The Shifting World of Professional Mapping

Christoph Strecha, founder and CEO of Pix4D, reveals that he foresees big changes in the geospatial industry in this interview with 'GIM International'.

Over the past decade, photogrammetry from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or ‘drone’) data has proven itself as an effective method to capture high-resolution aerial imagery, while drones have demonstrated their value for mapping and surveying professionals as platforms for carrying payloads that include a variety of sensors. One of the leading developers of software solutions to convert the imagery into high-end geospatial solutions is Pix4D, which has established itself as a leader in the business. Christoph Strecha, founder and CEO, talked to '188金宝搏特邀Gim International'和revealed that he foresees big changes in the geospatial industry.

Your company was started in 2011 as a spin-off of the prestigious École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. How would you describe your company’s journey since then?

我们是根据十年研究结果的产品开始的。我认为我们是第一个说您可以自动做的人之一structure-from-motion摄影测量法。鉴于无人机及其开发的炒作，现在是将产品推向市场的最佳时机。从那时起，我们继续发展，继续获得良好的反馈并引起了高度的兴趣。我们每年都在增加团队的一倍，我坚信我们为在专业舞台上接受无人机映射做出了很多贡献。

How would you describe the state of the geospatial industry at the moment?

There used to be a time when the geospatial industry was dominated by experts. They used very expensive high-level equipment to create maps and survey large areas that were just out of reach of smaller companies and communities. That has started to shift over the last three years, and it’s an ongoing process. Now, survey equipment in the geospatial industry can be used by people who have much less experience – they can basically use technology as a tool to solve their problems. This opens up a lot of opportunities in new sectors of the industry, because as prices are coming down, things are getting easier and becoming more automated. I think a big change is happening. And while we like to think we’re playing a part in disrupting the industry, the change is not just from coming Pix4D, but also from the big surveying companies as their equipment is getting cheaper and being used by a wider public.

几年前，您开始垂直您的产品。今天，PIX4D关注哪些新兴市场？

Today we are focusing on enterprise solutions. I think more and more large companies are keen to use photogrammetry in their workflows, because they’ve seen that this approach is something that will actually save them money. We’re focusing on bigger clients, which means customised solutions that we integrate with their complex workflows. Another focus is agriculture, where drones can be a big help in terms of crop analysis. For farmers and agronomists, we’re building solutions that are easy to use and will also save them money. We recently launched Pix4Dfields from our Berlin office, for example. Lastly we are focusing on construction, where surveying is already common practice but also very expensive and therefore not done on a regular basis. So with drones and 3D modelling we can help construction companies understand the progress of their construction sites, optimise workflows and use this information in their planning. Even if they cannot regularly fly a drone, as is the case in many situations, our Crane Camera solution can deliver aerial images with the same results.

正如您提到的，垂直行业是过去几年中我们一直在关注的事情。垂直行业的增长证明了无人机市场如何发展，因为现在需要每个行业的专业软件。

In view of the growing number of photogrammetry software solutions for drones, what are the main points surveyors should take into consideration before purchasing?

正如我之前说过的，我相信最终用户将更频繁地使用这些工具，因此易用性和良好的支持比以往任何时候都重要。使用无人机的测量公司数量也有所增加，但最终用户的增长幅度要高得多。188asia备用网址

Surveyors will have a vast number of drones to choose from, fixed wing or copters, and they should know which one to use for which jobs to optimise their surveying. Having RTK on a drone also saves you from having to measure additional GCPs (地面控制点，编辑。), for example, so surveyors should choose an RTK-equipped drone. That’s a huge gain in efficiency. Solutions are quite easy to find these days, but there are a number of things to take into account. Surveyors should look at not only the software, but also the solution surrounding it. What is the support like if something goes wrong? Has this software been used by others in the same field to get great results? Can an end user pick up and work with the software if need be? And, finally, does the software come from an established company, so the surveyor can expect updates and support in the years to come?

There is increasing focus on the payloads of UAVs. Which key trends do you foresee?

I think we can expect to see more optimised payloads with better cameras offering better resolution, rig systems and systems of combined-perspective cameras that increase the efficiency. Then we have the trend of multispectral sensors combined with thermal sensors and RGB. There’s also a lot of hype about Lidar, but it still remains a niche part of the market. It reduces the flight time of the drone, but it also dramatically increases the price of the equipment and the complexity of the workflow, so it just doesn’t have the same advantages as photogrammetry. I’m not sure that this technology will become mainstream in the workflow of surveyors and end users in the same way that rig systems and combined cameras will become mainstream over the next few years.

Pix4D is known for its R&D efforts in collaboration with EPFL’s computer vision lab. Is this still an important pillar of your company?

作为一家科技公司，在Pix4D，我们在技术上进行了大量投资以改善算法，并与EPFL和许多其他大学合作。但是，我们也在内部进行了很多努力，以了解如何为用户增加更多价值，因此我们已经建立了更大的研发努力来为客户服务。

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are likely to play an essential role in the future of drone mapping. Is Pix4D ready for the future in this sense?

我认为今天没有人真正准备好了，但是我们正在朝这个方向进行大量投资，我希望我们能在这方面做得更多。我们非常专注于增强算法的AI功能，并结合Pix4D已经很好地处理的摄影测量法。关于AI，我们在去年的Intergeo上展示了桌面产品，该产品使用机器学习将点云自动分为不同的类。我相信我们是该领域的第一家以这种方式介绍AI使用的公司。这是我们将继续探索的一个非常重要的主题，因为实际上，重要的不是3D模型本身，而是自动提取的信息比3D数据产生更多的价值。

无人机正变得越来越便宜,所以是this increasing the number of potential customers?

确实。随着无人机变得更便宜，它们成为最终用户工作流程中的标准工具。我们还专注于使软件更易于使用，因此可以由更多人使用。我们认为，简单而专用的垂直软件与便宜的无人机的组合是市场增长的关键。

You once said “A drone should be seen as a device”. So, turning our attention to another device, what are the latest developments with respect to Pix4D’s Crane Camera solution?

无人机是一种非常方便的方式，可以从空中获取相机并从需要从有趣的角度构建3D模型的位置中获取图像。但是飞行仍然可能会破坏工作流程，当然需要飞行员。在Pix4D，我们认为最重要的不是无人机，而是在获取图像时传感器的位置。起重机相机是一个很好的例证。起重机移动，从不同的角度拍摄图像，这是技术所需的。这是我们越来越多的趋势：使用越来越多的相机，例如在汽车和火车中移动，以及诸如城市，体育场，机场等的静态相机，以从现实中提取信息。这是Pix4D业务的核心。这可能不是最重要的事情，但是如今，无人机是获得提取信息所需的观点的近乎完美的工具。

建筑信息建模（BIM）被视为验证师的有趣机会。您对此有何看法？

This goes together with converting raw images, not only into point clouds or meshes but also into information. A mesh doesn’t have much more value than the original images. Automatically understanding what this mesh represents – what is a simple structure, what are semantic structures – that’s where the value lies, because it means there’s no human operator needed to extract the semantic information from the 3D model. BIM is a good example of how this concept of converting images to information can be applied and is extremely useful.

我们可以期望在处理方面看到哪个下一步？

正如我提到的那样，机器学习对于行业来说将是一个巨大的变化。188asia备用网址公司将付出很多努力来以语义分析数据：不仅显示图像，而且还从中汲取了信息。标准处理工作流确实运行良好，尽管总是需要更快地处理 - 重要的是要继续更新它，这对我们来说是重点。但这至少在短期内不会是革命性的变化。我们可以期望的是，从特定行业的图像中应用摄影测量，机器学习，几何图形和辐射指定。在这里，我们将来会看到图像处理中的大多数发展。

Lastly, what would be your message to the community of mapping and surveying professionals?

I think it’s very important that everyone who works professionally with UAVs embraces public opinion positions on privacy and security issues regarding flying with drones. All the companies in the sector, whether they are software companies, hardware companies or surveyors that use drones in their work, need to work together towards a clear public definition of drones as an essential professional tool – one that can be fundamental in emergency response situations like earthquakes, for example. Drones have many useful professional applications that have nothing to do with spying on your neighbours, flying for fun or military applications. The general public needs to be made aware of the pros and cons of drone usage so that legislation is put in place correctly, in order to allow drones to be used where they add value to our society.

About Christoph Strecha

Christoph Strecha博士是瑞士公司Pix4D的首席执行官和创始人，该公司开发和销售专业的摄影测量软件。Strecha博士于2008年获得了卢文天主教大学（比利时）的博士学位，并完成了有关多视图立体声的论文。他撰写了许多论文，并在2015年因在计算机视觉和摄影测量方面的工作而获得了卡尔·普尔弗里奇奖。他被科学界认可为现代摄影测量方法的影响者，潮流引领者和倡导者。