Abstract
In the last two decades, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) were successfully used in different environments for diverse applications like territorial mapping, heritage 3D documentation, as built surveys, construction monitoring, solar panel placement and assessment, road inspections, etc. These applications were correlated to the onboard sensors like RGB cameras, multi-spectral cameras, thermal sensors, panoramic cameras, or LiDARs. According to the different onboard sensors, a different mission plan is required to satisfy the characteristics of the sensor and the project aims. For UAS LiDAR-based mapping missions, requirements for the flight planning are different with respect to conventional UAS image-based flight plans because of different reasons related to the LiDAR scanning mechanism, scanning range, output scanning rate, field of view (FOV), rotation speed, etc. Although flight planning for image-based UAS missions is a well-known and solved problem, flight planning for a LiDAR-based UAS mapping is still an open research topic that needs further investigations. The article presents the developments of a LiDAR-based UAS flight planning tool, tested with simulations in real scenarios. The flight planning simulations considered an UAS platform equipped, alternatively, with three low-cost multi-beam LiDARs, namely Quanergy M8, Velodyne VLP-16, and the Ouster OS-1-16. The specific characteristics of the three sensors were used to plan flights and acquired dense point clouds. Comparisons and analyses of the results showed clear relationships between point density, flying speeds, and flying heights.
Highlights
Flight planning is a solved problem since aerial photogrammetry started in the last century
Flight planning is not restricted to the traditional aerial mapping missions but is expanded to include unmanned aircraft system (UAS) mapping missions [1–4], which can be equipped with different sensors mounted on the UAS platform
UAS flight planning for mapping missions can be divided into four types—(1) area-based, either on a grid or a polygon shape, (2) circular flights for high objects, (3) corridor flights for mapping railroads, railways, or powerlines, and (4) free mapping flights
Summary
Flight planning is a solved problem since aerial photogrammetry started in the last century. There are many UAS flight planning tools, either free, commercial, or Webtools [5–14], which can be used prior to the mapping missions. HaInndt,hdiisffaerrteinclted, ewsieganrpeatrayminegtetrosaanreswcoenrstihderfeodlloinwtihnegflqiguhetstpiloannsn:ing of the UAS LiDAR missions, like the maximum scanning range of the used LiDAR and the scanning rate. LiDAR specifications, as mentioned earlier, include the scanning output rate, rotation speed, maximum scanning range, etc., wThhileedtheveemlopaepdpimnegthspodeocilofigcyat(iFoingsuraere2)recolantseidststoofthtwe oshpaaprtes—anadflsiigzhet opflatnhneintagrgtoeotlapraerat, aflnidght strips (lisnoems)e ssiidmeulalapti,oflnytiensgts hoenigrehatl,-wanodrldspsceeenda.riTohs.eFporroepvoersyedUAmSetLhiDodAoRloflgigyhdt eplliavnerdsestihgen,fothlleorwe ainreg output patsrwpaeomcitfeyitcpeaertssio:onfs,inaps umt erneqtiuoinreedmeenartsli—ert,hiencLluiDdAe Rthsepseccaifnincaintigonosuatpnudt the flight specifications.
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