Systems and methods for generating 3d models from drone imaging

A system comprising a base station communicatively coupled to a plurality of drones, the base station comprising one or more processors, memory, and one or more programs stored in the memory for execution by the one or more processors for:

• receiving a plurality of images of a scene captured by at least one drone;
• identifying features within the plurality of images;
• selecting a subset of images from the plurality of images based on a comparison of the identified features within the plurality of images;
• generating a first 3D model of the scene from the subset of images using a first 3D model building algorithm;
• generating a second 3D model of the scene from the subset of images using a second 3D model building algorithm;
• computing errors for the first and second 3D models;
• and
• selecting as the model of the scene the first or second 3D model depending on the computed errors.

A nontransitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform the method of:

• receiving a plurality of images of a scene captured by at least one drone;
• identifying features within the plurality of images;
• selecting a subset of images from the plurality of images based on a comparison of the identified features within the plurality of images;
• generating a first 3D model of the scene from the subset of images using a first 3D model building algorithm;
• generating a second 3D model of the scene from the subset of images using a second 3D model building algorithm;
• computing errors for the first and second 3D models;
• and
• selecting as the model of the scene the first or second 3D model depending on the computed errors.