One of ArcLand's main topics of interest is the use of UAVs for archaeological purposes. A number of institutions all over Europe have been working with drones to survey and to better understand archaeological features since a couple of years now and it seems about time to bring some of them together to discuss their experiences, problems and solutions.
ArcLand plans to organise a small 2 days experts roundtable meeting in Rethymno (Crete) together with the TOPOI excellence cluster of the Berlin Free University (http://www.topoi.org) and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (IMS-FORTH, http://www.ims.forth.gr/index.php?l=e) from 22 - 23 January 2014 to bring together 10-15 experts with a known expertise in using UAVs for archaeology to discuss the following topics:
1. short presentation per participant to introduce their involvement with UAVs
2. problems (and solutions) of survey practicalities:
- route planning (pre-programmed, life steering)
- weather dependencies
- landscape and site accessibility
- legal restrictions
- noise
- health and safety issues
- costs
3. hardware problems (and solutions):
- battery usage, flight time
- stability of hardware
- cameras, still vs. videos, resolution
- georeferencing, GPS
- costs
- experiences and recommendations
4. soft- and firmware problems (and solutions)
- hacking/tweaking firmware
- recording
- flight planning/programming
- data usage - photogrammetry, DEM, 3D/VR, site documentation, orthophotos
- experiences and recommendations
We plan to follow up this meeting by a symposium (including a public "flight show") in Berlin probably in May 2014. Information about this event will be available on our website as soon as possible.
There will be no registration costs to attend this roundtable meeting in Rethymno and IMS-FORTH will try to provide affordable accommodation (30-40 € per night) in Rethymno within short walking distance from the meeting venue.
Please send us a short description of your recent work with UAVs/drones if you would like to contribute to the meeting with your experience and expertise by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. until 15 October 2013 the latest. Letters of confirmation for accepted participants will be sent by 5 November 2013.