Doing a survey with a drone is a completely different process compared to a terrestrial survey with the boots on the ground.
A traditional surveyor tries to model the outside world by measuring as few points and lines as possible, while surveying with a drone requires piloting, an entire logistic operation, and photogrammetry. In addition to that, the deliverables coming out from the photogrammetry process differ completely from what the engineers expect the surveyor to deliver.
This article puts all these components in perspective.
A typical workflow when you're surveying with a drone consists of four steps:
- Step 1: The Drone Operator acquires pictures with the drone
- Step 2: The Photogrammetrist produces orthophotos and elevation models
- Step 3: The Surveyor creates line surveys, surfaces, contours, and volume reports
- Step 4: The Engineer/Designer creates the new civil design in CAD or GIS
Virtual Surveyor is located in the 3rd step of this value chain and requires orthophotos and elevation models that are already created by dedicated photogrammetry software packages.
Virtual Surveyor helps you produce CAD files that you need to deliver to the engineers and designers. This production process combines the human capability to interpret real world data and computer power to produce the line work in a very productive way.