Ground Control Point (GCP) Construction

Construction of GCPs is an easy task that's great for rainy days. This week, our class assisted Dr. Hupy in the making of 16 GCPs that we are going to use for a later mission. 

We went to his house to use his table saw and paints. GCPs can be made out of many materials, but experience has taught Dr. Hupy that 1/4" x 4' x 8' high density polyethylene sheets are an ideal, durable material.

We cut the sheets into 2' x 2' squares.

Next, we used a template to paint pink triangles that come to a point in the middle of each square. We also used yellow paint to number the squares, 1 through 16, respectively.

When we were done, we had 16 GCPs. The black and neon colors make the GCPs contrast and very conspicuous to users of UAS imagery.