Browsing by Author "Vaaja, M."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Designing and building a cost-efficient survey drone
(2020-08-06) Kauhanen, H.; Rönnholm, P.; Vaaja, M.; Hyyppä, H.
A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
In this paper, we present a workflow how to design and implement a low-cost survey drone that meets the quality requirements of a much higher cost drone system. The technical specifications of available components and our design boundaries were applied in eCalc RC - xcopterCalc calculator in which the optimal setup was found by simulation. The main boundaries of design were derived from safety, operation time and payload capacity. Pixhawk 2 FCU, which is based on ArduPilot open source platform, was selected to handle autopilot and control functionalities. In addition, the system included a camera and a gimbal. The camera was controlled by FCU, which allows to geotag images using the on-board GPS data. The assembled survey drone was tested in a real survey mission. We successfully managed to complete a 13 minutes survey mission in mild wind conditions. According to simulation, the expected flight time range was between 9 and 15 minutes. In addition, simulation provided useful information on how the drone works under certain conditions such as working in extreme temperatures or high elevation locations as well as under heavy payloads. Even though our example was a survey drone, it is possible to use the same principles to design and implement a drone suitable for other tasks.
EXPERIENCES from the PROJECT COURSE in GEOINFORMATICS
(2020-08-03) Haggrén, H.; Stähle, P.; Vaaja, M.; Rönnholm, P.; Sarkola, P.; Rautiainen, M.; Nordman, M.; Nikander, J.
A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
The aim of this paper is to share our experiences and thoughts about a project course in geoinformatics. The course has been organised annually since 2017. We hope that this article provides ideas about when new project-based courses are designed or existing ones are renewed. We wanted to increase students' motivation by providing assignments from companies or other organisations as well as cooperation with them. Working with real clients makes the project work much more interesting than projects without a real-life connection. We provide topics from various fields of geoinformatics, such as geoinformation technology, geodesy, photogrammetry, laser scanning and remote sensing. The students worked in small groups that were supported by an advisor and a facilitator. The advisor helps with substance and the facilitator assists with reflection and improving working process, i.e. not only to complete the task but also to learn about capabilities for project work, self-directive teamwork and learning to learn (meta learning). To sum up, during the course students increase their knowledge and expertise on geoinformatics, learn skills for client-centered project work and learn how to support their learning through self- and peer-reflection. In other words, the course aims to develop skills that are useful throughout the students' forthcoming careers.