Phantom 4 RTK/PPK - a step closer to reality

I'm looking at that new Phantom 4 on the market with the real time dGPS corrections via 4G dongle/post processed and I'm becoming more and more impressed by the prospect - particularly for drone bathymetry flights, where image matching is almost impossible. 

Problem is the RTK module sits on the roof of the drone (above) - so the GPS or sunlight sensors for a multispec (below) will be blocking the signal - so you;d be limited to RGB only.

Have any readers/hardware wizards got a solution?

IEOS2018 - Next Week in Ashtown.

We're presenting some of our work on change detection and mapping at the IEOS next week - hosted by Teagasc.

Still time to register. Always a  great event.

Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies

This is a must read document - 99 examples from around the EU of countries leveraging Sentinel data. The categories overlap quite alot and we come back to the basics like subsidence monitoring using InSAR or plant health using multispec data for many of the applications - but really useful to see what is happening already.

Zeb Horizon - now UAV Compatible

If you ever wanted to combine surveying with walking around like a ghostbuster scanning everything you meet with a handheld device - the ZEB Revo and its descendants are probably your best chance of making that dream come true. Using SLAM techniques it is capable of registering the points captured in near-real time and building up a complete point cloud of an area. Early models were spring mounted so as you walked around the scanner head flip-flopped from side to side and this motion allowed the scanner to direct scanlines to cover all of the surrounding environment.

I received notification this morning that they were taking these systems a step further and that the new ZEB Horizon would now come with a dedicated UAV mount and was UAV compatible. A handheld laser scanner that you can take underground or mount on a drone is quite versatile.

Spec sheet here

Youtube demo of the ZEB REVO here

RTK Drones

DJI have just brought a low cost drone to market - a DJI Phantom RTK ready drone. Drone users will be familiar with the existing offerings on the market such as the Trimble EBEE RTK - which cost €20k plus - however the new DJI offering is €5k - so really shakes things up. Looking forward to seeing a robust accuracy assessment of this, or to what is required to use it in Ireland - basic VRS/Sim card link to Korec or OSi correction service? Who knows, watch this space.