Pix4dmapper app on Android

hionbusa · Nov 30, 2014

Hello ,

I'm fairly new to the vision + and will be exploring the Pix4dmapper application a lot for fun and work .
I will be experimenting with it starting next week .
Has anyone used it yet ? Please report back with feedback .

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsxCvyS20ek[/youtube]

MapMaker53 · Nov 30, 2014

Interesting app. I downloaded it and hope to try it if I get a nice day. Unfortunately, the extent of the area you can fly is very limited. Even though the map image in that video says it is using a 150m x 150m grid area, there is no way that green area is 150m x 150m on that map. The beta app actually maxes out at 150m x 120m area and when applied to my neighborhood, the green area only covers HALF of my street block. Measuring 150m on Google Earth confirms it is correct. That video makes it look like 150m x 150m is a huge area. But still an interesting (free at the moment) app to play with. I could really use this for my work, but would need the app to eventually be made available for larger areas. Thanks for the heads up, hionbusa.

MapMaker53 · Nov 30, 2014

I wonder if lovecoffe would be interested in creating a modified version of this app and adding it to an ilovecoffee apps collection.

hionbusa · Dec 1, 2014

MapMaker53 said:
Interesting app. I downloaded it and hope to try it if I get a nice day. Unfortunately, the extent of the area you can fly is very limited. Even though the map image in that video says it is using a 150m x 150m grid area, there is no way that green area is 150m x 150m on that map. The beta app actually maxes out at 150m x 120m area and when applied to my neighborhood, the green area only covers HALF of my street block. Measuring 150m on Google Earth confirms it is correct. That video makes it look like 150m x 150m is a huge area. But still an interesting (free at the moment) app to play with. I could really use this for my work, but would need the app to eventually be made available for larger areas. Thanks for the heads up, hionbusa.

I was planning on using it to map a building .I'm hoping it will be plenty for my first application .

MapMaker53 · Dec 1, 2014

Depends on the size of the building footprint. I flew a site last week with a huge manufacturing facility that would not have fit the grid limitations. But I think most buildings would fit.

happydays · Dec 1, 2014

Here's another one.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMck2i6tfB4[/youtube]

Lucan · Dec 1, 2014

Connor,
What are the circle shapes and "x" marks that appear during the video? I myself am preparing to fly with this program this week. Thanks.

samd012 · Dec 1, 2014

MapMaker53 said:
Depends on the size of the building footprint. I flew a site last week with a huge manufacturing facility that would not have fit the grid limitations. But I think most buildings would fit.

You can take multiple projects and merge them to cover an area of any size

jeppeson2001 · Dec 1, 2014

MapMaker53 said:
Interesting app. I downloaded it and hope to try it if I get a nice day. Unfortunately, the extent of the area you can fly is very limited. Even though the map image in that video says it is using a 150m x 150m grid area, there is no way that green area is 150m x 150m on that map. The beta app actually maxes out at 150m x 120m area and when applied to my neighborhood, the green area only covers HALF of my street block. Measuring 150m on Google Earth confirms it is correct. That video makes it look like 150m x 150m is a huge area. But still an interesting (free at the moment) app to play with. I could really use this for my work, but would need the app to eventually be made available for larger areas. Thanks for the heads up, hionbusa.

I believe the grid area is restricted in the app to ensure it can be completed before the battery runs out. At the moment if the mission is aborted or returns home due to low battery then the whole project has be started again from scratch.
From what I understand you can enlarge the area by starting other missions which must overlap the previous ones. All the images can then be imported into Pix4Dmapper and be compiled into one project. In this case the area is limitless although may take a long time to process.

Hope this helps,
Regards, Jeppeson

happydays · Dec 1, 2014

Lucan said:
Connor,
What are the circle shapes and "x" marks that appear during the video? I myself am preparing to fly with this program this week. Thanks.

No idea. It's not my video!

MapMaker53 · Dec 1, 2014

samd012 said:
You can take multiple projects and merge them to cover an area of any size

Good to know.

ilovecoffee · Dec 1, 2014

Quick Q:

Does the Phantom fly sideways when completing a mission using Pix4D? Or does it stop and turn to go face forward at each way point?

I haven't tested it yet but based on the demo video, the icon representing the Phantom in flight doesn't rotate.

MapMaker53 · Dec 1, 2014

Having not used it yet, I'm guessing it flies with the camera facing straight down. The camera lens can see the vertical faces of the surrounding land features due to the fish-eye effect and then is able to stitch together the images into a 3D draggable image from all directions. Pretty cool. And I bet it simply flies the pattern always facing in the same direction -- sometimes flying forward, sideways or backwards -- so the Phantom's front is always facing, say, north. That would make the resulting plan view aerial photos easier to stitch together by a program.

Hey, ilovecoffee.. If it does manage to fly that way, maybe there is a clue in the code of this app that will help you understand how to program sideways flying into your modded GS Phantom app.

ilovecoffee · Dec 1, 2014

MapMaker53 said:
Having not used it yet, I'm guessing it flies with the camera facing straight down. The camera lens can see the vertical faces of the surrounding land features due to the fish-eye effect and then is able to stitch together the images into a 3D draggable image from all directions. Pretty cool. And I bet it simply flies the pattern always facing in the same direction -- sometimes flying forward, sideways or backwards -- so the Phantom's front is always facing, say, north. That would make the resulting plan view aerial photos easier to stitch together by a program.

Hey, ilovecoffee.. If it does manage to fly that way, maybe there is a clue in the code of this app that will help you understand how to program sideways flying into your modded GS Phantom app.

Well that's why I'm asking, because of course I had to peek inside

and I cannot see any difference readily that would allow the Phantom to fly sideways.

npalen · Dec 1, 2014

The phantom stops and turns at each corner to face the next forward direction IIRC.

Edit: Here's another discussion:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30230&p=279574#p279574

fillupc · Dec 1, 2014

I have used the app along with the desktop mapper application to generate a very impressive RGB 3D point cloud and ortho image of entire site. Others above are correct. Multiple flight missions can be combined in one project. Also, the grid size is limited due to battery. A 150m x 150m grid will use 60 to 80 percent of the battery due to phantom moving at 2m/s while collecting images along the grid lines.

The android app has room for improvement, but is a must have to use the desktop app. The app collects much higher accuracy geo reference data for each photo than the phantom stores on the sd card.

lsteigerwalt · Dec 1, 2014

How high does the bird fly when using this app?

fillupc · Dec 1, 2014

50m above ground. Not adjustable in app yet.

Bayou flyer · Dec 6, 2014

I am in construction and would love to use the pix4d, but have been unable to complete a mission yet. It will definitely be a powerful tool for many applications, once the bugs are worked out. I do realize that the app is still in beta.

I have tried both an Android phone and a Google tablet but I am having issues starting or completing a mission. The one time I was able to get it to start a mission it stopped after the first run it started downloading the information and would not complete the mission. I have a 2V+ I am using.

dbfletcher · Dec 6, 2014

fillupc said:
I have used the app along with the desktop mapper application to generate a very impressive RGB 3D point cloud and ortho image of entire site. Others above are correct. Multiple flight missions can be combined in one project. Also, the grid size is limited due to battery. A 150m x 150m grid will use 60 to 80 percent of the battery due to phantom moving at 2m/s while collecting images along the grid lines.

The android app has room for improvement, but is a must have to use the desktop app. The app collects much higher accuracy geo reference data for each photo than the phantom stores on the sd card.

I just started playing with this app yesterday. I did a couple small missions and processed the results. I was pretty impressed. MY question is, can you give more detail on "how you combine missions? Just as a note, it does take a long time to process even small missions on an I7 with 32GB of RAM. (15-20 mins)