Hello! My company uses the M350 RTK with the L1 LiDAR system for data gathering and I have a couple of questions for the DJI pros.


- Short version: What are optimal altitude and speed settings that balance mission efficiency and results?
Long version: The maximum value on the Speed slider in mission settings increases whenever altitude is increased, however the maximum selectable speed can exceed what is recommended by the L1 user manual (10 m/s or 22.4 mph). At the maximum recommended altitutde (100 m or 328 ft) it's possible to select 26.2 mph. At 328 ft would selecting a higher speed appreciably degrade the accuracy of scan results?


- Elevation Optimization: is this of any use when using the LiDAR data from the L1? The reason that I ask is the L1 doesn't seem to gather any LiDAR data on that final Elevation Optimization pass to the center of the mission area. It seems to be for the purpose of photogrammetry, which we do not use (we use a P1 for photogrammetry missions).


Thanks!

To introduce my answer, "DJI" and "pros" are not compatible.

First point, there is not really a combo altitude/speed that can barely match every customer expectations. Many factors needs to be defined to use the right settings for each mission.

Why we can select a speed above the recommended limitations? Please refer to the introduction point.
DJI is a drone manufacturer, its M300/350 is a state of the art products. Regarding user manual and payload employment, it looks like they gave this task to a team that may not be qualified for.

For the elevation optimization you are right, this feature is to be used for a pure photogrametry dataset only.

Thanks for the info!

A bit more context just in case anyone has worked in similar areas and has info on good settings that worked for them with the L1. Almost all of the scans we perform at my job are over bare earth, so penetration through vegetation is a non-factor. Likewise we don't seek extremely dense point clouds, as we usually decimate the results to 1 to 3 ft spacing for the final deliverables.

Flight time efficiency is a factor because we share our airspace with multiple helicopters that often fly at the same altitude as the drones (100 to 350 ft AGL), as well as small fixed wing aircraft that fly low from time to time - so we want to reduce the time the drone spends in the air in order to minimize the possibility of a close call with manned aircraft.

I am hoping to find the best balance of accuracy (0.2 ft or better) and efficient mission duration.