Contour scanning with an unmanned aerial vehicle

A method comprising:

• determining, by one or more processors of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a plurality of contour paths spaced apart from each other along at least one axis associated with a scan target, each contour path spaced away from a surface of the scan target based on a selected distance;
• determining a plurality of image capture locations for each contour path, a respective image capture location indicating a respective location at which a respective image of a surface of the scan target is to be captured;
• and
• navigating the UAV along the plurality of contour paths at a determined speed while capturing images of the surface of the scan target based on the image capture locations.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:

• a first camera mounted on the UAV;
• and
• one or more processors configured by executable instructions to perform operations including:
• determining a surface of a scan target to be scanned;
• determining a distance from the surface of the scan target as a selected distance associated with capturing images;
• determining, based at least on lighting associated with at least a first portion of the surface and based on the selected distance, a maximum speed for traversing at least the first portion of the surface;
• and
• navigating the UAV relative to at least the first portion of the surface of the scan target based on the selected distance and at a speed based at least on the determined maximum speed while capturing images of at least the first portion of the surface of the scan target.