Creek Line - MS ICE photomosaic from video

Preparing for a simple waypoint mission with the Cheerson CX-20

Mission Summary

• Goal: Create an orthomosaic (stitched map) from a video instead of a series of still images 
• Tech: Cheerson CX-20 quadcopter drone, Mobius actioncam, Mission Planner, Microsoft ICE
• Conditions: Early morning, sunny, nil wind
• Outcome: Microsoft ICE had no problems creating a map for a video, very easy way of creating a 'strip' map. 

My Father purchased a Cheerson CX-20 drone this week and before sending it down to him I thought I'd do some checks and some tweaks to it, so that when he received it it was 'dialled in'.

As part of the testing process I decided to send it on an auto waypoint mission. This CX-20 does not have a gimbal (plans are to use it as a fun FPV machine for now) so I created a quick angled block to face the Mobius actioncam downwards. The idea was that instead of capturing still images I would just take a video of the ground below.

Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) has a great little feature for creating a mosaic (panorama) from a video. I've been eager to test this feature out and felt the CX-20 drone with a Mobius would make the fine airborne platform for such a mission.

Using Microsoft ICE to create a 'strip map' using aerial video from a drone

The flight plan in Mission Planner was simple, no need for a grid layout or calculating the image lap or how many images would need to be taken. Simply create a 'one way' waypoint and set the camera to record. I thought a river or pipeline would be a good way to demonstrate this 'strip map' style of aerial surveying, however a small creek line was the easiest (and safest) example I could find.

A nice simple waypoint flight plan along a creek to then create a basic photo mosaic

See a quick video showing how the mission unfolded and then see the results in a zoomable photo mosaic below.

The photomosaic is not as high resolution as some of the other missions I have completed using the 12Mp camera, however for a 'scouting mission' I think it works well. Note; click the top right of the image to view in full screen mode.

If you're interested in more articles by the Aero Scout on "drone adventures" in aerial surveying, inspection and mapping, visit www.theaeroscout.com.au