UAV proved its worth in Australia. DroneMetrex, a company distributing complete UAS, has conducted a successful mapping of but a small part of a railway. This fact alone might not seem significant but when we consider that the accuracy of the photogrammetry had to be less than 25 millimetres then even a five hundred meters long railways seems like quite a challenge for one UAV.
The system is stabilized as much as possible to assure that the image data are extremely accurate and need just little or none post processing. The imagery is used to create precise 3D models of the rails which can later on be used to search for damaged spots or provide data for future innovations.
The TopoDrone-100 delivered extremely good results thanks to the systems of the UAS that do most of the work during the flight. The UAV is equipped with various devices that mitigate the impact of factors which affect the model quality (such as tip, tilt, yaw, forward and lateral motion and blur).
The project began thanks to the fact that UAVs provide much cheaper solution to many of application where aerial perspective is an advantage. Usually these works are conducted by a regular helicopter with expensive equipment, the helicopter needs a lot better optics because it cannot fly so low above the rails while the UAV can even with a smaller camera provide better results. The main factor blocking the possibility of getting a railway cart equipped with a camera in action was that the railway would have to be closed to meet all the safety standards.
The DroneMetex’s UAV took data with 70% forward and 40% side overlap which allowed for extreme precision of the 3D map. It achieved all of this within two hours and was not even noticed by the trains. The fact that it was the cheap solution also points out that the area of mapping will change significantly in the coming years.
For more information check out the link below:
Source:
http://www.suasnews.com/2013/08/24564/highly-accurate-railway-mapping-project-with-topodrone-uav/
Image Author:unavailable
Image Source:
http://www.railwaypro.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Sarganska_osmica_2.jpg
Příspěvek UAV Mapping Railways pochází z MENSURO