Are you using Total Station for quantity measurement? Check out our comparison review!

Since accuracy and reliability are so important to professional surveyors, it's understandable that many are hesitant to adopt drone technology nowadays. Traditional methods have been successfully implemented today, and as the old saying goes, as long as it works, don't repair/replace it. But there is a misunderstanding that drives this skepticism. Many survey projects can be completed successfully with the accuracy provided by UAVs/drones.

The level of precision and accuracy is always an important consideration in any survey method, many considerations are made such as saving costs, time and safety implemented in drone technology compared to traditional workflows. Drones have become a transformative tool in a variety of industries.

I think drones are a good tool to go after high valued targets. -Michael McCaul

After we see some values implemented on fields for the UAV and Total Station Surveys, let's check these 5 points comparison between UAV and TS:

1. When referring to sensing distance and the total area that can be covered by TS vs Drone, TS can capture distances up to several kilometres away while Drones can capture the total area in km2 or hectare areas
2. The level of precision possessed by the TS is up to mm level precision and the drone is up to cm level precision. Then the function and designation can be reviewed for the need for mapping flat areas, volumes in m3, or calculating distance requirements. Because each survey method has it's plus points. For example drones, for the needs of volumetric calculations, have far more representative points / point clouds than volumetric calculations using TS. On the other hand, TS has a representative measuring one point which is very accurate, and for the needs of measuring one elevation x, y, z the TS method is very reliable.
3. The speed of the TS and Drone survey methods has quite a significant difference when the survey area is quite large at a certain point. Because preparation and surveys using drones depend on the number of batteries, the more batteries you have, the faster and more significant the coverage area surveyed.
4. In terms of safety parameters, the need for measurements using TS has an impact when the area under review is in a remote position or quite risky for animals, and steep positions. Drones can reach remote areas by determining 1 take-off landing point, then reaching areas up to a 5-10 km radius which is a clear area.
5. Based on cost parameters, drones have a more affordable price option when considering the initial purchase price and operational maintenance costs for TS.

The total station can measure a certain point accurately. But with drone surveys, you can get thousands of measurement points that can be processed into various formats.