xyHt in print October 2015 Archives
Multicopter Profiles
The eXom, RiCOPTER, Aibot X6, and Trimble ZX5 SenseFly’s eXom Inspection and close-in mapping sUAS I first saw sensFly’s new eXom sUAS at the ILMF conference in Denver early this year. It’s billed as an inspection and close-in mapping platform, and I thought, “Inspection? That’s interesting” and moved on. Turns out the team at senseFly […]
Copter Power
A UAS rotocopter pilot directs the successful imaging of a breakwater project in Costa Rica. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are finding their way into geospatial applications beyond the obvious commercial topography, volumes, and inspection applications. One particular application that is poised to take advantage of the lower cost associated with UAS data acquisition is environmental […]
Indiana Jones With a Tripod
Why choose surveying as a career? Read this. My desk is a mess right now: stacks of old field books, dusty quadrangle maps, and a plumb bob serving as a paper weight for my research notes. I have to look under a pile of mining claims to find my trusty compass. I tuck the compass […]
Fundamentals of Geodesy
Part 1: An Introduction Editor’s note: With this article we start an overview of GeoLearn courses offered by Dave Doyle, former chief geodetic surveyor for the National Geodetic Survey and geodesy editor of xyHt. GeoLearn (geo-learn.com) is an online education business helping professionals reach mandatory continuing education requirements and sort through everyday work issues. Dave’s […]
A Shore Thing
Integrity monitoring the islands of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel involves combining hydrographic survey, lidar, shoreline survey, and terrestrial lidar survey. Rigorous structural integrity monitoring to extend the lifespan of critical infrastructure is an economic necessity. Remote sensing and integrated remote sensing provide new ways to monitor all elements of a structure in fine detail. […]
Getting Beyond VLOS
The FAA’s streamlined Section 333 exemption and COA process is welcome, but there’s still a fly in the ointment. While the ongoing FAA Section 333 exemption process is a big step in the right direction for UAS, all operators flying under these exemptions are constrained by the VLOS rule: all flights must be conducted within […]