Read a report that said drones cut survey time by 70% on some sites, but I'm still seeing crews with tripods

I was looking at a study from a construction tech group last week, and it said drone mapping can finish a site survey in about a third of the time of traditional methods. They had a case from a road project in Austin where a two-day job got done in a single morning. That blew my mind, honestly. But then I drove past a new subdivision going up near me yesterday, and the survey team was still out there with their total station on a tripod, taking shots the old way. It makes me wonder if the tech is really that much better or if it's just hype. Maybe the upfront cost for the drone and software is too high for smaller crews, or maybe the data isn't as trusted yet. What's the real hold-up for more people switching over?

3 comments

3 Comments

cole_lee1mo ago

Yeah, that Austin case is real (I saw that report too) but the thing is, drones aren't a total replacement yet. They're amazing for the big overview map, but you still need ground control points and often a few precise shots from a total station to check things. So you might see the tripod because they're doing that final check, or because the site has too many trees for a good drone scan.

barbara_green101mo ago

Come on, that's just old school thinking. I've seen jobs where the drone data is so good they skip the total station check completely. Tech moves fast.

michaeljones13d ago

Forget the trees, what about wind messing with the drone? @cole_lee