Mark97564 Posted at 2015-7-3 15:17
Why is maps made easy even in this forum telling us about his stuff?  Seems to just be wasting every ...

Mark, I have been beta testing software and hardware for more than 20 years, and have never experienced a pay-to-pay model like this, but talking to a couple friends of mine in the IT industry, I understand while not prevalent, it's not unheard of these days.

I have always been treated like I was doing a favor for the programmers and companies whose products I was testing, but it would seem other firms act as though they are doing a favor for testers; favors large enough that testers are required to pay for the privilege of donating their time debugging a product in which they have no financial claim.

Does leave a bad taste in one's mouth though, and has substantislly soured my enthusiasm for the Maps Made Easy offering.

I bear them no ill will, and look forward to seeing how their service develops, however, to paraphrase LeBron James, I will be "taking my talents elsewhere".

Mark97564 Posted at 2015-7-3 15:17
Why is maps made easy even in this forum telling us about his stuff?  Seems to just be wasting every ...

The thread is about using the P3 for Photogrammetry.  We have designed multiple tools that can be used for that explicit purpose.

We are limiting access out of caution. Poorly informed and inexperienced users are at a significant risk for aircraft loss and we don't want to be having those conversations right now.  Experienced mappers know they are accepting this risk every time they take off.

Beta testing our app requires a background in mapping and is not there for people to "try an app out that might suck". It is an opportunity for us to get feedback from knowledgeable users and integrate that feedback to make a better experience for everyone.  After that, we will open it up to a select group of users that are new to mapping and are willing to work within the framework we have set forth. Beyond that, we will have to weigh the success vs risk of opening the app up to the wider public.

Mark97564 Posted at 2015-7-3 15:17
Why is maps made easy even in this forum telling us about his stuff?  Seems to just be wasting every ...

Looks to me as though they are just concerned for their prospective beta testers and want to ensure that they have the proper tracking gear before going ahead.  

I would have gone into the beta no matter what, however because they made the tracking device mandatory, it forced me to look into the device and I am quite satisfied with what it does at its price point.  Should have had it in my kit all along really.   

This App could be a killer when it arrives.  We will be able to take a $3500 unit and do much of the same work that the far more expensive Exom does, save for the thermal camera.  

MapsMadeEasy definitely belongs in this forum in my opinion. They are taking what DJI started and moving it into the big leagues where the non-video professionals can utilize this tool for their GIS needs.

Here's a map I made with MapsMadeEasy online service, flying manually. It has a lot of distortion, due almost exclusively to pilot error. I found it challenging to maintain a constant airspeed, and as a result, didn't take enough images to provide sufficient overlap.

Rail Siding Map

Still, though, zoom in and be amazed at the amount of detail even this ill-prepared map contains.

31 images, 300' AGL, 20kts (roughly) air speed, Phantom 3 Pro, 2 passes over the property.

Another interesting thing are the trees. It was a little windy, and I'm guessing the bizarre VanGogh-like look of the trees is due to movement in the wind?

dmwierz Posted at 2015-7-18 02:28
Here's a map I made with MapsMadeEasy online service, flying manually. It has a lot of distortion, d ...

Movement is certainly a possibility, but in this case the wavy edges are due to the fact that with only two passes there wasn't enough imagery from the back side of those trees to be able to properly reconstruct them. Generally any photogrammetry solution is going to require views from all sides to be able to properly depict a vertical object like a tree.

DroneDeploy.com is also a great option.  I have been on the Beta team for the past 2 months and it is pretty much a flawless 1 button solution for map/3d model making. The Inspire and P3 app will be out in the near future.

MapsMadeEasy Posted at 2015-7-20 23:12
Movement is certainly a possibility, but in this case the wavy edges are due to the fact that with ...

Yeah, I get it. Was trying to squeeze in the shoot between rain showers, so was probably higher and faster and flew less passes than I should have, in order to get it done quickly.


Next time, better weather, slower speed, lower altitude and more passes.

Does anyone knows how to measure distance/areas/volumes from MapsMadeEasy? I already tried download the tiff  and .obj model but I am not accomplish anything...  Thanks ;)

TiagoMatias Posted at 2015-7-27 06:53
Does anyone knows how to measure distance/areas/volumes from MapsMadeEasy? I already tried download  ...

Using the draw line and draw area tools on the Map Detail pages, you can measure distances and areas. You can enable measurement tools to measure areas and distances publicly in the Sharing section so anyone that can view your map can make measurements too.

We are in the process of adding a volume calculation tool as well but it isn't currently released.

MapsMadeEasy Posted at 2015-7-28 00:03
Using the draw line and draw area tools on the Map Detail pages, you can measure distances and are ...

Thank you. What about changing the units? Yards to meters and acres to m2? Is it possible?

I am waiting for the volume tool! Get it quick ;)

Regards

TiagoMatias Posted at 2015-7-29 22:32
Thank you. What about changing the units? Yards to meters and acres to m2? Is it possible?

I am  ...

Account > Profile
You can change the default for your account there.

edited because I was late to the party... I can't wait until you guys have terrain following.

I'm new to this site and new to using UAV.  I just ordered a Phantom 3 to do Aerial mapping and 3D work.  I"m an environmental consultant and engineer for aggregate companies.  I'm very interested in Maps Made easy products for my new Phantom 3 Pro.  Just wanted to know if the new firmware of the Phantom V 1.5.0030 works well with the Map Pilot App?  Are there any glitches at this time or is everything good to go?  Thanks

MapsMadeEasy Posted at 2015-7-30 01:37
Account > Profile
You can change the default for your account there.

Hi... I'll try to cover an area of 22000m² and i want to know if i have to use 2 batteries in one planning flight. If i have to use 2 batteries how do i proceed

pishposh Posted at 2015-5-5 02:45
It doesn't use GPS to calculate altitude?

GPS is used to calculate position - barometric pressure is used to measure altitude. The sensor used for the barometric pressure and their algorithm to produce the result are somewhat fallible. Many, many users report consistent errors with altitude readout.

upland Posted at 2015-12-1 08:36
I'm new to this site and new to using UAV.  I just ordered a Phantom 3 to do Aerial mapping and 3D w ...

We just submitted a new version to Apple that is fully tested with 1.5.30 firmware but the old firmware seems to be fine. There are a couple of new things they opened up in the new firmware and we enabled those in the new version. We will be updating our online documentation once the new version is released.

csnakagi Posted at 2015-12-22 04:24
Hi... I'll try to cover an area of 22000m² and i want to know if i have to use 2 batteries in one ...

Please refer to the following article regarding multi-battery flights:
http://support.dronesmadeeasy.co ... ti-Battery-Missions

The Map Pilot app will estimate how many batteries you will need for you. For a small area like that it will likely take only one battery unless your are flying super low or unusually slowly.

aburkefl@gmail. Posted at 2015-12-22 05:09
GPS is used to calculate position - barometric pressure is used to measure altitude. The sensor us ...

As of the latest firmware release, DJI has made a lot of changes to how they populate the altitude portion of the geotags...

Altitude above sea level is now populated in the GPS section of the EXIF tags. This altitude is derived from the GPS signal which is notoriously noisy and prone to large offset errors (+-10s of meters). Even with this error, this number is still probably more useful for most people unless you are trying to create precision elevation maps. The previous reporting of the above ground level altitude as derived from the barometric sensor in relation to the elevation of the takeoff point was a nice quiet signal but didn't tell you much about where it was in the real world...

What to do?

It turns out that DJI is actually now recording the above sea level and above ground level numbers its images now! This is awesome. The best of both worlds. Although we have some issues with their changing of the default value, we get it and are moving on.

We are working on updating our Maps Made Easy processing to address the presence of both sets of tags and are working on a few tools to help people access this data in an easy to use way.

MapsMadeEasy Posted at 2015-12-22 11:26
As of the latest firmware release, DJI has made a lot of changes to how they populate the altitude ...

Good info - thanks for the update.

Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

They are geotagged with elevation.

MapsMadeEasy Posted at 2015-12-23 02:18
We just submitted a new version to Apple that is fully tested with 1.5.30 firmware but the old fir ...

LoL just need to repeat for 1.6.40 now.
*Sigh* I feel for you guys!

For any that are interested, I've been using MME for a little while now and am really happy with both support and product.
It's an interesting cost model but it really works for me and also means that the grunt work is done by someone else and the results are generally pretty awesome!

mike.wildlight Posted at 2015-12-23 04:02
LoL just need to repeat for 1.6.40 now.
*Sigh* I feel for you guys!

AAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

At least it looks like nothing major happened this time but they usually sneak some other stuff in there...

MapsMadeEasy Posted at 2015-12-22 15:41
AAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

At least it looks like nothing major happened this time but they usua ...

Ahh if you were a little more friendly to your beta testers I could have been testing MME with new firmware for weeks.

We do regret that we were unable to provide our beta testers with free versions of the app. It is an Apple thing... Their only way to give out free versions of paid apps is to give out codes that expire 4 weeks from the date of issue and you can only issue them so often.

campatterson Posted at 2015-5-8 13:39
Until Pix4D comes out with their new Capture app for DJI P3/I1, you can draw your flightlines on t ...

Hi Cam,

when you say you can draw flightlines on the Map GUI, are you referring to the map on the screen of the DJI P3? Do you know if you can set the DJI to take photographs at set intervals without additional software/apps?

I'm hoping to start experimenting with this soon!
My next drone purchase is gonna be for a fixed delta style autonomous drone. The P3 pro will be for smaller percision areas and the fixed wing for larger areas.

molju613 Posted at 2016-1-27 18:33
Hi Cam,

when you say you can draw flightlines on the Map GUI, are you referring to the map on the ...

I'm using Litchi these days. Using ArcGIS, I flightplan using a line feature class with nodes at my waypoints (I use the "fishnet" tool to set up a regular pattern to snap my line vertices to while digitizing. From ArcGIS, I export the line to a KML, convert that to a KML by renaming to .zip and unpacking. I then log on the the Litchi website and use their online flight planning tool to import the KML, complete altitude, heading, gimbal and photo actions for each waypoint, then save the mission to my online account, then download it and transfer it to my android device where it can be opened and flown.

Until ESRI completes its new version of Drone2Map, which will basically replicate the function of Pix4D, I have found that Microsoft ICE works great to mosaic many drone images together, export to JPG, then pull into ArcGIS to georeferenced to the World Imagery base map layer from ArcGIS.com.

This is great to read through, but there are not a lot of photogrammetry posts here, it's more about map app updates and some demanding impatient people who want it finished yesterday and for free.  You don't need to take a lot of overlapping photos, the photos can be extracted from video footage.

I've been ripping drone footage off of youtube and making 3D models. I post them to sketchfab so anyone can see them if they want. I found this thread the other day http://forum.dji.com/thread-44464-1-1.html and made this model https://skfb.ly/LIKt

I don't have a drone, so I'm a little stuck with photogrammetry at the moment. This forum is a pretty good place to find footage to process though.

Actual Photogrammetry Related Info:
We have added a new tool for converting the unreliable GPS altitude data that gets written into the GPS Altitude EXIF value to a corrected value based on a user provided elevation or ground reference image.

https://www.mapsmadeeasy.com/tag_fixer

This will allow for people not using our Maps Made Easy processing system to process their data elsewhere while taking advantage of the steps that we do behind the scenes to correct for this issue. This has been a big frustration for a lot of our Map Pilot users that are trying to use other software to process their images. As long as you know the elevation of the takeoff location this tool will convert all of the altitude tags to be the surveyed (or looked up from a 3rd party source) value plus the local barometric altimeter reading. This is intended to keep multiple battery flights level even when the GPS gets a different altitude with its fix.

Could You guys write, basing on Your experience with P3 camera, what vertical accuracy can You achieve after post processing, in relation to pixel size?

ca20@wp.pl Posted at 2016-4-19 00:11
Could You guys write, basing on Your experience with P3 camera, what vertical accuracy can You achie ...

We have also developed some software tools to help use your DJI for photogrammetry / aerial surveying.

Firstly, our flight planning tool (compatible with the Phantom 3 / Phantom 4 / Inspire / Matrix):
http://www.djiflightplanner.com

And our tool for photogrammetry / image processing (called iWitnessPRO-Agilis):
http://www.photometrix.com.au

Demonstration versions are available for both. We would love to hear from anyone interested !

Simon Cronk
Photometrix / AeroScientific