OpenDroneMap is an open source photogrammetry toolkit to process aerial imagery (usually from a drone) into maps and 3D models.[3][4][5] The software is hosted and distributed freely on GitHub.[6]

OpenDroneMap
Developer(s)OpenDroneMap
Initial release2013
Stable release
3.3.4 / 9 December 2023; 4 months ago (2023-12-09)[1]
Repositorygithub.com/OpenDroneMap/ODM
Written inPython
Operating systemWindows, Linux, MacOS
Available inEnglish
Type3D computer graphics software, photogrammetry, computer vision
LicenseAGPLv3[2]
Websiteopendronemap.org

OpenDroneMap has been integrated within American Red Cross's in-field Portable OpenStreetMap system.[7]

Overview edit

OpenDroneMap can be controlled either from a command-line interface or through a web interface (WebODM). It is recommended to run OpenDroneMap using Docker.[8]

OpenDroneMap uses OpenSfM, CMVS and other libraries to perform the specific tasks in its workflow. Before processing the images, it can lower their resolution in order to save computational resources. OpenDroneMap uses the OpenSfM library to detect and match features, create tracks and determine their 3D positions along with the positions of the cameras. Then it uses either the OpenMVS or CMVS library to generate a dense point cloud from which it generates meshes. After that, the OpenDroneMap uses the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library and the Point Data Abstraction Library for orthomosaic generation and georeferencing.[4]

OpenDroneMap can also process the aerial videos by cutting them into still images.[8]

Performance edit

OpenDroneMap supports parallel computing and can utilize GPUs. It has a split-merge feature, which significantly reduces the performance, but allows computers with small amount of RAM to process large datasets. The official recommendation is to use 128 GB of memory to process 2500 images.[8]

It was determined that the optimal number of CPU cores for large datasets is 20, and there is little to no performance gain beyond 20 cores.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ "Releases". Github. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  2. ^ "LICENSE". Github. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  3. ^ Ruggeri, Luca. “OpenDroneMap: Open Source Project for Processing Aerial Drone Imagery”, Open-Electronics.org, 27 Dec 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b Batlle, Jose Martinez (2019-07-07). "Digital photogrammetry of historical aerial photographs using open-source software". Eartharxiv ePrints. Bibcode:2018EaArX....BNA95M. doi:10.31223/osf.io/bna95. hdl:10654/44283. S2CID 240378478. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  5. ^ Parka, J. W. (19 July 2016). "Development of Open source-based automatic shooting and processing UAV imagery for Orthoimage Using Smart Camera UAV" (PDF). The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. XLI-B7: 942. Bibcode:2016ISPAr41B7..941P. doi:10.5194/isprs-archives-XLI-B7-941-2016.
  6. ^ Baker, Jason (12 Feb 2018). "8 open source drone projects". Opensource.com. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  7. ^ "OpenDroneMap — Use Cases". Elrha. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  8. ^ a b c d Gbagir, Augustine-Moses Gaavwase; Ek, Kylli; Colpaert, Alfred (2023). "OpenDroneMap: Multi-Platform Performance Analysis". Geographies. 3 (3): 446–458. doi:10.3390/geographies3030023.