Tag: UAV lidar technology

TOPODRONE introduces bathymetric surveying device

TOPODRONE, a Swiss-based designer and manufacturer of high-precision lidar equipment for installation on drones, vehicles and backpacks, launched AQUAMAPPER, a UAV-based solution for bathymetric surveying and marine construction.

AQUAMAPPER contributes to a complete set of photogrammetry, lidar and bathymetry surveying solutions from TOPODRONE. The product, compatible with the DJI Matrice 300 RTK, provides a combination of high-speed efficiency (up to 14 km/h) and accuracy mounted on a UAV. The application areas include an open sea bathymetric survey up to 100m depth, quantity survey and calculation of sediments and periodic maintenance survey of storage pools.

Photo: TOPODRONE

The new data-collecting device has been successfully used alongside TOPODRONE’s LiDAR ULTRA equipment for airborne surveying at a highway construction project in one of the toughest terrains in Romania, EU, including 7 tunnels, 24 bridges and 18 viaducts. The project was performed by the Romanian company GRAPHEIN TOPO SA to deliver a full digital twin of a studied area.

Photo: TOPODRONE

The TOPODRONE LiDAR ULTRA on board a DJI M300 drone was used to capture laser scanning data from an altitude of 100 m to 120 m over rugged terrain forest area to cover a corridor 32 km long and 400 meters wide in 14 flights while AQUAMAPPER connected to the same DJI M300 drone performed a bathymetric survey over six river crossings.

“The key advantage of the new bathymetric equipment from TOPODRONE is the ability to capture a riverbed with centimeter-level accuracy with high speed in fully automatic mode and without using any boat,” said Andrei Sueran of GRAPHIEN TOPO SA. “The combination of an echosounder, GNSS and inertial measurement system helps to get accurate results after data post-processing.”

October 19, 2022
3 keys to successful canopy penetration
Sunlight through a tree canopy. (Photo: RedTail)

RedTail Lidar System’s RTL-400 delivers the trifecta

Summer is here, and with it comes the challenge of creating accurate topographic maps under tree canopies. The adoption of drone-based, 3D light detection and ranging — or lidar — is emerging as the go-to sensing technique to meet this challenge consistently, safely and cost effectively.

Designed specifically for use on small drones, the RTL-400 from RedTail Lidar Systems was developed with technology licensed from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The RTL-400 is designed to provide high-resolution 3D images of objects on the ground, flying at an altitude of up to 400 feet.

The RedTail team recently partnered with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) Division of Mining and Reclamation to demonstrate the RTL-400’s ability to generate an accurate digital terrain model (DTM) under “leaf on” conditions. This can be challenging, because pulsed laser light needs to reach the ground to generate laser light ground returns.

RTL-400 flight specifications: speed -18 mph, flight time -12 minutes, acreage -20. (Image: RedTail)

One mission of the WVDEP Division of Mining and Reclamation is to assure compliance with the West Virginia Surface Mining and Reclamation Act and other applicable state laws. This task requires ongoing monitoring, mapping and assessment of sites across the state that are actively being reclaimed.

Originally utilizing photogrammetry to generate point clouds, the WVDEP was unable to create the accurate, under-canopy DTMs that they desired. Looking for an alternate method, they began to consider lidar.

The RedTail lidar team met with WVDEP representatives at a mine reclamation site in a remote area of south-central West Virginia. The terrain was a mixture of rolling hillside covered with grasses, brush and tree stands.

The RTL-400 demonstration flight mapped approximately 20 acres of the reclamation site in 12 minutes, flying at an altitude of 196 feet and a speed of 18 mph.

Once the data was collected, a digital terrain model (DTM) was created, revealing the RTL-400’s ability to generate the high-resolution, high-density point cloud needed to accurately map the terrain beneath the tree.

Digital terrain model (DTM) generated from RTL-400 point cloud. (Image: RedTail)

The RTL-400 delivered all three key elements needed to provide DTMs in foliated areas:
- a small beam divergence of 0.5 milliradians (.03 degrees) with a spot size of just 2 inches diameter at the canopy cover
- the ability to analyze up to five returns from every transmitted pulse so that returns from the ground can be received and processed
- a pulse density of 800 pulses in every square meter of the canopy (for the WVDEP flight).
RTL-400 generated digital terrain model (DTM) overlaid with contour map. (Image: RedTail)

RedTail Lidar Systems is a division of 4D Tech Solutions Inc., a company focused on providing innovative technology-based solutions to address government and commercial customer needs. RedTail’s in-house technical expertise — coupled with a full suite of software and hardware design and manufacturing tools — allows the company to develop custom lidar solutions for manned and unmanned vehicle applications.
August 26, 2020
Routescene 3D mapping solution reveals hotspots at Chernobyl

Photo: Routescene

Researchers from the U.K.’s National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR) are using Routescene’s UAV lidar technology to map radioactive hotspots in Chernobyl’s Red Forest.

Professor Tom Scott, from the School of Physics at the University of Bristol, U.K., led a group of researchers from NCNR to conduct surveys on multiple sites of interest, including the Buriakivka village, a settlement abandoned following contamination from the power plant accident, and the “Red Forest,” a natural woodland area located the closest to the reactor.

Working closely with local Ukrainian authorities, the team operated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — Routescene’s LidarPods flown on DJI M600 hexacopter drones — to perform a series of radiation mapping surveys over the course of 10 days.

According to Routescene, the point cloud data collected was processing using its LidarViewer Pro software to generate a detailed digital terrain model. It was then overlaid with the results from a gamma spectrometer survey, undertaken to measure radiation intensity, to locate the exact sites of the radiation hotspots.

“The algorithm converts the aerial radiation intensity recorded by a UAV survey into a ground intensity map,” said Kieran Wood, senior research associate at the University of Bristol. “This process is heavily affected by the distance between the airborne radiation sensor and the ground/buildings. Hence, high accuracy lidar-based models were essential.”

Photo: Routescene

Results

While the general widespread radiation contamination in the Red Forest was already known, the results revealed that the radioactivity was unevenly disturbed. Although radiation intensity had reduced in some areas, other areas remain highly contaminated confirming continued danger to anyone accessing those areas, Routescene reported.

In addition, the researchers detected one unexpected hotspot in the ruins of a facility that was used to separate contaminated waste during clean-up efforts immediately after the accident.

This expedition was the first in a series of surveys NCNR will conduct in Ukraine over the next year. The new maps will help officials prevent risks to visitors to the area and the full results will be published soon, Routescene said.

February 12, 2020