The Five Reasons Your Drone Needs RTK
There are more drones within the sky than ever, and that makes precise location services more necessary than ever. And even in the event you’re not flying multiple drones at the identical time, precise positioning can allow you to do belongings you never thought possible. Real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning gives your drone centimeter location accuracy without the necessity for ground control points (GCPs) or time-consuming post-flight post processing.
What’s RTK?
Typically, drones depend on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data to find out their locations. But GNSS may be inaccurate on account of atmospheric interference, signal multipath, and satellite orbit and clock errors. Often drones need ground control points (GCPs)—known points on the bottom used to calibrate and proper their data. If there are not any GCPs, then location accuracy can severely suffer. Post-processed kinematic (PPK) is one other method for improving location accuracy, but only works after the actual fact. Data is collected through the flight, but must be processed later to attain higher accuracy.
RTK does what it says within the name: Provides real-time positioning data. Drones with RTK communicate with a network of installed base stations that correct GNSS data. How does RTK work? The RTK network can compensate for things like atmospheric disturbances, satellite clock inaccuracies, and orbital errors. With RTK, you’ll be able to immediately achieve 1-3 cm positioning accuracy. In case your drones work in construction planning, agriculture mapping, or infrastructure inspection, that level of accuracy is crucial.
Listed below are five the reason why your drone needs RTK, and a number of the amazing things you’ll be able to do when you’ve centimeter-level positioning accuracy.
1. No More Ground Control Points
Many drone operators arrange GCPs or base stations for more accurate positioning. RTK networks make those GCPs unnecessary. Just arrive at a site, launch your drone, and fly. The RTK network will give your drone all the information it must calculate precise location immediately in real time. Which means you’ll be able to spend more time collecting the information you would like, and fewer time establishing GCPs.
Figure 1 – Caption: Ground control points require setup at every site vs. RTK Networks that cover large areas.
2. Reduce Post Processing
For those who’re using PPK, it could take hours to process all the information you gathered from photogrammetry, LIDAR frame matching, or mapping. With an RTK network, post extensive processing isn’t needed—you get high-precision positioning data from the beginning. On average, RTK–enabled drones reduce post-processing time by about 90%.
3. Avoid Collisions
For those who’re operating a whole drone fleet, or simply flying in a crowded area, avoiding collisions is paramount. One slipup can cost hundreds and set your project back. RTK gives you the real-time positioning that you must avoid collisions and to guard your investment. Good RTK data coupled with path planning can prevent collisions before they occur.
Figure 2: RTK simplifies path planning.
4. Get Detailed Flight History
RTK can offer you detailed flight history, including timestamped locations, so you’ll be able to determine if there are any remaining location inaccuracies and where they might be coming from. With Point One RTL, you’ll be able to send a single HTTPS request and receive plain, well-informed JSON data in return for any RTK-enabled drones.
5. Do More With Your UAV
With super-precise real-time location data, you’ll be able to do more together with your drone than ever before. Precision agriculture, volumetric measurement, inspection, and a number of other location-based use cases all profit from RTK technology.
Agriculture – Drones with RTK can deliver more accurate soil health evaluation, crop monitoring, and field mapping data. Which means farmers can practice site-specific crop management, yield more crops, use resources more efficiently, and reduce environmental impacts.
Mapping & Surveying – RTK makes rapid data collection with high accuracy simile, making drones ideal for topographic surveys, GIS data collection, and environmental monitoring.
Inspections & Public Safety – RTK-enabled drones may be an efficient and secure solution to assess infrastructure like dams, bridges, buildings, and power lines. They may also play a vital role in emergency response, search and rescue, and disaster management.
Construction – You should utilize RTK drones for site planning, monitoring progress, and ensuring that projects follow their blueprints. They will deliver precise data that helps reduce costly errors, ensures compliance with regulations, and enhances overall efficiency.
Mining – With RTK, you need to use your drone for surveying mine sites, monitoring stockpiles, and calculating the quantity of extracted materials. They supply safer and more cost effective alternatives to traditional survey methods, especially in hazardous environments.
Caption: Currently, Point One Navigation provides over 1,400 base stations worldwide, with more being established every single day. This includes most of North America, Europe and now South Korea
RTK networks can provide your drone the precision it truly must be useful for tomorrow’s businesses. Point One has over 1,400 base stations across the globe–providing centimeter-accurate positioning in lots of countries, including most of Europe, the US, parts of Canada in addition to South Korea. Our network continues to expand every single day, delivering super-accurate real-time positioning data that may help make drones much more useful in our on a regular basis lives.
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