This is how far we’ve come. Our slide below shows the big picture along with the smaller case study of what we plan to do with our UAV. With the smaller case, we have our case study. For the big picture, we have our application and our consultants we’ve met with recently. In the process of planning, we’ve begun researching Google Patents we will most likely need in order to complete this project.
Guess how much Google spends to create Google Earth? Over 1 billion dollars! A little insane, wouldn’t you agree? Currently the mapping options available to us are aerial imagery or 2D driving simulators.
Aerial imagery is where a plane flies above the targeted area for pictures. The problems we find here are: cost is high, limited closeness to the structures, and limited plan view.
An example of 2D driving simulator would be Google Earth, where pictures are compiled through driving around the area. The problems we find with this include: manpower, limited to roadway, high cost, time, and again the limited closeness to the structures.
Which brings us to the third option, the best of both worlds: UAV.
With the UAV, we are able to get up close and personal using higher quality cameras and sensors such as infrared and air quality, the cost is 3.3 times less expensive than what is currently used, and it is easier to navigate once created therefore the mapping can be updated more.
Our UAV will be able to map the Municipal Building much more effectively than any other technology could. We are hoping to expand to larger projects after our case study of the Municipal Building though. Construction sites will be able to use our UAV as a way to monitoring the progression of sites. It would be much more cost effective because less man power will be needed for the monitoring process and they would be able to catch potential problems before they occur.
By: Katrina Aducci