In this post we present case studies of low cost RTK / PPK drones. This post will be constantly updated as soon new flights will be held. At the moment we present first results of Evo II V2 RTK drone.
First Flights of Autel Evo II RTK Drone
Before our maiden flight we found out that it was not possible to import the mountpoint of our choice in the RTK option, however this wasn’t a problem as the drone eventually estimated a fixed position similar to our GNSS receiver. (The beta version of Autel Explorer App V.1.1.7.90 has fixed this bug). Another bug we noticed is that the rinex file was empty. The Beta Firmware package EVO II V2: V2.1.61 claims to fix this error.
The first mission had the following characteristics:
- Flight Height: 80m above ground
- Mission: Simple Rectangular – 3 strips
- Overlap: 70%
- Total: 60 images
The aerial triangulation was performed in 3 photogrammetry software with simultaneous All-Parameters camera calibration (one of them our own in house algorithms) and estimated almost the the same results:
RMSe of 11 Check Points: Xerr(m)=0.032 – Zerr(m)=0.022 – Yerr(m)=0.041
Firmware update of Autel Evo II RTK
Indeed in Evo II app after the firmaware upgrade, it was possible to declare the mount point of our choice, a full GNSS and VRS mount point. The results of the AT without an GCP:
RMSe of 11 Check Points: Xerr(m)=0.012 – Zerr(m)=0.014 Yerr(m)=0.023
Mapping a rock quarry with high accuracy
An additional case study was completed today with the Autel Evo II RTK drone, regarding the mapping of an old inactive rock quarry. The flight was completed in 8 minutes. The area covered is about ~180,000 m2, The drone took 214 images at 70% from a height of ~100m. No GCPs were used and the accuracy achieved gave an RMSe of 4 Check Points: X=0.021m Y= 0.026m Z=0.033m
topometrics.gr 