Aftermarket RTK compatible with EVO 2 Pro?

[redleger]

So as the title says, I'm looking for a cheap skate option to get higher accuracy so I can begin mapping accurately. I've seen some after market options for DJI doing some searching, but could find nothing for Autel. Am I spinning my wheels? I don't have the funds for a Thermal, NIR, and RTK drone right now, and I am trying to get my EVO 2 earning for me locally, which is not easy where I'm at. I'm open to being told to suck it up and buy the drones, but that's not my first choice.
Thanks in advance.

 

[EBERLS]

High-Precision Land Surveying Equipment | Emlid

Emlid makes precise land surveying equipment. Reach out today for GPS survey equipment and data collection with centimeter accuracy.

emlid.com

 

[Malli35998]

High-Precision Land Surveying Equipment | Emlid

Emlid makes precise land surveying equipment. Reach out today for GPS survey equipment and data collection with centimeter accuracy.

emlid.com

I use an Emlid RS2+ GNSS RTK receiver. It works great!!

 

[redleger]

High-Precision Land Surveying Equipment | Emlid

Emlid makes precise land surveying equipment. Reach out today for GPS survey equipment and data collection with centimeter accuracy.

emlid.com

For everything to make that work, it would be cheaper to buy the drone. Requires ground station. I guess I'm just going to end up with a fleet of drones.

 

[redleger]

I use an Emlid RS2+ GNSS RTK receiver. It works great!!

But isn't the two parts more than buying an enterprise drone with an RTK?

 

[pedals2paddles]

The base station can be any RTK base station of any brand as long it can transmit NTRIP corrections to the controller live or logs for PPK corrections later. There are lots out there. Emlid is probably the most common and industry standard. DJI makes their own. You can also not have your own base, and instead use a wide area public NTRIP network that some states have for free. Or you can buy into a private NTRIP network if one exists.

As for the drone side of things, I don't think there is any third party option to install RTK onboard.

 

[redleger]

Oh, I am learning here then. You need a base to get centimeter accuracy? You can't just fly the drone with an RTK module to increase your accuracy on it's own?

 

[pedals2paddles]

Oh, I am learning here then. You need a base to get centimeter accuracy? You can't just fly the drone with an RTK module to increase your accuracy on it's own?

Nope.

 

[redleger]

Nope.

Ok, a detailed not often talked about in the videos. So then what would be a cheap solution for setting up accurate GCPs?

 

[jaja6009]

I think you really need to assess what products you will be offering. If you don't know the questions you are asking about, what value will you be giving potential customers? Your state will have laws/codes/regulations on surveying and if you have yet to even look into them, I think you are setting yourself up for purchasing equipment you don't need to offer products you cannot legally sell.
You should look into selling "maps" that show an area for inspection, current conditions and for that you do not really need the high end GNSS equipment.

If you are having problems now, you haven't even reached the other major problems in learning datums, coordinate systems, ellipsoids, geoids, orthometric heights, local grids and then applying this to your drone, GNSS Base/Rover and photogrammetry software of choice.
All can be learned, but there is a timeline and curve and a forum thread while useful on specific questions will not be enough to teach all of it.

To actually answer your question, There are several "cheap" options to collect control points. A popular choice are Emlid RS2 and RS2+. Whether you need 2 units or one depends on if your state offers free NTRIP corrections, or if you want to use PPK workflows.
If your state has free corrections, then you will need one unit to collect control points, and if you choose to purchase an RTK drone, the drone could receive these same free corrections.
If your state does not have a free service you could use PPK and download RINEX logs from NGS CORS stations to make your collected control points and logs from an RTK drone (if purchased) accurate after/post mission or point collection.

If your state does not have this free service you could purchase a subscription (not cheap and recurring cost), you could buy 2 RS2's and use one as a base and the other as a rover to collect control points. This base can also send corrections to an RTK drone.

Above is a quick summary, and there are some more combinations you could use in workflows.
Also there are other multi-constellation, multi-band receivers out there besides Emlid that are lower in cost, but I use Emlids and highly recommend them as they have great free software that increases in capabilities with new updates constantly. They also have IMO the easiest to use cloud caster service for sending corrections.

 

[pedals2paddles]

Also worth noting, if the work you're proposing doing just needs to be visually accurate to assess conditions and provide simple orthomosaic maps and agricultural data, you don't need CM level precision. It will be visually accurate and correct, and it doesn't really matter if the whole map is 6 in to the left from reality.

So before you go invest thousands of dollars in centimeter level accuracy equipment, you need to first determine if you actually need that. Let your mission requirements lead to equipment requirements.

It's very easy when starting off in all this cool stuff to want to get all the latest and greatest high-tech stuff before you realize you don't need it.

 

[redleger]

Also worth noting, if the work you're proposing doing just needs to be visually accurate to assess conditions and provide simple orthomosaic maps and agricultural data, you don't need CM level precision. It will be visually accurate and correct, and it doesn't really matter if the whole map is 6 in to the left from reality.

So before you go invest thousands of dollars in centimeter level accuracy equipment, you need to first determine if you actually need that. Let your mission requirements lead to equipment requirements.

It's very easy when starting off in all this cool stuff to want to get all the latest and greatest high-tech stuff before you realize you don't need it.

Yep, that's what I've gathered from days of research. Honestly I'm just gathering data at I prefer learning via multiple points of input. I'm not going to be doing surveying, but will offer mapping at the lowest level. I've made a few and I have the workflow and process down now I'm just learning how to take it to the next level, which I won't be lol.

 

[redleger]

I think you really need to assess what products you will be offering. If you don't know the questions you are asking about, what value will you be giving potential customers? Your state will have laws/codes/regulations on surveying and if you have yet to even look into them, I think you are setting yourself up for purchasing equipment you don't need to offer products you cannot legally sell.
You should look into selling "maps" that show an area for inspection, current conditions and for that you do not really need the high end GNSS equipment.

If you are having problems now, you haven't even reached the other major problems in learning datums, coordinate systems, ellipsoids, geoids, orthometric heights, local grids and then applying this to your drone, GNSS Base/Rover and photogrammetry software of choice.
All can be learned, but there is a timeline and curve and a forum thread while useful on specific questions will not be enough to teach all of it.

To actually answer your question, There are several "cheap" options to collect control points. A popular choice are Emlid RS2 and RS2+. Whether you need 2 units or one depends on if your state offers free NTRIP corrections, or if you want to use PPK workflows.
If your state has free corrections, then you will need one unit to collect control points, and if you choose to purchase an RTK drone, the drone could receive these same free corrections.
If your state does not have a free service you could use PPK and download RINEX logs from NGS CORS stations to make your collected control points and logs from an RTK drone (if purchased) accurate after/post mission or point collection.

If your state does not have this free service you could purchase a subscription (not cheap and recurring cost), you could buy 2 RS2's and use one as a base and the other as a rover to collect control points. This base can also send corrections to an RTK drone.

Above is a quick summary, and there are some more combinations you could use in workflows.
Also there are other multi-constellation, multi-band receivers out there besides Emlid that are lower in cost, but I use Emlids and highly recommend them as they have great free software that increases in capabilities with new updates constantly. They also have IMO the easiest to use cloud caster service for sending corrections.

Yea I'm not going to be doing that but I thank you for the info. I was just gathering data from people who I trust more than some faces in videos. No one here has steered me wrong yet.