ODM

You could use ODM to generate a point cloud and then use OpenSplat on it - both are open source and free software: https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/ODM / https://github.com/pierotofy/OpenSplat

https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/ODM You take a drone, point the camera mostly down (a narrow angle, not straight down), take photos of land, with some overlap, preferably from different angles, load the software, and it creates an ortophoto, 3d model, height map, all georeferenced

OpenDroneMap A tool to postprocess drone, balloon, kite, and street view data to geographic data including orthophotos, point clouds, & textured mesh. We're hoping to expand the web interface for the application, which currently is only usable via CLI. https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/WebODM Python, Django, Javascript, CSS, HTML, C++ (one or more of these). All skill levels welcome. gitter.im/OpenDroneMap/OpenDroneMap https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/OpenDroneMap GPL, MPL

Hi, As the CTO of Pointscene I would like to thank you so much for the time spent evaluating and writing your comments. We appreciate all the feedback we get very highly. With Pointscene we are helping our users provide better service for their customers. For example we see a lot of new businesses providing drone data generated with commercial s/w e.g. Pix4D, Agisoft and Open Source projects e.g. OpenDroneMap [1]. Also a lot of terrestrial and airborne LiDAR data is finding it's way to new markets as no desktop s/w is required for the users. We have a section for the supported formats and are adding more along the way [2]. As a way to show our thanks for your time I'd like to set you up with a full account. If interested - could you send me an email to jonne at pointscene.com ? [1] https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/OpenDroneMap/ [2] https:/

That's really cool. Wish it was printed in colour :) If LIDAR data isn't available, you can do pretty detailed 3D mapping with a regular camera and UAV, using photogrammetry/structure from motion. A Phantom or almost anything that flies with a reasonable camera will do. Of course the better camera you use, the better the results. Flight restrictions over populated areas apply, check your local legislation :) commercial solutions: https://pix4d.com/, http://www.agisoft.com/, http://www.dronedeploy.com open source: https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/OpenDroneMap