We are one of the first European companies to invest in this tried and tested (yet until recently too heavy) technology for UAVs and we can now provide so-called “unmanned scanning” services. Use is made of a miniature sensor by the leading producer in the airborne laser scanning field and thus a high level of quality is guaranteed!
Due to the performance and reliability of our Soleon LasCO 1 multicopter, but also of the multicopter manufacturer Soleon, we decided to order a second octocopter. The drone was handed over to us in July 2021 and has already mastered various flights. The long flight time and performance of the multicopter should certainly be emphasised. We are certain that this octocopter is a milestone in drone technology.
The RIEGL VUX-120 is probably the most powerful laser scanner for use on a drone under 25 kg total weight. Thanks to the very high measuring frequency of up to 1.8 million points per second, the size of the laser beam and the innovative scan pattern, we are able to carry out a survey successfully even in heavily forested areas. But these features also bring various advantages in urban areas. Another special feature of this scanner is its compatibility with a helicopter. Due to the range of the laser, we can mount the scanner on a helicopter and thus survey larger areas.
This large octocopter from South Tyrolean multicopter makers Soleon was custom designed, printed, milled and built according to our requirements for payload, mountain-focus and flight planning. Coming in at 15kg take-off weight, it can carry 5 kg of load through the air for over 20 minutes.
In order to be able to perform even more detailed measurements, we have decided to upgrade our proven RIEGL miniVUX-1. The new RIEGL miniVUX-3 is easily recognizable by its carbon fiber look. However, the technical development is much more impressive. The RIEGL miniVUX-3 has three times the measurement frequency of the miniVUX-1, allowing us to create a survey with very high point density and excellent vegetation penetration, or to work at a higher altitude and flight speed to obtain more area performance without sacrificing quality in the survey. We also use an Applanix APX-20 for this scanner.
For very extensive project areas over 300 - 400 ha we use a helicopter for reasons of economy and time. The economic advantage of helicopter surveying lies in the flight time, flight speed and flight altitude. Thus more area can be covered in less time.Thanks to the performance of the new RIEGL VUX-120, the data of a helicopter survey are no longer inferior to those of a normal UAV survey.
The problem with surveying flights is that it is relatively easy to plan such a mission in 2D: the overlap in the X and Y directions are at hand and the altitude remains constant. On flat land, this represents a simple exercise in geometry.
However the Earth is unfortunately not always as flat as the plains of Northern Germany. For precisely this reason, we have developed a tool with which you can also create plans for flights over hilly and mountainous areas.
The aim was to keep the distance to the object to be measured constant, regardless of whether the inclination of the surface is 0° or 90°. This is the only way to ensure that the overlap and ground resolution remain constant during the entire automatic flight.
