Picked the drone over the laser level for a 2-acre grading job near Austin

Had to decide between using my new drone with photogrammetry software or sticking with my old rotary laser level for a site prep job last week. The laser wouldve meant walking the whole property with a rod and taking manual readings. The drone seemed risky cause I just got it and havent used it much on real dirt. I went with the drone cause the customer wanted a 3D surface model anyway. Uploaded the flight path, let it do its thing for like 20 minutes, and got a point cloud that was dead on within 0.1 feet. Saved me about 4 hours of walking in the Texas heat. Has anyone else made the switch from ground tools to aerial stuff for earthwork?

2 comments

2 Comments

patp7914d agoMost Upvoted

Tbh that's exactly what happened with me on a similar job. Drones are a game changer for sure. I spent years walking around with a rod and it's just brutal in the heat.

jenny_sullivan9714d ago

Oh absolutely, the heat is no joke! I used to dread mid-summer inspections, felt like I was melting into the pavement half the time.