Mini-Drone Photogrammetry for 3D Modeling of City Building: A Case Study at Ho Chi Minh University of Technology

Nowadays, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - photogrammetry is increasingly applied in the field of modeling buildings and areas. Most studies and projects use specialized drones for mapping, but this leads to difficulties in obtaining flight permission and in choosing a suitable place to take off or land. The authors made a test with the average photography drones (specifically in this research the Autel Evo Nano) which is possible to overcome the mentioned disadvantages; and then evaluated the feasibility of creating digital twins of real-world building with this type of drones. After having collected 505 photos of the area A4 and A5 buildings in Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology through many flights using Autel Evo Nano, the authors processed the data using Pix4D Mapper software to evaluate acquired images and create a point cloud, orthomosaic map, 3D textured mesh of a 3D building model. Finally, the author proposed the points that need to be overcome in the future of this topic.