Photometrix offers a practical alternative approach for robust and accurate drone camera calibration.

Cameras used on UAVs/drones can be calibrated using images gathered either during a flight mission or ‘on the ground’ with the camera (attached or unattached to the drone, depending on the drone model) where possible.

Calibration from near-nadir aerial photography is not always practical, since it generally requires the use of ground control points and camera station GPS positions. It can also be impractical to try to calibrate a camera affixed to a hand-held drone (i.e. not in flight), where manoeuvrability of the drone does not allow positioning/pointing of the drone camera to form the desired network geometry of convergent imaging angles, mixed scale images & camera roll diversity.

Photometrix suggests recording a network of very-low-level aerial images of an array of coded targets (contact us for purchase information). In essence, this procedure mimics what is done when an indoor calibration is performed with the camera being hand-held.

For iWitnessPRO-V4 users: the steps of the suggested UAV/drone calibration procedure are outlined in this document by way of a practical example.

For Australis/CameraCalibrator users: the steps of the suggested UAV/drone calibration procedure are outlined in this document by way of a practical example.

Please contact us if you have any questions or would like clarification on any of the information presented here or in the calibration procedure documents above.