Utilization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Accurate 3D Imaging

Abstract

In order to acquire geographical data by aerial photogrammetry, many images should be taken from an aerial vehicle. After that, the images are processed with the help of the structure-from-motion (SfM) technique. Multiple neighboring images with a high rate of overlapping should be obtained for high-accuracy measurement. In the event of natural disasters, UAV operation may sometimes involve risk and should be avoided. Therefore, an easy and convenient method of operating the UAVs is needed. Reports exist on some applications of the UAVs with other devices; however, it will be difficult to prepare a number of such devices in emergency. We considered the most suitable condition for image acquisition by using the UAV. Specifically, some of the altitudes and the rate of overlapping were attempted, and accuracies of the 3D measurement were confirmed. Furthermore, we developed a new camera calibration and measurement method that requires only a few images taken in a simple UAV flight. The UAV in this method was flied vertically and the images were taken at a different altitude. As a result, the plane and height accuracy was (cid:1) 0.093 and (cid:1) 0.166 m, respectively. These values were of higher accuracy than the results of the usual SfM software.