Quick Guide to a Successful DatuBIM Trial

Quick Guide to a Successful DatuBIM Trial

Thanks for making a DatuBIM trial. In this short guide, we share some best practices that will help you make a 3D model of your construction site, earthmoving environment, or inspection area.  Let’s get started!

STEP 1:  Before the Flight - Drone Equipment & Flight Settings

  1. Recommended drone types are Phantom 4 RTK or Phantom 4 Pro V2
  2. Use the free DatuFly Flight Planning application for Ipad. It enables easy and automated flights and supports most DJI drones. Download Datufly here. 
  3. Flight Settings:
    1. Overlap: 80% front overlap and 70% side overlap are recommended.
    2. Height of flight: 50-70 meters (160-230 feet) above ground. Maintain the same distance from the ground as much as possible throughout the flight.
    3. Max velocity: 6 m/s (19 feet/s), recommended velocity: 4.5 m/s (15 feet/s). 
  4. For more information: Best Practices for Drone Photography article

    STEP 2:  In the Field - Ground Control Points (GCPs)

  1. Measure the GCPs using professional surveying equipment in two sessions. Then use the average measurement for geo-referencing the model.
  2. GCP’s Markings:
    1. Spread GCP’s as evenly as possible in the site area
    2. GPC Density: Place GCPS at every 150 meters (500 feet). If you use an RTK drone, have a GCP every 400 meters (1300 feet).
    3. Make a drawing with GCP’s locations and names
    4. Mark GCPs correctly on the ground and include the name of the GCP
    5. The images below show the faulty and correct marking of a GCP


STEP 3:  In the Office  

3.1 Flight Info & Preferences in DatuBIM



  1. If you used an RTK drone, please turn on “Images with RTK Data”. 
  2. Rolling shutter: This option appears only if the drone uses a rolling shutter camera (versus global). When the option is available, turn it on if you are not sure if the images were taken in motion or not.
  3. Add the undulation delta H. This is especially important when you rely only on RTK data. You can obtain the correction value in a few easy steps.
    1. To determine the Latitude and Longitude of your construction site, go to Google Maps.  
    2. Zoom in on the map to your location and mark a point inside your construction site. Click on the coordinates in the info box below your location to open the sidebar with the exact coordinates. 

3. Now visit Geoid Height Calculator | Software | UNAVCO, enter the Latitude and Longitude values, choose “0” in “GPS elevation”, click Submit.

      4. The Geoid height on result page gives you the undulation delta H value to enter into DatuBIM.
      
      
      5. If the units of your site in DatuBIM are in feet, you will need to convert the meters.
      6. If you received a negative value in the Geoid height, make sure to enter the value including the minus.
  1. Negative values mean that DatuBIM will elevate the site to the correct elevation.
  2. Positive values mean that DatuBIM will lower the site to the correct elevation.

3.2 GCPs Upload 
  1. Enter the GCPs to an Excel file in the format shown below. Note that other cells must be empty. Do not use any commas in the n, e, h cells – only values:



  1. Make sure Northing (n) and Easting (e) values are correct and not flipped.
  2. Save as a CSV file. Upload the CSV file to DatuBIM.

3.3 GCPs Marking and Model Generation

  1. Follow the instructions of marking the GCPs in the images and check accuracy.
  2. Once you are satisfied with the model’s accuracy, you can generate the model.

That’s it!

We hope you found this information helpful. For detailed instructions, please visit:



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