Drone surveys are becoming increasingly popular for collecting data in a variety of industries. From wind turbines to power lines, drones can provide valuable business information that can be used to make informed decisions. However, it is important to understand the process of collecting and managing the data from a drone survey mission. The first step in the process is to plan the flight in advance.
Special software is used to ensure that the drone covers the entire area of interest. The drone's built-in camera then takes pictures during the mission, with multiple photos taken of each feature. This data is then processed with software to sort, organize and manage it. The next step is to produce an orthomosaic map.
This is a kind of puzzle made from detailed and precise photographs of the area that have been joined and geometrically corrected. Cloud-based drone survey planning and data collection solutions can be used to deploy a fleet of drones, schedule missions, capture images at reference points and store them in the cloud for further processing. Integrating your own or third-party data processing and analysis solutions can also be beneficial. For example, FlytNow provides access to a set of APIs that can be used to quickly create custom drone applications that are independent of the drone hardware.
Finally, it is important to consider the lighting conditions when planning a drone inspection. If the forecast is for one of these days, you should plan your drone inspection for that day as you will have the most consistent dim lighting conditions for optimal data collection. By understanding the process of collecting and managing data from a drone survey mission, companies can find an increasing number of ways to use drones and drone data to improve their operations.
