanging from the bottom of your vehicle.
I hope you enjoy the issue.
