Spotlight: DroneDeploy Ground Pro, and a measurable record from the walk
DroneDeploy made Ground Pro generally available. Interior Maps, phone scans and measurable 360 walks land in Procore for VDC teams.
Yesterday’s unused story was a browser editor on the layout robot. The leftover field note is not another Autodesk University demo. It is a capture change: DroneDeploy made Ground Pro generally available on 22 September.
That is a documentation tool, not a new scanner. Superintendents already walk floors with a phone or a 360 camera. The usual waste is that those photos sit in a folder, the trench gets backfilled, and the next question about a sleeve or a grease trap sends someone back to site. DroneDeploy’s claim is that the same walk now produces a measurable 3D record, with a plan view of the floor and the ceiling, and that Procore drawings can sit on top of it.
What actually changed
Ground Pro is a premium add-on to DroneDeploy Ground and Unified plans. The product note lists three pieces.
Interior Maps are the useful sentence for VDC. A 360 walk becomes a floor map for laydown, wall layout and logistics, and a ceiling map for overhead MEP against shop drawings. John McDermott, senior VDC manager at KAST Construction, says a 10-minute 360 walk now gives both an immersive view of the level and a 2D map of what is on the floor and above the ceiling. For Procore customers, drawings synced with DroneDeploy can overlay those maps. That is a check of today’s site against the issued sheet. It is not a coordinated model update.
Mobile 3D Scan is the cover-up record. DroneDeploy says a LiDAR-enabled iPhone or iPad, with optional RTK, can document trenches, in-slab sleeves and facade patches in the time it takes to walk around them. Steele & Freeman used it on a grease trap before backfill; the firm says the scan later settled an underground plumbing question without a return trip. Treat that as a dispute and close-out aid, not a survey.
3D Measure and Navigation reconstructs the 360 walks teams already capture into a navigable mesh. Superintendents can check an opening or a clearance after walls close. The vendor is unusually direct on the limit: it will not replace a laser scan or a tape measure for critical dimensions. Dollhouse navigation is for remote stakeholders, not for a model-to-cloud tolerance.
DroneDeploy became part of Procore in September 2026. James Stripe, Procore’s vice president for reality capture and robotics, frames Ground Pro as software on hardware the field already carries. The company still claims use on more than 3 million sites. That is scale, not accuracy.
What a BIM or VDC lead should do
Do not rewrite the scan-to-BIM standard because a phone can now build a mesh. Say what the capture is for. A Ground Pro walk is a dated record of conditions. A Focus or VLX cloud is still the source if someone is going to model from it.
If the firm already runs DroneDeploy walks and lives in Procore, this is worth a trial on a floor that is about to close. Capture the same walk you already take. Overlay the issued drawing. Then ask four questions: can a superintendent find yesterday’s laydown without opening a photo folder; does the ceiling map match the shop drawing closely enough to sequence the next trade; does a trench scan still answer a dimension after backfill; and did anyone treat a phone measurement as a layout tolerance.
If the answers hold, you can stop sending people back for questions the walk already answered. If a 25 millimetre sleeve is the deliverable, keep the scanner and the tape.
Start with DroneDeploy’s 22 September launch note and the Ground Pro product post.
Frequently asked questions
What did DroneDeploy announce?
On 22 September 2026, DroneDeploy announced general availability of Ground Pro, a 3D add-on to DroneDeploy Ground. It adds Interior Maps, Mobile 3D Scan with optional RTK, and 3D Measure and Navigation built from 360 walks, iPhones, iPads or 360 cameras.
Does this replace a terrestrial or wearable laser scanner?
No. The vendor is explicit that 3D Measure is for common questions, not critical measurements. Keep Focus, VLX or equivalent hardware for coordinated as-builts and model-to-cloud checks.
What hardware does a crew need?
DroneDeploy says Ground Pro uses the iPhone, iPad or 360 camera field teams already carry. Mobile 3D Scan is described on a LiDAR-enabled iPhone or iPad. It is a software add-on, not a new scanner.
How does this sit with Procore?
DroneDeploy became part of Procore in September 2026. The launch note says Procore drawings synced with DroneDeploy can overlay Interior Maps, and that the 3D record is meant to be used inside Procore.