Development of simulated battlefield scenario maps

Abstract

This research aimed to develop a simulated combat area mapping system covering at least 30 square kilometers using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology combined with aerial photogrammetry processing. The study was conducted at Phu Lamai training field in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, utilizing a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone, Pix4DCapture software for flight planning, and WebOpenDroneMap for map processing.The research methodology involved testing various flight configurations including overlap and sidelap settings of 60/60, 70/70, and 80/80, flight altitudes of 300 and 400 meters, and image resolutions of 7 and 50 centimeters per pixel. Ground Control Points (GCP) were employed to enhance coordinate accuracy.Results demonstrated that the 60/60 overlap configuration at 300-meter altitude provided optimal performance when considering the balance between flight time (450 minutes), processing time, and map quality. Maps with 7 cm/pixel resolution required 1,400 minutes processing time with 5.6 GB file size, while 50 cm/pixel resolution maps required only 110 minutes with 222 MB file size. The use of at least 5 GCP significantly reduced coordinate deviation. The 50 cm/pixel resolution maps proved suitable for installation in artillery fire control systems and tactical-level combat planning.The research contributes valuable insights for military mapping applications, demonstrating that UAV-based mapping technology can effectively produce high-quality tactical maps with optimized resource utilization. The findings provide practical guidelines for selecting appropriate flight parameters and resolution settings based on specific operational requirements and resource constraints.