I work for a grain cooperative that has a large number of Flat Buildings. For those unfamiliar, flat storage is literally a big empty building that has grain piled to the top. My task has been to use a Phantom 3 Pro to measure the grain in the buildings. My two-options are to find a software that measures piles of grain(very tough with limited head space(3 to 4 feet)), or to find an application that measures the distance the drone flies to the pile. Right now the company spends a lot of man hours to have people walk down the buildings and physically measure the piles. I've been working on this for about a month and am clueless. Please help!!!
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This might be an interesting related software for your calculations. For input, it does NOT need laser testers just photos simply. Seems, there is an off-the-shelf solution ... at certain cost.
https://pix4d.com/product/pix4dmapper-pro/
https://www.youtube.com/user/pix4dsoftware
Is this system fairly easy to use and install?
On-board computer would trigger measuring a few times like 2 or 3 per second, depending on sensor capabilities.
Make a net-like full scan, which allows the use of almost universal formulae when processing the data. :-)
This looks exceptional! My only concern is -- does this track the flight of the drone itself, or where the camera sees the ground. I think it would be too difficult to fly and land the drone at each point (20 feet when done by hand). Our goal is to send it and acquire the measurements as it continually flies over the pile.
https://blog.logentries.com/2016/05/raspberry-pi-logs-and-iot-sendi...
Almost nothing addtl sw is needed for the data collection.
Also "Arduino sensor logging" is giving some hits in google.
Another question is how to trigger the sensor readings. If you want spot metering at selected locations (visually piloting drone to top of or edge of pile), then you might need to connect the computer to a free channel /if any/ of the drone's 2.4G receiver.
For 3D mapping, simply pre-timed / scheduled readings could do, from take off till landing. Data on SD, for processing by e.g. Excel subsequently.
I was searching for "laser distance meter module" on eBay. I'm pretty sure that it is easy to connect these sensors to Arduino or Raspberry, which are small modern platforms but new to me. I did some logging with my home made voltage tester module that I serial-connected to an old pocket pc recently, just for hobby purposes. For installing the laser module, honestly you might need professional help who has the tools ( software libraries, cnc for making fixation etc.). May need a gimbal too, to ensure vertical...
One of the search hits was this one below:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/100m-328ft-Laser-Distance-Meter-Measuring-Sen...
For the horizontal location of the height test, I think gps is one possible solution but might not be sufficient if you only do a few height tests.
I do not know if it is possible to read the drone's built in gps but anyway gps module is cheap and again lightweight. I searched eBay with "Arduino gps" also "Raspberry gps" and there are good hits.
Cheaper than adding several horizontal distance testers. But not good enough for accurate height measuring.
I understand your concept for only a few measurements needed, as you already have formulae that takes just a few points in. I would though assume that it is easy to find a formula for volume calculation if there are lots of points. I do not know how otherwise it is possible to take tests that have been taken using the very same concept like you used before.
I think that would be a great idea Arpad. Using a drone to get a better average distance from pile to ceiling across the tops would be a huge improvement of accuracy, as well as, a great time saver. I am new to drones, so my question is where would I get these sensors? Also, what software would process this information? I'm not necessarily searching for a 3-D image. A big help would be getting those measurements from the top.
Arpad said:
Optionally logging the Gps height may help subsequent data validation as you should eliminate those upper reads affected by beams under the roof.
Ensure testers are vertically aligned by halting aircraft at time of measuring or by using a hinge.
What do you think.
The goal: We want to accurately and efficiently measure our grain in these buildings.
Right now: We have crews of men walk on top of these piles and measure the distance from the top of the pile to the roof. From there we plug in the numbers and we have a system that calculates the bushels.
Why a drone: The idea of the drone came because accuracy has been a slight problem, and we have a Phantom 3 Professional. We are flexible with the equipment we use. We looked into 3D stuff, but its a tight space.
I hope this helps, if anyone has any other ideas, or questions please don't hesitate to ask. As of right now, the FDA and all other flat storage companies have people walking buildings. This could be very big for the ag industry if we can get something figured out!
Also, the pictures were taken by our phantom 3, just gives anyone some clarity to what we are working with.
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