Maybe you have a DJI Phantom 3 drone with an HD camera, but you just aren’t sure what to do with it. Or maybe you have a 3D printer from XYZ but you’re running out of ideas for things to print.
Either way, DroneDeploy might be the answer to your problems.
DroneDeploy is a software package that turns footage from your drone’s camera into high-quality digital 3D models. Once you have that digital 3D model, you can take the file and (after generating an STL) print it out with your home 3D printer, or send it to a professional 3D printer through a site like 3D Hubs.
It’s all a surprisingly simple process, much of which is handled automatically by DroneDeploy. You can see how the scanning works in this video:
A world of potential
It’s easy to imagine the enormous range of applications, both practical and just for fun, DroneDeploy’s software could provide. They highlight a few of the different uses of the 3D scanning capabilities on their blog, including scanning 1000 Km of highway in Mexico.
While the 3D printing side of things isn’t the company’s focus, the chance to own an accurate miniature model of a childhood home or some other favorite structure just might be the justification you’ve been looking for to finally buy that drone and 3D printer.
Have a building in mind you’d like to scan? Let us know in the comments below. Just make sure you’re following all the new regulations in place regarding how and where you can fly your drones!
