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Author Topic: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography  (Read 7786 times)

jtuhtan

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Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« on: January 28, 2015, 04:23:18 PM »
I've been working on building a low-cost multicamera rig loosely based on the Leica RCD30 oblique.

http://www.leica-geosystems.com/en/Leica-RCD30-Oblique_99831.htm

The system includes five Mobius action cams (normal, not wide-angle) which share a common power supply and trigger.

Attached is a pdf of the preliminary rig design. I was hoping to get some feedback or comments from anybody out there who may have attempted something similar.

bigben

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2015, 12:09:28 AM »
2304 x 1536 is not a lot of resolution.

jtuhtan

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2015, 10:42:04 PM »
Sure, but the difference is made up when you can replace multiple flights with a single flight with "total coverage". We fly at a max 100m, so the resolution is not as critical as the image quality and sparse points / flight. Has anyone out there tried a stereo or multicam system on UAVs?

bigben

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2015, 01:00:52 AM »
If it provides the pixel density you need then it comes down to what's the most effective way to get the same pixel density over a wide fov. Instead of having 5 low res cameras you might get better results with, for example, 2 Sony a5000's with a good quality full frame fisheye... Possibly even just 1. There are a lot of practical considerations to look at (not sure of the weight comparison to start with), but I think it's worth looking at the principles behind what you're trying to achieve rather than just making a different version of another system.

stihl

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2015, 05:09:54 PM »
There's a product on the market that does this already called the X-camB..

The immense downside to this product however is that it uses two cheap 200 dollar cannon camera's (and they sell the product for 30k.....) which gives you a nasty blurry photo.

Best is to copy their product but use proper camera's.

MortarArt

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2015, 04:35:27 AM »
If you want something cheap, the Samsung NX10mm fisheye lens is pretty decent and there's a lot of cheap, light, compatible bodies.

jtuhtan

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2015, 11:36:54 AM »
Thanks for all the input. We have a Sony NEX-6, A5000, Canon 5 M III and various other compacts. The problem is more that we have to use a lightweight platform due to the flight weight requirements, especially in Germany.

Preliminary tests with stereo Mobius were good for what we do (river mapping and modelling) so we are going ahead with the Mobius multi cam design. Right now, including 5 cameras and integrated USB hub we are looking at a total mass of 1.2 kg, which is pretty good.

bigben

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2015, 11:25:25 PM »
Sony a5100 with Sigma 10mm comes to ~760gm

MortarArt

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2015, 07:29:26 AM »
Samsung NX-1100 with the NX10mm weighs ~345g.

bigben

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Re: Multicam Rig for Drone Aerial Photography
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2015, 09:38:48 AM »
Looked up a bit more info on the original system. The cameras only have an fov of 28°, two cameras producing 40° with overlap, so I was obviously thinking far more obliquely than that.  ;) ... but then that system is for laser scanning.  I'm wondering what the advantage of this lens arrangement would be for photogrammetry, and thus what camera/lens combination would be best suited to that?