Comparative analysis of 3d photogrammetry modeling software packages for drones survey

Abstract

Drones are becoming popular in spatial mapping or survey. The use of drones survey can be seen from it low flying heights (capable to create a clear images), accessible on difficult or non-friendly vehicle access areas, faster data acquisition and higher data resolution henceforth improve the quality of the survey. However, this paper focuses on the post-processing of drone images for 3D surface modeling. With the motivation of producing better 3D models, four software packages are used for comparison. Those software packages are eyesMap3D, Drone Deploy, Agisoft PhotoScan and Pix4Dmapper. The equipment used to ensure a high level of quality model is the Leica GPS1200+ stationary GPS module and the DJI Phantom 4 PRO drone. The Leica GPS1200+ stationary GPS module were used to track the exact position of tie points on the ground. Meanwhile the DJI Phantom 4 PRO drone is used as data inputs (images) for the software packages stated. In addition, the drone is used to fly over a golf course, with a challenge of homogenous surface for 3D surface modeling. Based on the output, it shows that each software packages produces slightly different outputs. This paper summarizes the outputs and discusses the key elements in each software packages. This variation might be useful for future references in 3D surface modeling that can conform in different applications requirements.