Drone UAV mapping for measuring earthwork stockpile volumes

This is Drone UAV mapping for measuring earthwork stockpile volumes

Drone fly to a certain height according to the projects environment and condition,consider both the aerial photo resolution and the range of mapping working efficient . drone fly automatically according to setted route, setting a certain aerial photography overlap rate .drone start to fly and take photos as setted. UAV Mapping precision requirements is 1:500 .Through the drone photo,the terrain is completely covered.

After the drone completed the aerial photography of the projects (earthwork) site,export photos stored in the drone.each photo contains POS information such as longitude and latitude, altitude, shooting attitude (angle) and so on, which is the initial key information.

Initial data is converted to BIM model

Initial data is converted to BIM model,The REVIT software cannot directly identify photos with POS information such as latitude and longitude, altitude, and shooting attitude (angle). The photo needs to be processed through a “transfer station”. Using professional 3D model software can process photos into point cloud data. The 3D model software such as PHOTOCSAN.Pix4D,ContextCapture.

1. Align photos, Photoscan will restore the position of each lens according to the latitude, longitude, height and angle of each photo.
2. Create a dense cloud: Photoscan will calculate the relationship between each point and put each identified point into the intensive calculation.
3. Generate Grid: With the vector function relationship between the points, Photoscan changes them to connect them according to the actual situation, and builds a 3D model that becomes a dotted line.
4. Generate texture: Photoscan assigns a flat image to a 3D model based on the data when creating a dense cloud. At this time, the model has an internal structure and an external image, and a preliminary 3D model has been formed.

At this point, the 3D model of the dotted line surface with material overlay has been presented in Photoscan. The software can export files in multiple formats, export Photoscan to point cloud files, and load them into AutoCAD, which can be converted into CAD in 3D view. A line model of elevation properties, that is, a 3-dimensional CAD model with elevation points.

BIM model to get the amount of earthwork.Importing a 3D CAD model into Revit software will generate a model in the 3D view, the “Original terrain model”.

BIM earth and stone calculation technology advantage

In the future,By using the Drone mapping technology, from the measurement of terrain to the calculation of earthwork results, the labor cost and time cost will be greatly reduced. At the same time, the accuracy of the measurement will be much higher than the traditional measurement method.

Working efficiency -UAV measuring earthwork stockpile volumes

In terms of work efficiency, a 800,000 square meters earthwork measurement accuracy verification process, drone fly 90 minutes, GNSS RTK base photocontrol points working 2 hours,the photo processing （3D software) cost 1 days, compared with the traditional measurement , the cost of drone earthwork stockpile measurement is as low 1/20.

Automated data acquisition and analysis can reduce human error and achieve multiple reuse in a short time. If the earthwork measurement of UAV is applied to earthwork review, it can achieve rapid review to the greatest extent, effectively shortening decision time and project development cycle.If applied to group-level projects and large-scale used, the economic benefits brought about by it will become more significant.
The UAV earthwork measuring solution, companies can achieve efficient, low-cost and recalculable earthwork measurements while ensuring accurate results.

The UAV measuring stockpile volumes working process