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Spent $1,200 on a drone mapping setup that couldn't handle a single job site
Bought a drone and mapping software last spring to do my own progress photos and site surveys instead of paying a guy $400 a visit. Did maybe three flights on a job in Aurora before the software kept crashing every time I tried to stitch more than 20 photos together, and the drone itself couldn't fly steady enough in even light wind to get usable shots. Wound up hiring the survey guy back anyway, so I'm out the $1,200 plus what I paid him on top. Turns out the cheap consumer stuff just isn't built for real construction work. Anyone here running drone mapping that actually holds up on job sites, and what did it cost you?
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jasonallen10d ago
The wind thing kills me too. Even 8 to 10 mph gusts and those little props just can't hold a line. A buddy of mine ran into the same deal, then moved up to a setup with a mechanical shutter and RTK so the drone knows its own position within a couple centimeters instead of guessing off GPS. That combo is what fixes both your problems at once, steady flight and photos that actually stitch because the overlap lines up every pass. Battery life is the other trap, you get maybe 20 minutes and half of it is spent fighting the wind to stay on the flight path you mapped out. Your report is the real wake up call here, people see drone footage on YouTube and think the $1,200 kit works the same as the $6k rigs, and it does not.
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