wvmarle:
Especially with existing sites it's a matter of having a long enough measuring tape (why don't they know the height from ground in the first place?).
For new sites it'd be a matter of getting a pole of the correct length.
If you need to know the height of a building, a call to the building's owner or manager is usually the quickest way of getting its height - and you have to call them anyway to start negotiations on renting the rooftop.
I must be missing something here.
Poles, rooftops, platforms etc Sites are different. There are various types of work carried out by different contractors, structures, platforms, plant rooms build. Paper works are not up to date most of the times.
I know where you coming from, I thought the same before, but it is not as straightforward as it sounds, too many variables and too many people involved. Thank you for your response.
MorganS:
So it is not like a real-time measurement that must update 10 times per second. You just need to take one measurement and it doesn't matter if it takes 2 guys 10 minutes.
Measuring tape. No Arduino required.
That's what we doing at the moment, but it's trickier than you would think. Most of the time we are not able to reach the very top of pole/structure/plant room, on top of that measuring tape waves in the air like crazy most of the times, if work is carried out beside busy road it could be against health and safety as measuring tape could be caught by passing traffic.
Good old triangulation is another way to really accurately measure the height of a structure from a distance. Quite certainly more accurate than you could with a drone, as you'd have to fly well away from the object in question - so you won't be sure that the drone is at the exact height your structure is. It just doesn't make sense to me to use a drone to measure the height of an existing structure.
Victor_Scurs:
That's what we doing at the moment, but it's trickier than you would think. Most of the time we are not able to reach the very top of pole/structure/plant room, on top of that measuring tape waves in the air like crazy most of the times, if work is carried out beside busy road it could be against health and safety as measuring tape could be caught by passing traffic.
I have an 6M extensible fiberglass pole, from the local telecoms provider as it happens. Used to measure the clearance of wires over roads etc. Its marked already in Metres, and if you want an exact measurment just use PVC tape to attach a tape measeure to the end and poke it up in the air.
I have a 10M pole too. Very handy.
If your after some cunning wheeze of a cheap technical solution, ask yourself why there does not appear to be one readily available, is it possible that there is not one ?
srnet:
I have an 6M extensible fiberglass pole, from the local telecoms provider as it happens. Used to measure the clearance of wires over roads etc. Its marked already in Metres, and if you want an exact measurment just use PVC tape to attach a tape measeure to the end and poke it up in the air.
I have a 10M pole too. Very handy.
If your after some cunning wheeze of a cheap technical solution, ask yourself why there does not appear to be one readily available, is it possible that there is not one ?
I have 27m pump up mast, it is moving and bending few as wind gusts, hence it wont be accurate. As I mentioned before, we use tape, but its far from ideal.
Look, as I mentioned above, I am a newbie, and I thought there is a solution. I send my Mavic up in the air, and it shows me the distance to the ground. As far as I know, you can build a drone using arduino, there's a bunch of sensors can be attached to, so I thought if I could put together something like that but without propellers and mount it on the top of the mast to get readings while being on the ground. I had no idea that it is nearly impossible. Sorry.
Sometimes we are climbing up on the tower and we have no chance to attach measuring tape. Just take my word, we tried all the "manual" solutions
wvmarle:
Good old triangulation is another way to really accurately measure the height of a structure from a distance. Quite certainly more accurate than you could with a drone, as you'd have to fly well away from the object in question - so you won't be sure that the drone is at the exact height your structure is. It just doesn't make sense to me to use a drone to measure the height of an existing structure.
Could you please tell me where can I read more about triangulation ? Thank you
Delta_G:
Your quad uses GPS and you've already said you didn't like that.
Triangulation is good old regular surveying equipment. You measure how far away you are from the base of the pole and what is the angle to the top of it and draw a triangle and solve for the other side.
I don't think I said that, but if I did I probably got it twisted. It wouldnt be really accurate isnt it?
Victor_Scurs:
I have 27m pump up mast, it is moving and bending few as wind gusts, hence it wont be accurate. As I mentioned before, we use tape, but its far from ideal.
And you think you can fly a drone in the same wind, and have it fly at the exact height you want to measure, while staying well clear of the object you want to measure? That alone doesn't sound feasible to me. That's before considering the measurement itself.
Victor_Scurs:
mount it on the top of the mast to get readings while being on the ground.
Another thing that doesn't make sense at all, considering that in #21 you stated:
Victor_Scurs:
Most of the time we are not able to reach the very top of pole/structure/plant room
That's a direct contradiction. Either you can get up to the top to mount your thing, or you can't.
Furthermore such installations tend to be quite static, and bar a catastrophic event or planned demolition the height of the structure doesn't really change. So a single measurement is all you need. Measure it now, and next year you still know exactly how high above the ground that structure is.
Victor_Scurs:
Could you please tell me where can I read more about triangulation ? Thank you
Google must have millions of links. It's so basic and simple a technique, I learnt it as a boy scout already. We did it by pacing out the distance and using the length of your arm and a stick, the seafarers of yonder used a sextant. Modern day surveyors will use even more accurate methods.
What accuracy do you really need? Millimetre, centimetre? Even with a bending pole the latter shouldn't be too hard to accomplish.
wvmarle:
And you think you can fly a drone in the same wind, and have it fly at the exact height you want to measure, while staying well clear of the object you want to measure? That alone doesn't sound feasible to me. That's before considering the measurement itself.
Another thing that doesn't make sense at all, considering that in #21 you stated:
That's a direct contradiction. Either you can get up to the top to mount your thing, or you can't.
Furthermore such installations tend to be quite static, and bar a catastrophic event or planned demolition the height of the structure doesn't really change. So a single measurement is all you need. Measure it now, and next year you still know exactly how high above the ground that structure is.
Google must have millions of links. It's so basic and simple a technique, I learnt it as a boy scout already. We did it by pacing out the distance and using the length of your arm and a stick, the seafarers of yonder used a sextant. Modern day surveyors will use even more accurate methods.
What accuracy do you really need? Millimetre, centimetre? Even with a bending pole the latter shouldn't be too hard to accomplish.
wvmarle:
I learnt it as a boy scout already. We did it by pacing out the distance and using the length of your arm and a stick
Memories.
I was a Boy Scout, but they changed the name to 'Scouts' in the UK in 1968. I recall we used to carry staffs/staves, poles around 5ft long and marked with inch marks, just in case we needed to measure the height of a passing tree.
