![]() With the success of the drone-based photogrammetry surveys of their lumber yards they are now in the process of expanding the forestry sector of their company with this new technology. Elevating photogrammetryĪs well as processing timber, the resource department at Idaho Forest Group offers forestry assessment, surveying the health and value of lumber. Pix4D giving us an on-premise option is a big benefit for Idaho Forest Group,” he says. “Some of our mills are at remote locations so it might be difficult for us to upload data to the cloud efficiently. Fisher adds that he they did look at other photogrammetry providers as well as Pix4D. To verify accuracy, the team use established ground control points (GCPs). Accuracy within the point cloud is essential to achieving the best inventory measurements.” This is when you have a full log deck that is close to a quarter mile long. It does a very good job of reading the elevation and understanding what is ground and what is fill.” “Accuracy within the point cloud is essential to achieving the best inventory measurements.”Fisher explains that when measuring a log deck: “If the elevation measurements in Pix4D are off by six inches, the calculations and conversions could be off by one or two million board feet. has been very accurate as far as measuring those volumes. Jones comments: “We’ve measured a stockpile with the drone and compared it to traditional style measurements. But it can be easily applied to other fields - or in this case, lumber yards.Īs well as being fast, the results are accurate. Stockpile measurement with drones has been a common workflow in the mining industry for years. Running on dedicated servers, projects are processed in Pix4Dmapper in around two hours. ![]() He can come and just check on progress intermittently, which is a really big time saver for us as well,” Fisher continues. “It’s a time saver that Ryan Jones can go fly his Wingtra and throw it into Pix4D and it just runs in the background. The WingtraOne drone was chosen because of its vertical take off and landing (VTOL) capabilities which allow it to be launched from anywhere on the site.įisher jokes that both the Wingtra drone and Pix4D software can be run just by pushing a button and letting the process happen. ![]() The team trialed multicopter drones, but found the battery life was insufficient for their needs. “A big time saver.”The Idaho Forest Group team found that fixed-wing drones needed more room to take off and land safely than was available. ![]() Often, just one person is overlooking this complex process on inventory transparency within the mill.Ĭomplex machinery makes it difficult to fly a drone They keep track of lumber as it comes in, processed through the sawmill, all the while producing wood byproduct as bark, chips and sawdust. Their yards are surveyed once or twice a week with a WingtraOne drone, and the data is processed onsite with Pix4Dmapper. Six sawmills across North Idaho and Montana have ongoing photogrammetry projects. Embracing new technologies has helped the company grow to one of America’s largest lumber producers, processing over one billion board feet every year - plus raw materials for paper, landscaping, and wood pellets. With a history dating back to 1934, Idaho Forest Group has seen a lot of changes in the industry. ![]()
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