COVER STORY
the line of visual sight or in dusty environments where the camera feed is unclear. The LiDAR scanner on the surveying
payload is a OS0-128 Rev 7 sensor from LiDAR technology company Ouster which has allowed Flyability to increase the range, point density and precision of the LiDAR itself. When it comes to high-grade mapping, Blake says this sensor has enabled operators to see further away from the drone and had helped make the drone software more efficient in mapping out these sites. “It was a no-brainer when we created
the Elios 3 to have a LiDAR sensor onboard. Now the surveying payload has improved what our LiDAR is capable of. We can see more in the same flight time, enabling us to get better situational awareness from flying. The pilot can better understand the environment, the distances between areas, and inspect particular environments the drone may come across.” The front of the drone also features a 4K video camera that enables operators
The Elios can map a 340m tunnel in 9 minutes
to take photographs of any objects seen down in the mines – for example, a cracked roof or can see water coming in. “They can take a photograph and that image becomes a point of interest, and these are then localised on the map and are made readily available in a high-density point cloud,” Blake adds. “This allows the mining manager
or operator know where this photo has been taken relative to the structure of the mine through the LiDAR map – they can easily identify and locate a defect within the site from the drone’s map.”
3D SURVEYING SOLUTION Flyability also offer software to accompany the Elios 3 that turns the data from the drone into survey-grade 3D models, helping surveyors map unreachable places such as mines. “After doing a flight of the area of the mine they intend to map, operators can download the raw data from the LiDAR map itself and post-process that on an application called FARO Connect developed by our partner, 3D measurement company FARO Technologies,” says Blake. “The software has SLAM presets – optimised for data gathered with the Elios 3 – that are more advances and can correct any errors within the high-grade data itself.” During processing, FARO Connect
automatically interprets reflective targets as ground control points to georeference Elios 3 point clouds, as well as filter them for noise. With these targets, it can also align multiple point clouds to create a single, clean result for clear visualisation. “By using this software, they can create a high- accurate map of the mine and reduce any of the drift factor that may have been accumulated during the flight.” The survey-grade mapping solution
It comes with a fixed cage that physically protects the hardware 8
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also features loop closure and global optimisation which looks at all the
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