GeoCue enables third-party GNSS use with Phantom 4 RTK

DJI Phantom 4 Pro with Loki PPK system. (Photo: GeoCue)

GeoCue Group (via its wholly owned AirGon subsidiary) has completed the integration of the DJI Phantom 4 Pro RTK (P4R) into its AirGon Sensor Processing Suite (ASPSuite).

ASPSuite is a post-processing solution for GeoCue’s Loki direct geopositioning system for DJI and other manufacturer’s drones.

ASPSuite enables integration of the P4R with third-party L1/L2 GNSS base stations such as systems from Septentrio, Leica, Trimble, Topcon, CHC and others in a high accuracy post-process kinematic (PPK) workflow.

In addition to PPK processing, ASPSuite includes support for options often required in engineering-grade surveys such as:

• vertical transforms (such as ellipsoid to country-specific geoids)
• creation of and transformation between collection datums and local coordinate systems (site calibration)
• application of antenna static and dynamic lever arm corrections
• full support for Loki direct geopositioning systems.

The DJI D-RTK-2 base station (optionally available) for the P4R can only be used in RTK mode, and then only if it is being sited on a known location. The D-RTK-2 does not currently allow access to an observation file, preventing it from being stationed using an online positioning service such as OPUS, AUSPOS, Canadian Geodetic Survey services and so forth. An additional consideration in the integration into ASPSuite is that professional surveyors already have the survey kit that they need incorporated into this workflow.

GeoCue is offering camera calibration services for the P4R for customers who wish to do minimal or control-free high-accuracy mapping projects (the DJI “calibration” is an image de-warping algorithm, not a proper photogrammetric calibration). A test of a GeoCue-calibrated P4R using an OPUS-positioned base station and ASPSuite achieved about 4-cm horizontal and 5-cm vertical network accuracy (RMSE) with no ground control points.