Our old XR6 could carry the payload but at a cost, limited flight time.
Smaller drones like the DJI phantom 3 are not a survey-grade drones. While it was a groundbreaking consumer drone when it was released in 2015, the year we bought our XR6, its hardware and technology are not accurate enough for professional surveying and mapping applications that require centimetre-level precision.
DJI’s first survey grade drone camera.
DJI produce their first full frame sensor payload.
The P1 was a significant development as DJI‘s first payload featuring a full-frame sensor with interchangeable lenses for high-accuracy photogrammetry. This combination offered a new level of efficiency, detail, and data quality for creating 2D and 3D models and other surveying tasks.
It marked DJI’s first major entry into the dedicated drone photogrammetry market, expanding their offerings beyond other types of payloads.
Before the Zenmuse P1, other manufacturers offered advanced payloads for drone-based surveying. Including medium-format photogrammetry cameras like Phase One and Vexcel, mounted on professional-grade drones, larger drones like the XR6.
The P1, designed to capture highly detailed and accurate data for various applications, including topographic surveys, cadastral surveys, and infrastructure inspection.
It features a 3-axis stabilized gimbal and TimeSync 2.0, which aligns the camera, flight controller, and RTK system for precise, centimeter-level data capture. It provides a seamless, integrated surveying system when paired with DJI’s M300 RTK drone. This combination delivered high accuracy without the need for numerous ground control points (GCPs), which streamlined workflows for professionals like us.
The DJI Zenmuse P1 camera’s Smart Oblique Capture is an automated and highly efficient photogrammetry feature for creating high-quality 3D models. It works by using a single camera and a 3-axis stabilized gimbal to automatically capture the required nadir (straight down) and oblique (angled) photos in a single flight.
This method is more efficient than traditional oblique photography, which typically uses a heavier, more complex system with five separate cameras mounted in a cross formation.
