Acknowledgments vii
Part 1: Introduction to Drone Practice 1
Chapter 1: How to Use This Book 3
Drones for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) 3
The Method Behind This Book 4
Who Can Use This Book? 4
The Book Road Map 5
About the Authors 7
Daniel Tal, ASLA, RLA 7
Jon Altschuld, ASLA, RLA 8
Important Contributor Justin Clark 9
Chapter 2: A Paradigm Shift in Viewing the World 11
The Breadth of Drone Applications Is Just Beginning to Be Discovered 12
Basic Drone Use 12
Current Breadth of Drone Use 13
The Future Breadth of Drone Use 16
The Risks of Drone Technology 17
Why Use Drones? 21
The Bottom Line on Drones 22
Chapter 3: Drone Data Visualization as a Full Cycle Tool 23
Advantages 23
Project Cycles 25
Written Proposal 26
Proposal Interview 26
Project Start Up 27
Concept Design and Design Development 27
Construction Administration 29
Post-Construction 29
Visual Communication 30
Defining Drone Data and Visualization 30
2D Concept Overlay 31
3D Concept Model Overlay 31
3D Mesh 31
Classified Point Clouds 33
Construction Analysis over the Internet 33
Contour CAD Line Work 34
Drone Photography 34
Drone Video Footage 34
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 35
Plant Health 35
High-Resolution Orthorectified Image 35
Site Quantities and Takeoffs 36
Thermal Maps 38
Time-Based Site Comparisons 38
Part 2: Getting off the Ground 41
Chapter 4: Buy In 43
Return on Investment (ROI) 43
Start-Up Cost Estimate 44
Annual Expenditures 47
Rate of Return (ROR) 48
Commodity 48
Include in Proposals 49
Project Collaboration and Deferred Costs/Cost Savings 50
Intangible Values 51
Value Added Services 52
Training Costs 56
Remote 107 License 56
Software and Photogrammetry Training Costs 57
Permissions Costs 57
Chapter 5: Getting Started 58
AEC Drone Standard Features 58
Flying Skills 60
High Quality of Data 61
Power and Flight Time 61
Flight Controller Automations 61
Third Party Apps 62
Support and Troubleshooting 63
Drone Packages 63
Applications and Software 64
Device Apps 64
Categories 64
Flight Conditions 64
Video and Photo Recording 66
Photogrammetry 68
Insurance 71
Online Portals 71
Desktop Software 71
Photogrammetry 71
Photo Matching and Editing 71
Multimedia and Video Editing 72
Computer Hardware 72
CPU 73
GPU 73
RAM 73
Storage Memory 73
Chapter 6: Documentation, Permissions, and License 74
Professional Etiquette for Professional Practice 74
The Legal Rules 74
Part 107 76
Permissions – LAANC 77
Permissions – State, Agency, County, and City Regulations 80
Permissions – DJI FlySafe and Geo Zones 80
Insurance 80
Documentation 82
Chapter 7: Best Practices for Flying Drones 86
The Flying Mindset 86
Drone Flying Apps 87
Simulator Mode 88
Flight Operations 89
Takeoff 90
During Flight 91
Flight Area Awareness 91
Maintaining Visual Line of Site (VLOS) 92
Emergency Operations 94
Landing and Post-flight 95
Automated Flying 95
Pilot Control 95
Manual Intervention 95
Pre-flight Planning for Automated Flights 96
Part 3: Acquiring and Working with Drone Data 97
Chapter 8: Imagery and Videos 99
Photo and Video Quality 99
Using DJI Standard Apps 99
Image Geotag 101
Litchi Flight Planning Software 101
Litchi Smart Device App 103
Litchi Desktop Web Portal 104
Virtual Litchi Mission 104
Working with Drone Photos 106
Annotated Images 106
Photo Matches 107
Hand Sketch Photo Matches 107
Photoshop Photo Matches 107
3D Model Photo Matches 111
Working with Drone Videos 114
Pix4D (and Other) Animations 116
Chapter 9: Photogrammetry 117
What Is Photogrammetry? 117
Drones and Photogrammetry 118
Photogrammetry Accuracy and Precision 119
Ground Control Points 123
Collecting Data 124
RTK Drones, Ground Control Pads 131
Processing the Data 132
Processing Steps 134
Photogrammetry Project Comparisons 139
Project #1 – Rural Ranch 139
Project #2 – US-50 Little Blue Canyon 143
Photogrammetry Hardware 146
Photogrammetry Software 146
Chapter 10: Working with 3D Models 147
Point Cloud versus 3D Mesh 147
Working with Point Clouds and 3D Meshes 148
Viewing and Sharing Online 150
Third-Party Sites 152
Application 153
Viewing and Processing in the Cloud 153
Photogrammetry Software 153
Construction Management Viewing and Sharing Software 153
Working with and Manipulating the 3D Mesh 154
File Format 154
Point Cloud to Mesh 155
Mesh Decimation 155
Mesh Manipulation and Proposed Features 156
Chapter 11: The Future of UAVs 159
Final Word and Looking Ahead 163
Index 165
