Affordable Accuracy: TOPODRONE LiDAR Insights
Affordable Accuracy: TOPODRONE LiDAR Insights
This is a Lidar News interview with Maxim Baklykov, CEO at TOPODRONE (TOPODRONE – LiDAR & UAV Survey)
1. Please provide a brief bio and overview of your involvement and experience with drones and lidar systems.
I am a surveyor with more than 20 years of experience in field and desk work. I have performed a large number of survey projects in hard-to-reach mountainous terrain using various drones, photogrammetry, total stations, RTK / PPK systems, including those developed later on by my company TOPODRONE.
As many surveyors I used to struggle with photogrammetry methods of data collection in dense forest areas while traditional total station and GPS surveying methods were almost not applicable in hard to reach areas with complex terrain.
Back in my professional youth I always wanted to buy airborne laser scanning equipment. But drone LiDAR units cost over 100k USD and were very heavy, plus the data processing was comparable to space technology in complexity and labor input. The price scared me a lot – I had to mount equipment on a drone at a cost comparable to an expensive car or an apartment and send it flying, nervously waiting for its return!
At some point I decided to invest a bit in developing and producing photogrammetry and LiDAR devices compatible with drones to make first and foremost my professional life easier. Thus, a few years ago together with like-minded surveyors and engineers we challenged ourselves with the TOPODRONE project.
2. Can you please provide your insights into the early days of the development of the company? Why did you start the company? What were some of the challenges in starting the company?
Today TOPODRONE offers hardware and software solutions which have been developed by ordinary surveyors for other ordinary surveyors to improve time & cost efficiency as well as data accuracy. Our HQ is based in Switzerland, our team travels around the world training our customers and partners to use our equipment and software.
Back in 2018 we invented a tool called PPK as I needed a device for my airborne surveying to get better accuracy. We have been constantly developing this tool based on our needs and the needs of our clients. As of today we have improved the TOPODRONE PPK Kit a lot – it can modify a drone to create 1:500 topographic maps, accurate measurement of volumes, engineering and other surveys. PPK allows the user to perform a survey with 2-3 cm XYZ accuracy without using GCPs (ground control points.)
We also experimented with photogrammetry cameras. And the experiment has evolved into a payload product line.
Like many surveyors around the world we were stuck at home during COVID19 pandemic and to not be bored too much we tried ourselves a bit more in R&D. We decided to create an inexpensive, affordable high accuracy, low weight drone LIDAR system. In our developments we used all our previous experience in GNSS systems, IMU and laser sensor integration. As a result we created TOPODRONE LIDAR 100 Lite based on VELODYNE VLP16, weighing less than 1 kg, with native integration of GNSS receiver and Honeywell IMU, which provided 3-5 cm x,y,z accuracy and was mounted on DJI M200/M300 drones.
At the beginning we used our LiDAR systems only for topographic surveying during our own projects, but then we started getting more and more requests from surveyors from all over the world who needed such a solution for surveying hard-to-access forested areas. In 2021 we presented our LiDAR system at Intergeo.
3. There are a growing number of companies entering the drone lidar business. What are some of the key reasons why a potential customer should consider working with TOPODRONE? How are you different?
Since all our equipment is developed first to perform our own survey projects and has been tested in the field in real conditions, our customers get equipment created by surveyors for surveyors and it is not just a marketing product created by people who have never worked in the field in severe weather conditions or tramped through thickets on steep slopes.
We create truly universal solutions, for example TOPODRONE LiDAR unit can be mounted on any drone & VTOL, as well as on a vehicle for mobile laser scanning and backpack with SLAM technology for surveying in limited GNSS signal areas or where it is impossible to use a drone. Thus, the surveyor does not need to buy three different sets of equipment, which significantly reduces costs and expands the scope of his business activities.
4. What are some of the markets where TOPODRONE is well positioned to deliver a high return on investment to its customers?
At some point we had internal concerns whether it would make sense to scale our solutions. Airborne surveying competes with traditional surveying methods as it requires less manpower and time both to perform the survey and process data. We were not sure if our affordable and easy-to-use solutions would improve the surveying industry or create a risk-zone followed by workplace shortage. We decided to give a try and share our ‘know-hows’ with the market.
We are always happy to see our clients, mainly traditional surveyors, grow and progress. We are proud to have many cases when after purchasing even our simplest PPK photogrammetry equipment and training within a few years our clients and friends become leading airborne surveyors in their countries. It is great to see people come back to us to buy more expensive and productive drone LiDAR solutions.
Importantly, we train our customers. Every surveyor who attends our training in drone operation, GNSS data post-processing, photogrammetry and laser scanning receives a huge amount of new knowledge and skills, which significantly increase the range of surveying tasks and make them much faster and more productive, reducing tens of man-hours and labor days.
5. What are some of the key partnerships that you have developed and how does this benefit your customers?
Among the partners we can mention a number of leading high-tech manufacturers such as VELODYNE, Honeywell, Sony, as well as leading research institutes and universities from Switzerland, Finland, Great Britain, USA and other countries. In the software part, we partner with a number of companies, including Pix4D, 3DSurvey, SPH Engineering, GreenValley and others. The global partner network allows us to create the most advanced technologies in the field of laser scanning and photogrammetry. In addition, we liaise with a chain of resellers around the world to localize our sales.
6. Can you provide your thoughts on the latest products that TOPODRONE has announced? What was the motivation for their development?
This year TOPODRONE has launched several new products.
First of all, UAV – based LiDAR PRIME scanner enabled by Velodyne’s Alpha Prime sensor together with aOrion Heli-E UAV. This new mapping solution was designed to fill the gap between heavyweight and expensive manned aerial lidar systems and lightweight drone lidar systems. It allows users to expand their applications to survey large areas that were previously only possible to survey using manned airplanes or helicopters.
The second product we are proud of is AQUAMAPPER, a drone-based solution for bathymetric surveying and marine construction. The new multitasking data collecting device is designed for a wide range of applications in the maritime branch and other water sources. The collected data could be combined with LiDAR data to deliver a full digital twin of a studied area.
7. Can you provide a few examples of challenging projects that TOPODRONE has supported?
The global warming gives a chance to map areas, which have never been seen. On the other side, the intensive melting of snow and ice activates large scale erosive processes which produce a significant fingerprint on the terrain.
The most challenging and important project is the support of Antarctic expeditions where TOPODRONE equipment has been used for several years by Oleg Vassiliev, a researcher from Bulgaria. During three Antarctic campaigns, from 2017-2018-2019-2021-2022, dedicated on mapping of free from ice and snow terrains at Livingstone King George and Horseshoe islands TOPDORONE PPK equipment was used for mapping hard-to-reach areas.
Other interesting targets for UAV Antarctic inspections with TOPODRONE equipment are different fine structures which might be easily classified as mosses and lichens. Another very interesting topic are the penguin colonies with all parameters as breeding pairs, chicks, covered area. This year we are going to send our LiDAR system to Antarctica to facilitate counting and mapping of their habitat area.
8. Can you provide any insight on the TOPODRONE product road map for 2023 and beyond?
In 2023 we will celebrate our first anniversary as TOPODRONE will turn 5. We plan to release one of the most affordable and highly accurate LiDAR, which will have a number of new features and capabilities. At the same time, we plan to expand our line of bathymetry equipment for drones. We will also focus on software development in order to achieve an outstanding level of software and hardware integration into the integrated eco-system of the TOPODRONE LiDAR world.
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