Eurobodalla Koala Project

[Quicky]

We are a group of volunteers searching for Koala's, a native Australian mammal. We have been provided with a new DJI Matrice 4t, coutesy of a government grant. I am interested in any other group or person who has experience in setting up search patterns using thermal imaging to establish the presence of animals. The search area's typically cover eucalypt forests of approximately 30 metres in height across undulating to mountinous terrain. My personal experience with establishing a search pattern is with Litchi. I have looked at DJI Hub 2, but it is way too expensive for a group of volunteers. Any assistance would be gratefull accepted.

 

[jaja6009]

We are a group of volunteers searching for Koala's, a native Australian mammal. We have been provided with a new DJI Matrice 4t, coutesy of a government grant. I am interested in any other group or person who has experience in setting up search patterns using thermal imaging to establish the presence of animals. The search area's typically cover eucalypt forests of approximately 30 metres in height across undulating to mountinous terrain. My personal experience with establishing a search pattern is with Litchi. I have looked at DJI Hub 2, but it is way too expensive for a group of volunteers. Any assistance would be gratefull accepted.

You can easily setup grid flights with the controller using Pilot 2 (The app you see on screen).

I would use the new Patrol method. With Patrol you can use the thermal sensor and receive notifications when a certain temperature threshold is reached.
Patrol flies a grid like area.
You will find that thermal is not a perfect solution. In the daytime solar loading can make the environment warmer than people (Or animals). This may best be flown at night.

Research Flight Hub 2 again.
It is mostly free. You will have to pay for:

More storage (You get 5GB free)
Mapping Images (You get a free allotment, but they will expire in time)
Live Streaming (You get a free allotment, but they will expire in time. But they are cheap, $250 for 10,000 minutes for a year)


The rest of Flight Hub 2 is free. You can see the drone's position on a map, plan flights (waypoints, mapping, patrol etc.)
Make sure you are not confusing this with the original Flight Hub. You want to use Flight Hub 2.
Since you will have free mapping images, test mapping out. You can map habitats and similar things.


Good luck with your project!! This sounds like a great use case for the Matrice.

 

[Quicky]

Many thanks for your response and advice jaja6009. Unfortunately the Australian rules do not permit flying at night with the RePL licences our members hold. To obtain a Beyond Visual Line of Sight licence is quite involved and too expensive for our members. My thoughts were to camp out in the bush and do a dawn patrol while the surrounding bush has cooled overnight. I will explore the Patrol method as a solution to setting up a grid pattern. Paying for any additional resources is beyond our financial capacity. The remaing funds from the grant are to be allocated to liability insurance. Once again many thanks for your interest and advice.

 

[jaja6009]

Well your at dawn plan sounds good and I saw on your website some of the results (I think). I do Search and Rescue and daytime flights are tough with thermal imaging, even in the winter.

FLight Hub 2 does need internet service at the controller.

When you power on the Matrice you will see Flight Missions. You go into that area and then you can plan mapping grids, waypoint missions and the new mission, Patrol.

Patrol runs like a mapping grid where you draw a shape around the area you want to fly and then assign a height you will fly. The software will then design a grid mission (mowing the lawn).
The great thing about Patrol is that you can have the drone send an alert when a parameter is met. In RGB camera, if the AI detects a person you can have the camera take an image or take a video clip.
With thermal you can have an alert sent or take an image when a certain temperature threshold is met.

To ensure proper coverage, I would get the flight logs (text logs) and use free software like Drone Logbook or Air Data to convert into KMLs. You can then view flights in Google Earth Pro or similar GIS software.
Even if Patrol does not meet your needs you can still grab the flight records so that you can plot them on a map to ensure proper coverage. And since you are already using Arc GIS to tell your story you can integrate the flight records if you want there, kind of like showing the flight record with the geolocation of the different animals you encountered.

Feel free to contact me through direct messaging if you need any help. Besides being a public safety drone operator I also teach Part 107 at the local community college and will help you with whatever I can.

 

[Quicky]

We are currently using Area Mission to fly grid patterns over area of interest for koala activity. We fly at 2m/s utilising the IR camera to identif hot spots, and then zoom in with the camera to photograph the subject. However the cameras automatically take photographs automatically, either timed or distance, which we don't need. Does anyone know how to switch the automatic capture of the cameras off?

 

[jaja6009]

The area mission will take images since it is an image acquisition route for photogrammetry. I am not sure that you can stop taking images. Maybe try and start to record video?

Have you tried Patrol route?

I just tested it the other day. It works the same as Area Route but does not take images until something triggers it.

I tried Patrol through the RC Plus 2 controller and not Flight Hub 2.

For the RGB camera the trigger was the AI seeing a person. When a person was identified, the camera took an image and then zoomed in and took an image. If you set this up in Flight Hub 2 it can also send alerts.
It also stored when people were spotted on the controller in a Warning List.

For the thermal sensor you can have the trigger be a temperature that you set.

 

[amys]

This is a useful document too

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/koala-phascolarctos-cinereus-biodiversity-assessment-method-survey-guide-220249.pdf

We've done it in eastern AU with the M210 XT2 thermal and waypoint missions and if you find something of interest interrupt the mission and start again. Can still cover 500-600m away with VLOS above the canopy if you're flying from a high point.

 

[Quicky]

This is a useful document too

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/koala-phascolarctos-cinereus-biodiversity-assessment-method-survey-guide-220249.pdf

We've done it in eastern AU with the M210 XT2 thermal and waypoint missions and if you find something of interest interrupt the mission and start again. Can still cover 500-600m away with VLOS above the canopy if you're flying from a high point.

Hello amys, Thank you for the advice. I am in receipt of the document you have suggested and have used the parameters in that document. We have tested the Patrol Mission and have found that it is useful, however the IR is not sufficient to pick out a target later in the morning, but early on the morning it does a good job. We are flying at 2m/s and when the IR picks up a heat signature we pause the mission, investigate with the zoom lense, pinpoint the location, then resume the mission. So far this is all practise on my block, looking forward to the voyage of discovery with the real deal. I would be interested in having a chat with you, but I am unsure how to initiate.