Discussions

Hello all,

I am a GIS Analyst and I am in the process of putting together a proposal for my employer in effort to integrate UAV's for aerial photography of our diverse project types.  At this phase in the research, I am interested in two UAV platform styles for capturing aerial and video imagery; Fixed Wing and Multi-rotor. I am interested in using a Sony NEX type of camera for both photo and video. The resulting imagery will then either be post-processed using photogrammetry software or video editing software.

I have begun creating a rough spreadsheet matrix in effort to identify which aerial platform would be bested suited for a particular project type.  Hopefully, I am making sense here.  Still waiting for the coffee to kick in...

Below are two very broad assumptions that I have started with:

• Fixed Wing = large linear and block surveys
• Multi-rotor = small, irregular area, more focused surveys

I then include factors such as:

• Multi-rotor = asset inspections (horizontal and vertical)
• Fixed Wing = topographic surveys

Then more subjective factors have been included:

• Fixed Wing = less complex than multi-rotor (hardware is less complex for which means cheaper operating costs?)
• Multi-rotor = "Wow" factor

I will be adding in factors that cover training, learning curves, operator/user work time, etc...Of course the two platforms overlap when thinking about particular scenarios and "what if's."

I am throwing this post out there to learn from others who have conducted either or both aerial and videography project scenarios and which UAV style they preferred.

Please let me know if I need to clarify anything or you have any questions.  Thanks for your time!