[UAS] DJI drones vs American drones

Wed Jul 27 16:52:47 MST 2022

Brian,

Good afternoon. The Flood Control District currently uses DJI products for our design projects. We use Bentley ContextCapture and ESRI Drone2Map for SFM processing. Drone2Map is a backup and not used very often. We have our surveyor set ground control and I use the Propeller AeroPoint GPS mats. These GPS targets are extremely helpful when flying in remote areas where typical photo id ground control is hard to find or there is no time for a surveyor to set targets. Very accurate and very easy to use.

As far as DJI, I will never purchase another DJI product, here at work or for personal use. They are absolutely wonderful aircraft and I work them hard in 105+ degrees heat. I wholeheartedly agree with the federal government crackdown and have been unhappy with their involvement in Ukraine.

My next purchase will be a fixed wing aircraft - Quantum Systems Trinity F90+ or the Wingtra One GEN II. My wife flies drone for The National Weather Center and NOAA and uses the Trinity F90+ and loves it. She and I both have been looking for drones comparable to DJI and they are hard to find. I'm not impressed with the Skydio 2 system. It doesn't seem as functional as the Mavic systems.

I have several projects that I have used to present a PowerPoint presentation to local folks. If you like I can ftp them to you to look over.

Sincerely,

Joseph G. Wagner
Mapping, Surveying, and CAD Manager
Drone Program Manager

[FCD]<http://www.fcd.maricopa.gov/>
Flood Control District of Maricopa County
2801 W Durango St, Phoenix, AZ 85009
(O) 602-506-2203 (C) 623-297-2638
Joe.wagner at maricopa.gov<mailto:Joe.wagner at maricopa.gov>
www.maricopa.gov/floodcontrol<http://www.maricopa.gov/floodcontrol>

From: UAS <uas-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu> On Behalf Of Gillan, Jeffrey Kent - (jgillan)
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2022 3:57 PM
To: Gootee, Brian F. - (bgootee) <bgootee at arizona.edu>; Rahr, Matt - (rahr) <rahr at ag.arizona.edu>; Beers, Rebecca - (rebeccabeers) <rebeccabeers at arizona.edu>; uas at list.cals.arizona.edu
Subject: Re: [UAS] DJI drones vs American drones

Hi Brian,
I have a lot of experience surveying terrain with drones using RTK and ground control methods. I would be happy to chat with you any time about it. In general, RTK is fantastic but best referencing practices could depend on your specific application. I have recently done some drone stuff with Ann Youberg on Mt. Lemmon.

Jeff Gillan, Ph.D.
Data Scientist III | Drone Pilot
School of Natural Resources & Environment
University of Arizona
gillanscience.com
(530)339-5975<tel:(530)339-5975>

________________________________
From: UAS <uas-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu>> on behalf of Gootee, Brian F. - (bgootee) <bgootee at arizona.edu<mailto:bgootee at arizona.edu>>
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2022 3:40 PM
To: Rahr, Matt - (rahr) <rahr at ag.arizona.edu<mailto:rahr at ag.arizona.edu>>; Beers, Rebecca - (rebeccabeers) <rebeccabeers at arizona.edu<mailto:rebeccabeers at arizona.edu>>; uas at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas at list.cals.arizona.edu> <uas at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas at list.cals.arizona.edu>>
Subject: Re: [UAS] DJI drones vs American drones

Matt,

Nice to know about the pursuit for DJI drones is continuing. Their hardware and software are really good and stand up to time well.

In addition we wonder who else is using structure-from-motion to build DEMs and what methods for georeferencing they are using. The purchase of a new drone with or without RTK and a GPS system are what is relevant to us here.

Many thanks for your help. Brian

Brian F. Gootee

Research Geologist, P.G. | Basin Analysis | Geologic Mapping | Tribal Liaison

Arizona Geological Survey<http://azgs.arizona.edu/> | University of Arizona

bgootee at arizona.edu<mailto:bgootee at email.arizona.edu>

From: Rahr, Matt - (rahr) <rahr at ag.arizona.edu<mailto:rahr at ag.arizona.edu>>
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2022 3:03 PM
To: Beers, Rebecca - (rebeccabeers) <rebeccabeers at arizona.edu<mailto:rebeccabeers at arizona.edu>>; uas at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:uas at list.cals.arizona.edu>
Cc: Gootee, Brian F. - (bgootee) <bgootee at arizona.edu<mailto:bgootee at arizona.edu>>
Subject: RE: DJI drones vs American drones

Hey Rebecca and Brian,

Let's ask the UAS User Group. We just bought a DJI Mavic 3 and have two other DJI drones, and agree, they're great for the price.

From: Beers, Rebecca - (rebeccabeers) <rebeccabeers at arizona.edu<mailto:rebeccabeers at arizona.edu>>
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2022 12:31 PM
To: Rahr, Matt - (rahr) <rahr at ag.arizona.edu<mailto:rahr at ag.arizona.edu>>
Cc: Gootee, Brian F. - (bgootee) <bgootee at arizona.edu<mailto:bgootee at arizona.edu>>
Subject: DJI drones vs American drones

Hi Matt,

This is Rebecca Beers at the AZ Geological Survey. My colleague (Brian-copied) and I are curious if the University has a recommendation on an American-made drone? We are looking to purchase a new drone for our department, but I remember an email coming out a while ago stating that the University may not allow Chinese-made drone (DJI) in the future over concerns of metadata leaks. Have you heard anything else on this? We really like our seamless functionality of DJI, but we are curious if you have found any American-made drones with similar capabilities as the DJI drones? Or has the University stepped back on the concerns of DJI metadata leaks?

Thank you, and we appreciate any guidance you have on this,

-Becky

---

Rebecca Beers

Research Geologist III

Arizona Geological Survey,

University of Arizona

www.azgs.arizona.edu<http://www.azgs.arizona.edu>

rebeccabeers at email.arizona.edu<mailto:rebeccabeers at email.arizona.edu>

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