I’m semi retired and trying to do some part time work doing surveying missions and from what I’ve read RTK and PPK are the way to go, but which equipment will give me the best bang for the buck. I do have 4 multirotors with Pixhawk flight controller 2 with the cube and 2 with the 3dr version . So do I go with the Here + RTK, or the pair of Emlid units for 595 or Emlids kit for 1295
I don’t know all that much about the Here+ although I believe it is similar to the Emlid M type.
The accuracy you will receive will mostly depend upon the reliability of the correction signal and its PRECISION. Whilst many different products will have the same ACCURACY they may not share the same PRECISION or resolution.
As far as I am aware, the use of an Emlid M or Here module as a ground station will be subject to errors caused by trees etc moreso than a specifically built ground station like the RS+ or RS2 from Emlid.
I don’t think what you want to do will require the RS2 so my suggestion is the Emlid UAV kit which has the RS+ base station and then over an 8km distance transmits the correction signal directly to the M+ in the rover via its LoRa radio.
If you are using two Emlid M+ then the correction signal data will have to be transmitted via a laptop and your GCS telemetry link through Mission Planner. Maybe this is not a problem but it is less reliable I feel than the standalone system.
If it were me I would go for the Emlid Kit with Lora Radio https://store.emlid.com/product/reach-uav-rtk-kit/
I am sure you would get perfectly good results with two Emlid units but theres a reason the RS+ is more expensive than an M+
_ would suggest to wait a little for the new RTK modules coming out with new 9 series u-blox chipset. New 9 series will support multifrequency and it should guarantee a way higher level of performance.
I think the new Here Pro should be close to release as it should be the new reach (with 9 series ublox) from Emlid.
_
1 Like
Another question that is similar ,but a bit off topic is pricing, in my area land surveyors charge from $600 to $1000 per acre. Would I go for the lower end of the pricing since I can get it done faster or the higher end because it’s more high tech
Really depends on what you are providing. If you are providing basic mapping services (contours, DSM, geo rectified orthomosaics) $600 an acre is well above market.
I like the Ublox rtk system, gets pretty good results. Only tried the m8p, have a (drotek) f9p waiting (and i’ve used a trimble and a septentrio in the past). But the integration wit Ardu and PX4 is so nice and easy
I don’t think it matters too much who made it into a pcb with a nice connector on it (providing they use best practices with the antenna-connector part), the antenna the important bit!
I like a helical antenna on the vehicle, because it’s very lightweight and not easily disturbed by outside influences. And on the ground a big heavy one with a good groundplane.
https://store.drotek.com/rtk-gps
I use their tiny rtk module with a maxtenna helical antenna on the drone, and their base station on the ground.
I’m looking forward to the F9P.