I was curious what a good option would be for mapping farmland. I do not own a drone yet and am new to the idea. My family has farmland and is curious of the options.
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I must recommend Agribotix for cameras. Agribotix modifies GoPro cameras for NIR and RGB use with non-distortion lenses. They sell cameras without a drone package if you want to build your own.
For airframes you must first decide fixed wing or multirotor? If you are in the US = must stay within line of sight then a multirotor is best IMO because you can get plenty of range to map the average field and VTOL makes operating from fields easy. Agribotix' quadcopter can cover 160 acres per flight (size of average US corn field).
Fixed wings can cover 4x or more ground per flight as a multirotor, but once you get out past 700-800 meters out then visual contact with the drone is lost so the extra range isn't always useful. Auto takeoffs pretty much always work with a bungee, but auto landings are hard and non-precise. The RVJet makes a great platform because it's incredibly tough and can carry lots of stuff.
Terry Thone > Jimmy UnderhillMarch 25, 2016 at 2:38pm
I like the Agribotix company. I can purchase the Mapir cameras at half the price but usually you get what you pay for. Anyone familiar with the Mapir products. Thanks for the info Jimmy Underhill.
I am tackling this also. I found most ready made options to be extremely over priced and mostly are selling you data management which is nice but not required. I agree the Aero & Aero M are great platforms. Another thing you need to come to grips with is the NDVI Imaging included with most ready made packages that are not upgraded are extremely inexpensive for the marked up price. If you are doing NDVI stay away from wide angle lenses. The distortion on them will cause issues. I am currently in the processes of building my own platform on a budget of $1500cad and so far have purchased all required components for under $700cad. Choosing your camera for NDVI is important if you are not purchases already converted ones which are fairly decently priced from outside vendors. If you are doing it yourself there is some calibration that must be done to achieve accurate NDVI imaging. Such as adjusting white balance to provide a true representation.
You must also understand that maybe NDVI is not what you are after and maybe just high resolution RGB images are capable to provide you with information of value.
If you want a true multispectral camera the micasense red edge is the way to go but it comes with a pricetag. However it will provide true multispectral on different bands.
If you want either of you would like to get in contact with me shoot me a pm and I can share some of what I have learned.
Expect to be disappointed in the lack of readily available information.
Currently my build is based off a navio+ & RPI2. I choose this route due to the open ended options on the rpi and flexibility. I am likely going to end up getting a cannon SX230 and convert over to ndvi via ir filter removal and public labs filter. I am choosing the x230 due to it having built in geotagging capabilities which will provide at least another reference point for mapped fields.
I am currently working out the most suitable airframe to use. I have purchased a skywalker mini as a proof of concept for the navio rpi picam option and to get familiar with the rc plane components as it is out of my field of expertise. once the weather turns nice and can really put it to the test will start moving on to bigger airframes. I am faced with a few dilemmas.
1. Flying Wing
2. Glider Based
3. Flight Time 60-90mins
4. Speed for efficiency in acre coverages I am shooting for the 45mph-60mph
. Speed = Battery Consumption.
. Battery Consumption = More Weight
. Speed Also means camera must be sufficient enough to capture images at some sort of clarity and at what agl does this change.
just some of what I have come up with and working on. Goal is to have something capable of meeting most those requirements by June 2016.
The aero is a great option to get your feet wet but I choose to go the full DIY due to my end use requiring me to have a in depth knowledge of the system inside and out.
some more reading.
RPI2 + Navio+ + RPICam NOIR + 12mm mount lense or c-mount cctv lense Should provide some usable information at around 100ft agl for ndvi. The question is at that height the amount of coverage is small but maybe I am mistaken and can fly at higher agl once it gets out there or less. for some reason I have in my head the micasense is a 6mp sensor per band. It is either 6 or 12 it was relatively low considering where most cameras are today. this reasoning is what led me to believe that possibly at 100-200ftgl vs 400 the rpi 5mp camera could be capable and usable. Another option i was looking at is bulk buying the chinese action cameras based on the sony exmor 16mp sensor since it has a very "hackable"firmware and building my own multispectral wither 4-5 in a pod of sort.
Sorry rambled on there but yes if you wish feel free to hit me up on here.
I'm in the same boat/plane as you guys. I've looked at the x8, rc70, fx79, drak etc for planes. I want to do a rgb and nir. I'm looking at mapir.cameras and would like ur guys' opinions on the cameras. Any other suggestions on the planes?
I'm on a bit of a roll tonight trying to answer questions as best I can, mainly because I was very recently in the same shoes of some people that are looking for advice, and a lot of the forum activity seems to have either slowed down or is carried on at a level far above us newbies.
Something that it took me a long time to learn on this topic is "It depends"
Much of it has to do with your budget and how willing you are to build and learn the technology. I started off trying to figure out how to fund purchasing a $20k+ platform and ended up building something for under a thousand....after many nights reading until 3am.
If I could make a very simple recommendation from a fellow newbie, I would say look at the 3DR Aero for $1350. Spend an hour reading about each item that is included in the package and then compare it to the Aero-M. If you're like me, you'll end up with a sheet of paper in front of you and 20 scribbled questions. I think you'll be able to answer your own question at that point, and answer it with information that is relevant to the many variables of your own application.
While I am still using 3DR equipment, I ended up building something myself that is similar to the Aero-M and I'm very thankful that I did. I think that if I hadn't struggled with every piece of hardware as I was putting them all together, I would have opened the box and accidentally flown the plane straight to Cuba.
I hope this is decent advice and doesn't frustrate you while searching for information. I would like to see an influx of other new people.
Replies
I am DIYAgriculture drone on their own, what advice?
I must recommend Agribotix for cameras. Agribotix modifies GoPro cameras for NIR and RGB use with non-distortion lenses. They sell cameras without a drone package if you want to build your own.
For airframes you must first decide fixed wing or multirotor? If you are in the US = must stay within line of sight then a multirotor is best IMO because you can get plenty of range to map the average field and VTOL makes operating from fields easy. Agribotix' quadcopter can cover 160 acres per flight (size of average US corn field).
Fixed wings can cover 4x or more ground per flight as a multirotor, but once you get out past 700-800 meters out then visual contact with the drone is lost so the extra range isn't always useful. Auto takeoffs pretty much always work with a bungee, but auto landings are hard and non-precise. The RVJet makes a great platform because it's incredibly tough and can carry lots of stuff.
I like the Agribotix company. I can purchase the Mapir cameras at half the price but usually you get what you pay for. Anyone familiar with the Mapir products. Thanks for the info Jimmy Underhill.
I am tackling this also. I found most ready made options to be extremely over priced and mostly are selling you data management which is nice but not required. I agree the Aero & Aero M are great platforms. Another thing you need to come to grips with is the NDVI Imaging included with most ready made packages that are not upgraded are extremely inexpensive for the marked up price. If you are doing NDVI stay away from wide angle lenses. The distortion on them will cause issues. I am currently in the processes of building my own platform on a budget of $1500cad and so far have purchased all required components for under $700cad. Choosing your camera for NDVI is important if you are not purchases already converted ones which are fairly decently priced from outside vendors. If you are doing it yourself there is some calibration that must be done to achieve accurate NDVI imaging. Such as adjusting white balance to provide a true representation.
You must also understand that maybe NDVI is not what you are after and maybe just high resolution RGB images are capable to provide you with information of value.
If you want a true multispectral camera the micasense red edge is the way to go but it comes with a pricetag. However it will provide true multispectral on different bands.
If you want either of you would like to get in contact with me shoot me a pm and I can share some of what I have learned.
Expect to be disappointed in the lack of readily available information.
Currently my build is based off a navio+ & RPI2. I choose this route due to the open ended options on the rpi and flexibility. I am likely going to end up getting a cannon SX230 and convert over to ndvi via ir filter removal and public labs filter. I am choosing the x230 due to it having built in geotagging capabilities which will provide at least another reference point for mapped fields.
I am currently working out the most suitable airframe to use. I have purchased a skywalker mini as a proof of concept for the navio rpi picam option and to get familiar with the rc plane components as it is out of my field of expertise. once the weather turns nice and can really put it to the test will start moving on to bigger airframes. I am faced with a few dilemmas.
1. Flying Wing
2. Glider Based
3. Flight Time 60-90mins
4. Speed for efficiency in acre coverages I am shooting for the 45mph-60mph
. Speed = Battery Consumption.
. Battery Consumption = More Weight
. Speed Also means camera must be sufficient enough to capture images at some sort of clarity and at what agl does this change.
just some of what I have come up with and working on. Goal is to have something capable of meeting most those requirements by June 2016.
The aero is a great option to get your feet wet but I choose to go the full DIY due to my end use requiring me to have a in depth knowledge of the system inside and out.
some more reading.
RPI2 + Navio+ + RPICam NOIR + 12mm mount lense or c-mount cctv lense Should provide some usable information at around 100ft agl for ndvi. The question is at that height the amount of coverage is small but maybe I am mistaken and can fly at higher agl once it gets out there or less. for some reason I have in my head the micasense is a 6mp sensor per band. It is either 6 or 12 it was relatively low considering where most cameras are today. this reasoning is what led me to believe that possibly at 100-200ftgl vs 400 the rpi 5mp camera could be capable and usable. Another option i was looking at is bulk buying the chinese action cameras based on the sony exmor 16mp sensor since it has a very "hackable"firmware and building my own multispectral wither 4-5 in a pod of sort.
Sorry rambled on there but yes if you wish feel free to hit me up on here.
I'm in the same boat/plane as you guys. I've looked at the x8, rc70, fx79, drak etc for planes. I want to do a rgb and nir. I'm looking at mapir.cameras and would like ur guys' opinions on the cameras. Any other suggestions on the planes?
Tyler,
I'm on a bit of a roll tonight trying to answer questions as best I can, mainly because I was very recently in the same shoes of some people that are looking for advice, and a lot of the forum activity seems to have either slowed down or is carried on at a level far above us newbies.
Something that it took me a long time to learn on this topic is "It depends"
Much of it has to do with your budget and how willing you are to build and learn the technology. I started off trying to figure out how to fund purchasing a $20k+ platform and ended up building something for under a thousand....after many nights reading until 3am.
If I could make a very simple recommendation from a fellow newbie, I would say look at the 3DR Aero for $1350. Spend an hour reading about each item that is included in the package and then compare it to the Aero-M. If you're like me, you'll end up with a sheet of paper in front of you and 20 scribbled questions. I think you'll be able to answer your own question at that point, and answer it with information that is relevant to the many variables of your own application.
While I am still using 3DR equipment, I ended up building something myself that is similar to the Aero-M and I'm very thankful that I did. I think that if I hadn't struggled with every piece of hardware as I was putting them all together, I would have opened the box and accidentally flown the plane straight to Cuba.
I hope this is decent advice and doesn't frustrate you while searching for information. I would like to see an influx of other new people.