Latest Contributions by DouglasRidenour

Patrick - The Drone2Map 1.1 update likely solves your elevation unit issue. Aaron is right on target that you need to use Ground Control Points if you want greater accuracy in the solution. However, the answer to your original question is that you can batch edit the exif metadata in your collected images using the freeware ExifTool by Phil Harvey. It is a command line tool but it can rapidly change the metadata values. As as always don't change your source data but work on a copy of it so you can easily revert. ... View more

I've had good results with the DJI Mavic Pro. Just need to remember to focus the camera at the elevation you are flying the imagery. There is one issue to be aware of in that the heights recorded in the image metadata are neither record ellipsoidal heights nor MSL altitude of the sensor. This appears to be across the entire DJI product line at the current firmware and not limited to just the Mavic Pro. Another issue is that the GPSAltitude tag in the image metadata if recorded as "below sea level"  or "above sea level" instead of with a sign. Drone2Map interprets both as above sea level.  GPSAltitude: 23 below sea level   -> 23 meters in Drone2Map    GPSAltitude: 23 above sea level  -> 23 meters in Drone2Map Unless you do a lot of work near MSL you may not ever have an issue with the sign but the incorrect data being recorded by the DJI drones can lead to issues. One work around is to use ground control points in Drone2Map which will pull the solution to the right elevation as long as it isn't so far out of bounds that solution fails. ... View more

William, The user's manual for FMV tool is here: Full Motion Video 1.3.1 User Manual.pdf  Jeff just posted it a couple of days ago. It is also embedded in the FMV tutorials here:  https://community.esri.com/message/625504 . I'll ask the Drone2Map team about bare earth as a Drone2Map output but the method used to create the surface is image matching so you don't have additional data to bring the surface to bare earth like you would with LIDAR using second return. It should be possible to produce bare earth elevation through secondary processing in ArcGIS though, like in the days of manual photogrammetry. Great question about mission planning. Right now Esri doesn't have plans to add mission planning into Drone2Map. There are many platform specific mission planning applications already and we're concentrating on the downstream data applications. Doug ... View more

William,      If you click on my name I think it shows my email address at Esri. Email me and we can make arrangements to get some sample .srt files from you to look at. Doug ... View more

Michal,     FMV is an Add-in to ArcGIS for Desktop it requires our desktop software to function. Drone2Map is not an Add-in nor an Extension. It is a stand alone program that doesn't require ArcGIS for Desktop to function. I have no experience with sales and pricing in your local market. For that I'd recommend contacting your local Esri distributor in Poland. If you want to talk about the technical capabilities of the FMV Add-in or Drone2Map I have the experience to assist.  Doug ... View more

Michal,     The Esri application for creating an orthomosaics from JPEGs with included EXIF info is Drone2Map (Drone2Map for ArcGIS). It works well with the DJI Phantom 4 out of the box. The Full Motion Video (FMV) tool is for bringing dynamic imagery into your GIS. This has been a difficult problem with consumer level platforms because it depends on a rich metadata layer being embeded in the video stream.  This metadata has to follow the industry standard set by the Motion Imagery Standards Board (MISB: Motion Imagery Standards Board ).  The work that Jeff is describing is working with consumer drone makers to output simple text files that can be processed into the Video post flight using the software multiplexer tool included in the ArcGIS Desktop Add-in. We've had great success working this with 3DR and would like to replicate that with DJI. Doug ... View more

Like Mike says as long as it is a MP4 you should be able to open and view it as an archived video. If there is no MISB standard metadata in the video it will still play but you won't see it on your map. If you are able to access the .srt file I'd be interested in looking to see how it might be used with the multiplexer to generate a MISB dataset. ... View more

Ben,        I have run into this issue once when I didn't uninstall an earlier FMV version before updating to a new version (I sure didn't save the time I thought I would) . Uninstalling the add-in step by step as described in the user manual and reinstalling the add-in fixed it. The versions were different than you are having an issue with however, so your mileage may vary. You could also try uninstalling the add-in and upgrading to 1.3.1 which will work with ArcGIS for Desktop 10.3 and has some performance enhancements so I'd definitely recommend that if you can . If you continue to get the empty tool-box there may be a deeper issue and I'd contact Esri tech support directly for deeper trouble shooting. ... View more

Ben, two questions:           If you right click on ArcToolbox and add the FMV toolbox manually from the System Toolboxes does it remain empty?            What version FMV Tool and ArcGIS For Desktop are you using? Doug ... View more

Lee, I just came across your question, soory it has not been more timely. The short answer is that the only real must have for drone2map is a system that produces nadir or low oblique images (camera pointed down) and a way to record the 3D GPS coordinates of the location of the images.  Along these lines the 3DR Solo and Phantom 3 work well. Generally, the essential characteristics for best integration are: + Camera or Platform collection of the 3D GPS location of the images +The ability to record nadir or near nadir imagery   +A camera model supported in Drone2Map specifically or by default. +A passable quality sensor In addition, helpful characteristics are: + Efficient way to download the images + High image resolution + Auto triggered Sensor + The ability fly generated way points + A mission planning system to generate waypoints with proper overlap - Doug ... View more

That's too bad. If it collected that additional flight info it might be just the thing for a Rogelio to compute external orientation parameters. The pitch and roll gimbal angle compared to the horizon could ideally be a constant if the gimbal was very well balanced and not changed dynamically during flight.  I know in practice I usually get some gimbal drift because I'm not using professional grade equipment. I have a platform that uses a NAZA flight controller and it would be nice to be able to gather useful flight parameters from it because it flies really nicely. ... View more

Rogelio, I got another logger put together from a PIX4FMU "clone" . It uses the APM:Plane 3.4.0 firmware and seems to be easier to use than the micro APM I originally tried. Below is an image of the logger with the cables running loose and the external USB and safety switch which are both standard on the PIX4FMU removed. From the bottom up the stack consists of a power unit on which I soldered the yellow XT60 connector, the PIX4FMU clone controller, and the GPS on top. The stack is solid so I didn't design a separate enclosure for it after all. Weight is 40 grams. You could probably reduce that by powering the flight controller through a 5v feed to the input pins and dropping the power unit off but I also want the capability to use this to control planes later-on so I kept the power module.  The PIX4FMU architecture has a built in SD card reader and it has been tested to 16 GB capacity so space shouldn't be an issue.  The cost of the base unit was 55 bucks with the GPS another 30. The actual controller is a RTF MINIHAWK PX4MINIAIO V1.3 . I've tested it on the ground and it seems to work as expected but have not put it up in the air yet. I probably won't get a chance until next weekend as rain is expected here through Sunday. Also: The cable provided with the GPS unit was not correct so I had to change the wire order so that the power was in the right place and the FMU TX connected to the GPS RX and visa versa. Obviously, since I have not been able to test it I can't vouch for how well the data supports the upcoming FMV 1.3 multiplexer. I'll also be at the Esri Federal GIS conference in the UAS area if anyone wants to stop by and chat. If there is any interest (and it works) I can bring this logger as well. ... View more

Not with the APM.  I'm trying the same thing with a Pix4FMU controller which has a built in SD card reader that you can expand. It also runs the APM firmware and a smaller form factor than the APM. I'll let you know how it works when I can field test it. ... View more

Rogelio, As an update. This weekend I put together the prototype logger from an APM board that I had sitting on my bench. The initial results are mixed.  I wanted a simple power-on and fly logger but  turns out more complicated than expected. Issues such as arming/disarming and sensor checks required by the firmware can be overridden in software. However, a bigger issue is the APM is limited to built-in flash memory and it appears that I used that up pretty quickly and lost a log file because it got cycled over. Without the ability to expand the memory I think the applications as a logger will be very limited. I don't think I ran into this flash memory issue before because the firmware was smaller and my flight time was about 4 minutes long on a quad vs. 20 minutes with the fixed wing. Doug ... View more

Verne,       The Flytrex doesn't capture roll, pitch or yaw?  I'm not sure how you can project the video frame onto a map without those parameters.  Roll and Pitch may be less important with a two axis stabilized camera mount if it is well tuned and points at a consistent angle but yaw will still change dynamically in flight. Doug ... View more