YDQA: Ep 16 - "What are cut and fill calculations and how do you do them?"

Welcome back to another exciting episode of Your Drone Questions Answered! In this episode, our host John Dickow is joined by Ted Strazimiri, the founder of Sky Deploy UAS, a leading drone service provider. They delve into the topic of cut and fill calculations and explore how drones revolutionize this process.

Ted shares his journey of starting Sky Deploy in 2017, driven by his passion for photography, aviation, and technology. Despite lacking a background in surveying, Ted leveraged available resources to teach himself the art of cut and fill calculations. He emphasizes the importance of gaining hands-on experience and focusing on the value of the data collected by drones.

Throughout the conversation, Ted highlights the versatility of drones as a tool for various applications. From counting cars in parking lots to volume calculations for piles of sand or rocks, drones offer a unique perspective and aid in inspections. Ted's expertise lies in using photogrammetry, a technique that generates a point cloud and extracts measurements such as volume.

In the traditional method, surveyors manually collect points using poles and high-accuracy GPS receivers. However, drones equipped with photogrammetry software offer a faster and more precise alternative. Ted explains how images captured by drones are processed using software like Pix4D Mapper, Open Drone Map (ODM), or DroneDeploy to create 3D models of the area of interest.

The video concludes with Ted recommending tools like Pix4D Mapper and DroneDeploy, which have built-in measurement capabilities, as well as platforms like nera.app for visualizing and measuring 3D models generated from drone data.

Join us for this informative episode as we explore the fascinating world of cut and fill calculations with drones. Don't miss out on the valuable insights and practical tips shared by Ted Strazimiri, a true expert in the field of drone technology!