Mission: Photogrammetry. How to earn more from photogrammetric products – application examples

As part of SkySnap’s summer webinar series, a second meeting was held on the topic of practical use of drones in various sectors of the economy. The moderator of the event was Pawel Wojcik, and the speakers were Radoslaw Zych of UAV Academy and Konrad Czarnecki of DRONIQ Drone Services. The discussion covered both technical and legislative aspects, as well as examples of implementations based on photogrammetry and spatial data analysis.

Radoslaw Zych presented a perspective on the changes in the drone industry over the past two years, highlighting the growing number of applications for UAV technology beyond classic photo-video. In the context of surveying and engineering, he presented three main categories of equipment:

1. Consumer drones (£5-10k) – used for tasks such as measuring heap volumes, where speed and safety of measurement, rather than centimeter surveying accuracy, is crucial.
2. Drones with RTK receivers (PLN 20-40 thousand) – enable measurements for design purposes, land and building registration and 3D modeling, with accuracy of several centimeters.
3. Docking (automatic) solutions – dedicated to long-term monitoring of investments, such as construction sites or PV farms, where flights are carried out without the presence of an operator in the field.

An important element of the presentation was the legislative requirements – from basic authorizations in category A1 for drones up to 900 g, to complex procedures and obtaining ULC permits for special category operations. The speaker also pointed out the need for practical training, including configuration and remote control of drones via the network.

Konrad Czarnecki of DRONIQ Drone Services presented six case studies illustrating the variety of applications of UAV technology:

1. Agriculture: inventory of Christmas tree plantations (200 hectares) using multispectral cameras, generation of orthophotos, vegetation maps and DSM models; preparation of variable dose maps for spraying drones in orchards.
2. Solar energy: monitoring the assembly of PV farm structures using laser scanning; creating orthophotos used as a primer for thermal imaging reports, along with the ability to interactively identify defective panels.
3. Industry: 3D model of a large factory to locate thermal bridges, integrated with thermal imaging documentation.
4. Construction: cyclic measurements of the progress of warehouse construction, enabling precise measurements in 2D and 3D models.

In each example, it was emphasized that the aerial data acquisition stage is only 20-30% of the entire process. Processing the data and developing the results into customized reports and models is crucial.

Summing up the discussion, the speakers pointed out:

• The need to verify the business model before purchasing equipment,
• Starting with local implementations and finding market niches,
• The potential of drones in reducing operating costs and increasing survey efficiency,
• The need to educate customers about drone data analysis capabilities.