Yuneec Typhoon H520 Mapping Review - Better than the DJI P4 Pro?

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In today's Drone U Hack video, we compare the Yuneec Typhoon H520 to the Phantom 4 Pro. Which drone is better suited for UAV mapping, and why? Is the presence of the rolling shutter on the Yuneec a huge disadvantage for UAV mapping? We do a deep dive to compare mapping data for both these drones. Finally, we share and contrast 3D models generated by both these drones. And let you form the final verdict. Watch and learn and form your own opinion.
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Timestamps
00:39 Is there any significant difference between the Yuneec Typhoon and Yuneec Typhoon H520?
00:57 Does the E90 camera on the Yuneec Typhoon H520 produce mapping results similar to the Phantom 4 Pro?
01:53 What are some advantages of using the Yuneec Typhoon H520. We start off by discussing flight time
02:24 How to bring the Yuneec H520 down safely when you lose a prop
02:48 Is the absence of NFZ's or No Fly Zones on the Yuneec Typhoon H520 a significant advantage for commercial pilots?
03:08 Is Pix4D integration available on the Yuneec H520?
03:18 Discussing our methodology for comparing the Yuneec Typhoon H520 to the Phantom 4 Pro
03:38 Are oval orbit modes/intelligent flight modes present on the Yuneec Typhoon H520? What about the Phantom 4 Pro?
04:55 We start comparing and analyzing our mapping data
05:40 Discussing the different focal lengths and hence, ground sample distances on the Yuneec H520 and P4P
06:15 Are the number of 3D densified points on the Yuneec significantly different from the P4P? What about average density?
06:50 How does the presence of a rolling shutter on the Yuneec affect your mapping results?
07:34 Which are some high end DJI cameras that have a rolling shutter?
07:48 Analyzing mapping results after change of settings to account for the roller shutter
09:23 Paul summarizes the review findings
09:54 What are some ideal applications for the Yuneec H520?
10:27 Watch as we compare the 3D models generated by both the Yuneec H520 and P4P; how do they compare as far as color and details are concerned?
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[@topilot]

It is obvious that Drone U is a total fanboy for DJI products. I have DJI and Yuneec drones and am actually starting to fall more in love with my Typhoon H Plus as the commercial bird of choice. No crazy increase in geofencing on my DJI Go 4 app and the quality of the image that come out of the C23 1" sensor camera are superior to the Phantom line of drones. How can you beat a built in bright display, six rotor design that can lose a prop and still hang in there on the mission and perform. The only hangup with the Yuneec Typhoon H Plus is it's size for travel. I haven't yet found the need to purchase the 520 is due to the fact that I don't do mapping for clients.

[@westface1]

As an actual surveyor, I can tell you that 7000 vs 20000+ points per meter is a frivilous detail. No drafting tech or engineer is going to maintain that point density without either a TINY site, or a very high end CAD station. The rolling shutters are industry standard and have been for years on main air systems.

[@flenbo76]

Actual surveyors dont count (poor attempt at sarcasm from another actual surveyor)

[@kevwaite]

Sorry your comment at 2.30 about if you loose a motor or prop on the H520 that the drone would spin around is not correct, having seen demos and an actual prop failure after hitting a branch on a tree. The H520 does not spin at all. The opposite motor spins forward and back wards to keep the drone under complete control. Apart from a slight wobble and a drop in power it flies just the same as if it was flying on all six motors.

[@hugechimp]

Good catch. Correct.

[@SkyFireDrone2022]

Yes, I agree. When he said that, I was like, “What?! No it doesn’t.” Many years ago I was flying my old F550 hex with a Naza Lite FC and had a sudden dip in flight but it then recovered and just sounded kind of funny. I landed it normally and discovered that I had a bad solder joint on one of the ESC’s. Otherwise it flew fine, it did not start spinning crazily. The flight controller compensates by using the other motors.. that’s the inherent safety feature of having more than three or four props. I have to assume that Yuneec’s flight controllers are going to work the same way 😐

[@TheDroneAngle]

Your right, I hit my house with my 480 and lost a prop. The controller told me to land, but that's it. I brought it down under full control. Also, the mechanical shutter is not instantaneous, giving you all the pixels at one time. I believe your problem with "rolling shutter" has more to do with processing speed than anything else. I'm just about to hold my nose and by a Phantom 4 Pro due to the business applications available for it. I don't like their control over your operations (don't like asking someone in China if I can fly my drone in their no-fly zones when I have a 107). I don't like wanting to fly quickly and suddenly find I can't because of some new feature they came out with last night. I also don't like them collecting GPS coordinates where they can pull up my pictures later (no, this is not an urban legend).

[@DannyTaddei]

My typhoon H has had a motor out. I’m sure the newer versions are better but mine, the old one, did not spin. It did crash in the end but the reason for the crash was due partly to high winds and partly to something like a large beetle taking out two props. It held itself well for a few seconds and did not spin. It was the second suicide beetle that took out the second prop that was the final end of it. If you’re wondering, it fell from about a total of 20 feet but the first bounce was on a rooftop, maybe 6 feet. The second bounce was on another part of the roof about another 4 feet and the last drop was 10 down to a rock. The damage was two motors needed replacing. At the time of the bug invasion we had the drone doing surveying for the better part of 6 hours without very long of a break. It was hot and in Fort Collins co, about 5000 plus feet up. It took a lot to bring her down and the damage was not nearly as bad as I think it might have been with another drone. Having said that, the little mavic pro 2 is a workhorse and I have done 3 3D mapping jobs with One so far. They are a sweet deal for that. The image from my cgo3+ is still the best way to go between them when shooting film projects.

[@hugechimp]

Hmm. In previous videos you've stated the H520 produced appreciably better photo detail over the DJI in side by side comparisons. Did this reversal of opinion come after learning the E90 had a rolling shutter and thus is now 'bad'? Additionally, You forgot to mention Yuneec datapilot has a 'pause and shoot' option that Pix4D says mitigates the rolling shutter effect. If you weren't using this feature, then you weren't using the H520 to its potential. Also, when comparing these products shortcomings, don't forget to mention DJI's misleading image manipulation profile stunting to correct an inadequate lens. Simple technical specs. The P4P lens doesn't even provide full coverage of the sensor. Your "20MP" image is really an upscaled 13MP image and all the associated IQ loss. Yuneec provides a full, real 20MP camera. Other than that they use basically the same sensor. it's just the DJI is mated to a lens whose image circle doesn't even fully cover that sensor.

[@deanrobbins8102]

Aerial mapping is a different animal than simple photography.

[@mrpalmeras]

hugechimp where did you read about the lens coverage of p4p?

[@toxin911]

i just got the feeling this guy is plugging for the p4p...i like them both but when i want to go flying and shooting video i always take the yuneec the p4p stays home, its more fun oh and btw if the yuneec loses a prop there is a program incorporated in the system that senses that and takes care of the imbalance which allows you to keep the bird in the air...sorry totally disagree with you

[@luftaufnahmench4503]

H 520 its a peace of sh...software problems on an on

[@antonykeane5586]

I have no mapping experience, but based on the samples shown at the end - the P4P results look clearly better to me largely due to the separation caused by much more accurate color. I’m trying to understand, why is rolling shutter an issue? Doesn’t the drone stop each time it takes a photo? If it does stop, wouldn’t the readout would be a non issue for a non moving subject? I have the P4P and the i2 w/ X7, so your claim that the p4p would be “a better mapping camera” is very interesting... especially since you could get extra resolution from the i2 not only from the higher megapixel sensor, but you can throw on 24mm and take more photos for even higher resolution and less distortion

[@nonstar8182]

Antony Keane I haven't used pix4d, but when Ive mapped using drone deploy it does not stop for each pic. Which makes sense if you are doing a large area it would take way more time.. and batteries.

[@antonykeane5586]

N. Starr hmm... I’m going to give groundstation Pro a try soon. I would think you could cover a very large area with 2 sets of batteries on an Inspire 2 - that’s 40 minutes of automated flight, which I would think is 200+ photos even if it stops to shoot - which sounds like plenty for most projects

[@MacSide01]

Your test plan was extremely flawed. How could you misidentify the camera type and expect positive results. The H520 comes with a mission planner on the ST16S - why were you looking for orbit mode? I've seen a YT video with a prop being broken on the 520 - it continued to fly without the rotation you describe. Sooo many errors - it's hard to trust anything you say.

[@PeaceLandBeer]

Seconded. With more or less equivalent resolution (20MP) but longer focal length, (8.8mm for P4P vs 23mm for E90), you're going to cover less area, but with higher resolution over that area. This is basic flight planning knowledge. Due to covering less area per photo, you'll need vastly different flight plans to cover the same area- forcing it to take the same number of photos will reduce the overlap %, and thus reduce the accuracy etc in the name of a false equivalency. I could take a GoPro out and get even "better" results due to its fisheye lens. This is a sad mistake from a supposed "pro".

[@AliDiops]

Totally wrong! I have both platforms and as a certified surveyor who spent hours mapping with both birds I can tell you that the H520 with e90 is way better than the P4P. You just need to know how to correctly setup your camera and missions. When you master that Yuneec machine the P4P will sound like a toy to you...

[@ea9373]

So can you put a global shutter camera on the yuneec??

[@Accrecon]

Very informative, if you are looking at a newer mapping UAV, you gotta watch this.

[@F1staszek]

Do i need drone with RTK for orthophotomaps and photogrammetry or I can just buy Phantom 4 Pro v2.0? Thanks!

[@normallarie4728]

Have you re-evaluated this system comparison taking the comments regarding differences in focal length etc? I would really think it would be fair to provide a re-issued video specifically addressing the constructive criticism Thanks and great effort even if the first attempt might need a rework?

[@jgalbreath]

He is not going to do that he's a DJI groupie to the core. They having even acknowledged the new H520e yet in the market.

[@Casey6996]

is it possible to take single photos and video with the H520?

[@ForensicCats]

Thank for the detail and rolling shutter data... I enjoyed your mind-set...

[@kcoan3]

Hey, your link for the best mapping drone is the one that you say is bad. Just an FYI to change your Amazon links above

[@atefamriche9531]

I was taking this video seriously until you mentioned that you didn't understand "the focal length" of the camera before. That's a BIG deal !!!! Mapping with drones involves 2 things: your platform/drone and your CAMERA !!! The drone can make your life easier with auto-pilot-like options and mission planning BUT the camera is also CRITICAL. To make it simple: ISSUES with camera = ISSUES with 3D model quality In the manufacturer website, you can see all the camera specs. You ABSOLUTELY need some basic understanding of photography to get the best quality pictures (shutter speed, aperture setting and focal plane, ISO). That all being said, there here is the FORMULA to calculate your average pixel size OR ground sampling distance (GSD): GSD = (Sw * H) / (FL * imW) ..... where Sw is the camera sensor width (mm), H is the UAV flight height (m), FL is the focal length of the camera lens (mm), and imW is the image width in pixels. SEE HOW THE CAMERA FOCAL LENGTH PLAYS A ROLE IN YOUR GSD !!!!!! ALSO, no need for an expensive Pix4D license to get the result of GSD ... and point density is correlated to that. And ALSO ... there are a few free software packages that do the same thing as Pix4D ... but for FREEEEEEEEEEEE See how KNOWLEDGE = savings $$$$ and better quality Invest in knowledge to get the best out of the equipment !!!

[@rudygamboa8222]

Thanks for that...10+ year surveyor and just got my drone license!!! @atefamriche9531 any other advice you can give? Looking to dive deeper in to this new technology. Although, I still love walking my routes and shooting everything in by foot!! Haha!!

[@wojciechstolarski7561]

I analysed your video and I see 3 options: 1) It is manipulation 2) It is bullsh… 3) I didn’t understand it You used for comparison two cameras with similar resolution but different focal length. Phantom with about 23 mm (better GSD, smaller area) and Typhoon was about 8 mm (worse GSD, larger area). In your test you focused only on GSD and point cloud density. In result for Phantom 4 you get GSD about 4 cm but area was only 425 m2 (Number of points/Density). For H520 you get GSD 7 cm and 1 641 m2 (4 times larger than PH4). This are the basics of Photogrammetry!!! Your conclusion have nothing in common with shutter type!!! The correct conclusion should be. If you fly with cameras with similar resolution and different focal length you will acquire data with different GSD over different area size. With better GSD you will coverage smaller area. With worse GSD you will get larger coverage. That’s only reason why GSD and point density are different.

[@atefamriche9531]

This guy doesn't know his stuff ... I also couldn't help but leave a comment lol

[@TheSoulMan11]

You pay a hefty price for that no fly zone feature apparently lol

[@dogstar7]

This was a very informative video. I am a hobby flyer who has aspirations of getting my Part 107 certification and flying professionally. I've come to realize that aside from straight photo gigs (parties, weddings, real estate, etc.) mapping is where the big ticket jobs are. Y-H520 looked very promising. Glad you pointed out the effect that in-camera focal length has on mapping. You have saved me from potentially making a costly mistake and have given me something to think about when I'm ready to purchase a serious working drone.

[@WHITELIONNYC]

Same here...new to all this but excited to get started. 🖐🏻🤑👍🏻

[@SCAerialsSteveCarpenter]

Paul, thanks the this new review and test. Wow, this is a big difference in statements and use from previous video(s).? So now, the big question is, were all features of each drone setup as close as possible for this test or were the best features and (special features) for each drone?

[@atefamriche9531]

NO THEY WERE NOT. IT IS AN UNFAIR AND NON SCIENTIFIC COMPARISON. I left a comment with the actual formula on how to compute the GSD and talked about the ACTUAL difference between the drones. you can check it out if you want

[@joefuller3467]

GREAT video.....im sure everyone is saying your bais towards dji but i think you did a really good job at not being bais.....i have had both and i could not agree more

[@pngarcia1563]

The end product only need 12k resolution...your arguing two systems that produce way more than needed to each other. Either one will do the job. Don't try over engineering the meta-data.

[@WHITELIONNYC]

6:46 OMG! I was just about to place an order for the Yuneec H520 with CG90T camera bundle. 😭

[@luftaufnahmench4503]

dont do it...its a waste of money

[@WHITELIONNYC]

@@luftaufnahmench4503 thanks...I'm just going to wait for the DJI Mavic 3

[@luftaufnahmench4503]

@@WHITELIONNYC i had a H 520..just neverending software problems . i have now a Dji Phantom 4 pro v.2 and the Inspire 2 from Dji..everything its working just fine

[@danaschoen432]

You are so good when you aren't trying to do the "drive time jock" tag team thing. This is a superb video.

[@benjamincross2820]

If you understand the photogrammetry (mapping) process, you would know this whole video is incredibly misleading. The number of points created when making a dense point cloud is not an indicator of the precision of the generated model. While ground sample distance (GSD) will influence how many points are generated, this can be compensated for with a lower flight altitude. To gauge the models' accuracy, you should georeference the model with ground control points. This locks the point cloud in our real-world coordinate system. At this point, an accuracy determination can be made by comparing where the surveyed location were to where the generated model put it. Comparing point cloud figures like that and calling it 'scientific' is incredibly misleading. Understand the process before you believe crap on youtube.

[@EdgyNumber1]

4 rotor vs 6 rotor... hmm 🤔

[@KevinAlex-h5u]

Mohamed Spur

[@Amen20]

So many inaccurate info in this video, pretty suspicious review. Unlike

[@luftaufnahmench4503]

no question...DJI P4 its by far better

[@AliDiops]

Totally wrong! I have both platforms and as a certified surveyor who spent hours mapping with both birds I can tell you that the H520 with e90 is way better than the P4P. You just need to know how to correctly setup your camera and missions. When you master that Yuneec machine the P4P will sound like a toy to you...

[@jshwa1]

Rolling shutters are compnesated by the software. You had less overlap with the yuneec flight, hence less time points etc.. this has to be true due to the fact your photo amounts we're near identical and the E90 camera has a large focal length. Waste of 8 minutes of my life. Thanks, and cary on.