At the risk of sounding like a farmer, which I am certainly not, corn is ~$4/bushel right now, which is really low. So, let's just say there is a lot of... cooperative research going on. I'm new at this. It's very new to the farmers too. The cost-benefit isn't always as obvious as it might appear at first glance. The going rate is a matter of some discussion. But, if you were to call me up out of the blue, I'd say something like $5/acre with some minimums. Maybe less if were talking about 100's of acres.
Back in the day, where I grew up, there were a few farmers flying their own planes over their acreage once in a while to "see what disasters await". That practice seems to have gotten quite a bit less common... if it ever really was.
My Dad paid a decent sum about 20 years ago for a guy to photograph our home farmstead from various aerial aspect angles..seems to me the Iris+ can make coin doing that as well as shooting overheads for Real Estate and property brokers.
My little Canon can shoot spot focus pics to make "miniature fakes" (you just need elevation to make them look cool)... interesting but a limited market seemingly.
Another aspect of the agriculture angle is documentation for crop insurance claims, which I am learning is a very complicated thing. How I can be of service, and whether this documentation should take the form of hi-res maps or aerial stills and video (or both?) is something I hope to understand better by later this season.
It's the DroneDeploy CoPilot module (there is also a bit that goes inside the shell and plugs into TELEM 1 on the pixhawk). It essentially replaces the 3dr ground station radio. The module uploads the flight plan to the autopilot (and appropriately adjusts geofence, etc...), sets up and controls the camera and downloads the images via wifi (and geotags them), and uploads the images to the DroneDeploy cloud servers via LTE, where they are stitched and processed in near real time. I use it and the DroneDeploy service to map corn fields and such (in RGB or NGB for NDVI) on a regular old IRIS+ (no M), and honestly don't see how they justify the price of the "M".
Stellar LTE service isn't necessarily required, as the flight plan is loaded into the autopilot, and the mission continues if there are blips in LTE service. The images are stored in the CoPilot module, and will automatically upload whenever the drone is back in range of a tower, meaning (although more cumbersome) missions can be set up before hand and flown in areas where there is no service, and downloaded and processed at some later time. That said, LTE service is usually pretty good for me out in the plains of NE Colorado.
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At the risk of sounding like a farmer, which I am certainly not, corn is ~$4/bushel right now, which is really low. So, let's just say there is a lot of... cooperative research going on. I'm new at this. It's very new to the farmers too. The cost-benefit isn't always as obvious as it might appear at first glance. The going rate is a matter of some discussion. But, if you were to call me up out of the blue, I'd say something like $5/acre with some minimums. Maybe less if were talking about 100's of acres.
Back in the day, where I grew up, there were a few farmers flying their own planes over their acreage once in a while to "see what disasters await". That practice seems to have gotten quite a bit less common... if it ever really was.
My Dad paid a decent sum about 20 years ago for a guy to photograph our home farmstead from various aerial aspect angles..seems to me the Iris+ can make coin doing that as well as shooting overheads for Real Estate and property brokers.
My little Canon can shoot spot focus pics to make "miniature fakes" (you just need elevation to make them look cool)... interesting but a limited market seemingly.
Just musing along....
Another aspect of the agriculture angle is documentation for crop insurance claims, which I am learning is a very complicated thing. How I can be of service, and whether this documentation should take the form of hi-res maps or aerial stills and video (or both?) is something I hope to understand better by later this season.
Hmmm. Hail Insurance.... and flood/soft ground survey before the sweet corn picker is mired and needs to be pulled out. Gawd what memories.
What is the device on the front?
That is a DroneDeploy mini computer that connects to a TLM port on the Iris+ Pixhawk AP. Read all about it here:
https://www.dronedeploy.com/
Select the 3DR setups.... there's a whole world of info in there.
It's the DroneDeploy CoPilot module (there is also a bit that goes inside the shell and plugs into TELEM 1 on the pixhawk). It essentially replaces the 3dr ground station radio. The module uploads the flight plan to the autopilot (and appropriately adjusts geofence, etc...), sets up and controls the camera and downloads the images via wifi (and geotags them), and uploads the images to the DroneDeploy cloud servers via LTE, where they are stitched and processed in near real time. I use it and the DroneDeploy service to map corn fields and such (in RGB or NGB for NDVI) on a regular old IRIS+ (no M), and honestly don't see how they justify the price of the "M".
Stellar LTE service isn't necessarily required, as the flight plan is loaded into the autopilot, and the mission continues if there are blips in LTE service. The images are stored in the CoPilot module, and will automatically upload whenever the drone is back in range of a tower, meaning (although more cumbersome) missions can be set up before hand and flown in areas where there is no service, and downloaded and processed at some later time. That said, LTE service is usually pretty good for me out in the plains of NE Colorado.
Rob - How long does it take you to normalize the Iris+ for "regular" missions?
I notice that the DroneDeploy does use an app for planning the mission.
Secondly - I didn't notice an open TLM port on my Pixhawk (unit is open right now for 2 arm replacement. Is it on the side of the AP?
Lastly - what camera do you use for DroneDeploy?
thanks
Here's the QX1 nadir mount to which I aspire. My current mount, while light and functional, isn't this slick.
If you have a 3D printer I can send you the files for this. All you need is a 58mm lens cover and some bolts.
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