Hello! Our Friend Bagus Darmawan from Indokopter (from Indonesia) has made this video where he demonstrates his integration of the North's RTKite GNSS RTK Double Frequency L1+L2 Receiver (http://northsurveying.com/index.php/instruments/gnss-rtk-receiver) into a Microkopter frame receiving RTCM3.x RTK corrections from a ground Base, a North SmaRTK GNSS receiver (http://northsurveying.com/index.php/instruments/gpsrtkreceiver), broadcasting by GSM / GPRS mobile network using our P2P Autocaster technology for professional photogrammetry on a fully controlled shutter. We think is a superb example!
See the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDl_o1zsRNM
This was part of his Thesis comparing the standard L1 GPS, L1-Only RTK and L1+L2 RTK into photogrammetry, we think this is information that would be important to all, so you can review the full document here!: RTK UAV Photogrammetry Thesis
The RTKite L1+L2 receiver allows the drone to capture geotags with millimetric accuracy (4mm +/-1 RMS) thus elliminating or reducing the need of GCP greatly.
We have just simplified the camera integration with this ready-made kit:
The SmaRTK receiver, is a fully integrated rugged L1+L2 RTK receiver, ready to broadcast corrections by Mobile Phone networks, UHF datalink or the user's own RF, it actually has the same GNSS capabilities as the RTKite and can be used to locate millimetrically the GCP and connect to CORS stations worldwide, or be a CORS station itself, with a great price!
A full photogrammetry system -professional level- can then be integrated at around 15-20,000usd and can be easily compared to systems on the range of 50-70,000usd commercially available.
This is a sample of the data output of the RTK working in real time at 10Hz, being corrected from a CORS station at 1Hz or less: RTKite Data output test.
If you want to see, order or test the RTKite for your projects, we now have a direct webstore accepting credit cards!, just visit here: http://www.gnssrtkmodule.com/
All our instruments are designed, produced and shipped from Barcelona.
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Comments
Hello, it really depends on the user application. We've seen most users using the RTKite as the main source of stability during autonomous flight, while others that handle the units manually use it just for precise georeference.
Some others (just a few) do not use RTK at all and rely on L1+L2 PPK only, but given that the RTK infraestructure is there and is way easier to work, they eventually move to real-time RTK.
Our recommentation: Use RTK for all, Geotagging and Navigation, even the worst condition of an L1+L2 receiver surpasses greatly the best conditions of L1-only receivers.(and the reason why we don't produce L1-only receivers)
I hope this helps!
so RTK is used only for phototagging not for more better characteristics of flight of the copter?