Ultra High Resolution Images

Drone images are commonly printed out and mounted in frames or on canvasses to showcase a beautiful landscape. There is size at which the images start to become pixelated which is noticeable when close.

I started playing around with stitching many high resolution images together in order to get an ultra high resolution image. The image below is of the iconic Fremantle Power Station. The original image is about 15000 X 9500 pixels… roughly 140MP. You should be able to blow it up a significant amount before there is any sign of pixilation.

Fremantle Power Station

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Payload Dropping with a Drone

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A mining company were trying to position some 25mm poly pipe lines down an old pit embankment. The poly lines were attached to a large poly pipe at the top of the embankment and they weren’t able to go much beyond the large pipe as the embankment was unstable and there was risk of falling.  They attempted to throw it out, but the embankment was not steep enough for it fall and unwind under gravity.  They also tried to tie a weight to the lines but still couldn’t get it far enough out.

Skyhook Imagery were engaged to help out.  We modified our Novel Applications Drone with a payload dropping device. The drone has an excellent power to weight ratio with a folding design.  It was small enough to transport to site as luggage with batteries that were under the 100W/hr airline limit.  Drone and payload dropping device were controlled from an integrated control system meaning that the job could be performed via single operator.

The task involved dropping 85 lengths of poly pipe and was completed within the estimated time of about 2 days.  There were no incidents and the drone performed exceptionally well given the heat, humidity and dusty environment.

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Water sampling from a drone

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I have finally completed and tested my water sampling rig.  The rig is capable of safely sampling water in difficult or impossible to get to areas.  It can also cover a lot of ground quickly and sample with cm level precision thanks to the onboard RTK navigation system (think GPS on steroids!).  The rig has inbuilt smarts to prevent over filling or cross contamination of the sample vessels.

It is anticipated that anyone doing water sampling will be able to utilise this service.  Sampling of tailings dams or other toxic samples is also within the realms of the rig.

Author: Brendan Cannell