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Ensuring Accuracy for LiDAR Surveys from a UAV

Ensuring Accuracy for LiDAR Surveys from a UAV | Routescene sought out a GNSS solution that was scalable in accuracy, lightweight, cost effective, and compatible with their UAV LiDAR system.

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THE CHALLENGE

A typical objective for any survey is to achieve a predetermined level of accuracy appropriate for the application and site being surveyed. Unlike static terrestrial surveys, a drone LiDAR survey is dynamic and requires a GNSS or inertial navigation system (INS) to determine its position and orientation; it is not as simple as mounting a LiDAR sensor underneath a drone.

To meet this objective and quantify accuracy many factors have to be considered, such as the positional accuracy of the GNSS receiver, the angular accuracy of the INS and the angular accuracy of the LiDAR sensor. It’s complicated! The rapidity of change – the position and orientation of the drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAV) – changes every millisecond which compounds the problem.