Dear all,
now I'm looking into the use of an ArduCopter for photogrammetric image acquisitions.
Therefore I have some short question:
The ArduPilot can release images on certain points:
- Is there a limitation in number of points?
- Is it correct to define these points as "Waypoints" and tell the flight planing software to hoover stable at each point for e.g. 2 secounds and release the image there?
- Is there a leveling option for an camera mount included in the ArduPilot or do I need additonal Equipment (IMU). Clearly i need a gimbal to Mount the camera and to move it, my question goes for the sensors and the software controlling the gimbal.
Thanks for the help!
Thomas
Replies
I will try to answer some of your questions.
- Is there a limitation in number of points?
As far as I know if you want to trigger the camera at a specific point, then you will have to add a waypoint on the flight plan to do this. I know that the number of waypoints on the APM is limited but I have not checked what that limit is. And this number may be increased in the Pixhawk. How ever I think you may be better off by using the distance trigger and using the APM survey planner to calculate the distance depending on the overlap you want.
- Is it correct to define these points as "Waypoints" and tell the flight planing software to hoover stable at each point for e.g. 2 seconds and release the image there?
You should not need to wait at each point if you have the camera set at the correct shooting speed. It should be ok to just overfly a section and shoot pictures on the way.
- Is there a leveling option for an camera mount included in the ArduPilot or do I need additonal Equipment (IMU). Clearly i need a gimbal to Mount the camera and to move it, my question goes for the sensors and the software controlling the gimbal.
The APM can control a gimbal and stabilize it if needed. I have not tried this option however I have used gimbals that come with their own IMU for stabilization and just controlled the tilt and roll from the APM so that I can control it from the RC if needed.
Hope this helps!