Drone Surveying in Construction: Simple, Effective, and Cost-Efficient

The construction industry is buzzing about drones, and for good reason. They’re powerful tools for collecting topographic data at a low cost, but all the hype can make drone surveying seem overwhelming, complicated, and expensive. At Quantum Land Design, we focus on keeping things simple to make drone data collection easy, accessible and reliable. Let’s discuss what you need to know to take advantage of drone surveying technology.

The Basics: What You Need

To collect high-quality drone data, you only need two things: a GPS base/rover and a drone. That’s it.

Forget about expensive software, costly web-based processing services, or even a high-end PC for photogrammetry processing. Keep it simple and cost-effective.

GPS and Ground Control

Your GPS machine control base/rover system is used to measure your ground control and check shots. Ground control is just points on the ground that can be seen in your drone photos. By using the same base/rover setup you’ve already calibrated for machine control, we ensure your drone data aligns seamlessly with your machine control model and any work the project Engineer has done or will do in the future.

While RTK/PPK drone systems have been heavily marketed, a simpler setup works just as well and is often best for most contractors. The goal here is to collect reliable drone data that helps you make better management decisions—not to become an expert in complex systems.

The only time you can skip the ground control points is when your drone data doesn’t need to align with your machine control model or be repeatable. Quick stockpile volume calculations or a simple orthophoto for a developer can fall into this category.

Ground Control Points: Placement is Key

Ground control points (GCPs) should surround the site (similar to a GPS site control layout) and be placed at roughly the highest and lowest elevations. We recommend using a minimum of five GCPs, marked with temporary targets or paint, with their coordinates recorded by your GPS rover.

Check out the image below to see how the red ground control surrounds a small, uniquely-shaped project.

Importance of Topo Check Shots

Topo check shots are nearly as important as the control points. These are simply topographic shots collected with your rover roughly between GCPs and in key areas. When processing your photos, the drone data is aligned with the ground control, while the check shots provide an independent verification to ensure the final surface is accurate and correctly positioned.

Take a look at the layout below—note how the red GCPs surround the site while the yellow check shots are positioned between the control points.

Choosing the Right Drone

Many contractors use DJI drones, such as the DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise. There are plenty of options on the market, but DJI models are affordable and meet the accuracy requirements for most civil projects. The drone's job is simple: fly over the site and capture overlapping photos at fixed intervals. You can use the free app included with your drone to program the flight—just draw a box around the flight area, set your parameters, and let the drone do the work. You don’t even need to fly it manually. Check out our YouTube video at the bottom of this post for a detailed walkthrough (and don’t forget to hit subscribe!).

What Comes Next?

That’s it—with the GPS base/rover you already own and an inexpensive drone, you can gather topo data on any project, anytime.

So, what do you do with the photos and control data? That’s where Quantum Land Design steps in. Upload your photos and control data to our cloud. We'll process the data to generate a bare earth 3D surface and orthographic photo of your site that lines up seamlessly with your machine control model and any past or future surveys.

Our technical team can provide volume calculations, create custom designs, or deliver the 3D surface for you to use in your preferred software—whether it’s AgTek, Trimble Business Center, Topcon Magnet, InSite or Carlson Takeoff. No need to learn any new tools or applications; our deliverables will be compatible with the software you already use and know.