How can drone pilots effectively use checkpoints when mapping with their drones ?

On today's episode we discuss about checkpoints and their use in drone missions. There has been ample discussions on GCP in the industry and also on our podcasts but today's question, from Martin, is on checkpoints. Martin would like to know how to effectively use checkpoints.
Download and listen to the audio version of the Ask Drone U podcast, and get your drone and business related questions answered here: askdroneu.com/.
Check out our latest Live Classes for Drone Mapping/Operations
| www.thedroneu.com/droneu-events/ |
Landing Pads: www.thedroneu.com/drone-u-lan...
🔥Drone U Recommended Drones:
Best Travel Drone: click.dji.com/ADXzWsLrapRo93a...
Best Video Drone: amzn.to/2HnRElC
Best Photography Drone: amzn.to/2HjQbg2
🔥Become a Member
Learn why more pilots choose Drone U for learning how to fly and turn your passion into profit. www.thedroneu.com/become-a-me...
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and, if you don't mind, leave us a 5-star review while you're there: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a....
🔥Follow us:
Site - thedroneu.com/
Facebook - / droneu
Instagram - / thedroneu
Twitter - / thedroneu
RUclips - / droneu
Drone Mapping Guide - www.thedroneu.com/what-is-dro...
Timestamps:
01:52 Today's question on GCPs and checkpoints
04:31 What do checkpoints do against GCPs and dealing with accuracy
07:51 How to use checkpoints effectively
09:42 Using softwares for GCP and Checkpoints measurements
12:11 Understanding your environment while taking measurements

[@garylinnane917]

Happy New Year, and wishing you all the for the new year

[@jerseyshoredroneservices225]

Interesting discussion. As I've been absorbing all this stuff over the last few years I developed a different understanding of checkpoints.
It's been my understanding that they're not to check the accuracy of the gcps but instead to check the accuracy of the map in between the gcps. I've been thinking that we need to trust our equipment and accept that the gcps are accurate.
I was thinking that where questions arise would be between the gcps. To resolve those questions we shoot points around the site with something like a reach rs2, then compare their measurements with the measurements that we get out of the map that we created.
The gcps are used to put the map in the right place and pull out whatever distortion there may have been in the map (as opposed to leaving it skewed left, right, up or down). Then the checkpoints are used to see if the map is correct in between the gcps.
For example let's say we have two checkpoints. Point number 1 is at (0 North, 0 East, 0 elevation) and point number 2 is directly north at an elevation 6 units higher (10 North, 0 East, 6 elevation)
We assume those two points are correct because we measured them properly with a good gnss receiver. Then we made our map. We see those two ground control points in the map and we assign them the coordinates that we measured (0, 0, 0) and (10, 0, 6).
Now we're wondering if the map is accurate between those two points. To answer this question we also shot a checkpoint right between those two gcps. This time we don't assign the coordinates to the map. Instead we compare the coordinates that we shot to the coordinates of the same point in the map. Comparing the coordinates that we shot with the coordinates that we took from the map, of that same checkpoint Target will tell us if the map is very accurate, or not so much...
Does that make sense? Have I developed a completely wrong idea of how to use checkpoints?
Thanks!

[@pnwxplored]

Many states have high accuracy geodetic reference stations with free access! Id check if a reference station is in or near your project. I have done this for highway mapping projects👍 Surveyors rely on them and tie into their projects. Drop them into arcgis

[@UASInspector]

Hey Rob or Paul, any idea when your GCP landing pads may be available again for purchase? Looking forward to the in person mapping class in April.

[@RestInPilk]

Isn’t it more of that while the gcp is used by the photogrammetry software to triangulate the data. Check points on the other hand are only used to measure rmse in the software and not used in actual triangulating the data

[@MathiasMederud]

Is trimble bussines center good for 3d mapping compared to the other 3d mapping software? or how does it compare?

[@JimLodico]

Are you sure about not being able to zoom in when marking GCPs in Pix 4D Matic? Unless there has been an upgrade in the past month that I haven’t used, I’ve been able to zoom to the pixel level to mark GCPs using Matic on a Mac.

[@david243121]

I have no idea what you're discussing here. Do you have any videos explaining this stuff? GCP's, etc.