Nextcore RN Series Affordability
Why is the Nextcore RN Series LiDAR so Affordable?
We get lots of questions around drone LiDAR costs so we thought we’d explain how Nextcore came to make a super functional yet affordable LiDAR solution.
The Origins of Affordable Drone Lidar Technology
Let’s start with how Nextcore came to make the system.
Nextcore started as a UAV company in 2012. At the time the technology for UAV was very expensive and fairly primitive. The UAVs were prone to crashing, or just flying off into the distance. The operation of them required a highly skilled operator. In order to create 3D models, photogrammetry was the go-to choice for drones.
As a company, Nextcore got pretty good (actually very good) at using photogrammetry for 3D models of infrastructure. They picked up extensive amounts of work that required a high level of skill to create, and the team grew. Despite the company’s skill set they always had one major problem. Whenever vegetation got in the way there was no way to model what was going on underneath, or behind it. They knew they needed LiDAR…
From THERE They realised they had created and affordable drone LiDAR, that was easy to use
They started looking for a system suitable for their needs. Like most people are, they were staggered when they realised the price for even a basic system was going to be in excess of $100,000 USD. They were forced to find another alternative, and that was to build their own.
Creating their own product was a process that took much longer than they expected, but in the end they made a system that could produce the results of a much more expensive unit at a much lower price. What they didn’t realise at the time was how much simpler their system was to use than others on the market (but that’s a whole other story).
3 reasons why NextCore Drone LiDAR prices are low
While building a simpler, better product that was an inadvertent benefit, they knew their Drone LiDAR’s cost was better than the competition for 3 reasons:
Designed for them first: It seems strange to highlight this as an advantage for their product, but it really is. The first reason that their system is less expensive is that they built their unit with pricing in mind, because they needed an affordable solution.
Dedicated Software: Most systems on the market require third party software which comes at added expense. Sometimes multiple software packages are required in order to get to the end results. When they built their system they wrote the software from the ground up to make it easy to use and also less expensive. They include their Nextcore Fusion cloud based mapping software in the hardware package so customers don’t need to factor in additional expenditure.
Affordable Componentry: The final reason really comes down to components. Because they’ve written their own software they aren’t limited by components that go into the system. In many cases, if you wish to use certain software packages you can really only attach certain LiDAR units to certain Inertial Navigation Systems. So they selected and tested their components very carefully to make sure they met their accuracy and pricing requirements. What they were left with was a system that was performing at the standard they needed, at a much lower cost than the other units.
To sum up, Nextcore’s drone LiDAR costs are cheaper not because they’ve cut corners or it performs at a lower standard, but because it’s been designed fit for purpose. If anything, their system performs well above far more expensive systems and it’s backed by an industry-leading warranty and support service. The components are all of a super high standard that are made in Australia and the USA.
If you’d like a rundown of how the NextCore RN system performs we are always more than happy to chat. Ferntech have been the distributors the NextCore RN Series since 2019.
