LA300 UAV uses Lumia 1020 for orthophoto and DEM capture

Published by at

The LA300, a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Lehmann Aviation, is, perhaps, the ultimate Lumia 1020 accessory. The drone, which is specifically designed to be flown with the Nokia Lumia 1020, is capable of long range missions (15km and up to 30 minutes) in a fully autonomous flying mode.

The Lumia 1020's 41 megapixel camera is used to capture aerial photographs which are used to create orthomoasics (georeferenced photo based "maps") and digital elevation models (DEM). Where a data connection is available it is also possible to stream live video from the phone, giving you a unique perspective on the world. 

It's an impressive combination of cutting edge technologies, but it also a great example of just how far the cameraphone has come in less than a decade that it can be considered suitable for this kind of usage.

LA300 drone

Lehmann Aviation say that the LA300, which has a wing span of 92cm and weights 950g with payload, can be used by people with no piloting background. As a fully autonomous UAV a flight plan of the UAV can be set in advance. The vehicle will, after being launched by hand, fly the specified route (speeds of up to 80 km/h), and land, without any human intervention. Along the way it will capture photos using the Lumia 1020's cutting edge camera, ready to be processed in to a precise orthomosaics and/or 3D models.

This is facilitated by a companion app, Operations Centre, which runs on Windows 8. Using a touch based user interface it lets you do all the necessary pre-flight and post-flight processing, including helping you design a flight plan and manage post flight data. The software is intelligent enough that you draw a rectangle with your fingers over an area of interest, define the ground resolution, and image overlap, and the application will automatically generate a mission and send it to the LA300 over WiFi.

Operations Centre 

So how much will the ultimate Lumia 1020 accessory cost? It's a snip at €4990 / £4255 (Lumia 1020 not included), and is available for pre-order now, with a September 2013 delivery estimate. 

We suspect we may have to skip reviewing this particular accessory. What a shame!