Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are one of the most game-changing technologies to appear in recent years. They are a hot topic of discussion and the subject of some debate. One of the fastest growing applications for drones is UAV surveying, since land surveyors can use these devices to quickly and efficiently survey large areas. In this post, we take a look at the rise of UAVs, which industries are embracing the technology, and how UAVs are changing the world of land surveying.
The Origins of UAVs Surveying
When this idea of UAVs first surfaced, the military was using the concept to identify mines in Afghanistan. Tudor Thomas, an aerial-imagery specialist behind the concept, took his knowledge and transformed it into a lucrative business model.
Using the single-frame images from the photos, Thomas and his team developed software to correct those images, blending them into a single consumable. Known as orthorectification, this process created a geo-referenced map though real-world location data based on the GPS reading of ground control points.
UAV Adoption
Some of the earliest adopters of commercial drone technology include businesses in agriculture, energy, construction and land management. Most of these industries have been experimenting with UAV technology for years. However, now that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been issuing Section 333 status to businesses, which allows them to legally use drones for commercial purposes, these industries have started to include UAVs as part of their service offering.
Here are some facts about drone technology adoption:
Most growth in the drone industry is on the commercial side, as drones move away from being primarily in the military market. This market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% between 2015 and 2020, compared to 5% growth on the military side.
Package delivery and E-commerce will not be an early focus of the drone industry.
Disaster relief and conservation experts welcome drone mapping as an alternative to satellite imagery.
The global commercial drone market will take shape around applications among a number of industries such as utilities, mining, energy, agriculture, real estate, new media, construction and film production.
How UAVs are Changing Land Surveying
Land surveying is one industry that has been particularly keen to adopt UAVs. There are three main reasons for this:
UAV technology allows land surveyors to survey large areas with ease. Challenges such as rough terrain become effortless when the survey is done with a UAV.
Since the drone is airborne and does not need to drive from point to point in order to perform a scan, it can survey a territory in significantly less time than a traditional survey. This means that projects that once took a week can be completed in a day.
Because surveys created by a UAV can be done quickly and don’t take as many man-hours or resources to complete, they are less expensive. Since many of the industries that typically need land surveys (energy, real estate, etc.) are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs, this is particularly important.
Thanks to advances in photogrammetry, these surveys can not only be done quickly and inexpensively, they can also be done with the same level of accuracy as traditional surveys. This means there is no real trade-off in accuracy with a UAV generated survey.
Because of the above reasons, UAVs are a game-changer for professional land surveyors and a benefit to their customers. While few surveyors have access to the technology, and fewer still have experience using it, the technology can still be a huge benefit for construction projects. Project managers simply need to partner with a professional land surveyor that does have experience using UAVs.
February 25, 2016
Image source: development seed
June 7, 2018
Commercial drone use on the job site is skyrocketing. The latest drone trends and statistics from DroneDeploy explain why.
This past year, more than 30,000 users put DroneDeploy to work creating the largest drone data repository — now with over 400,000 maps of job sites, farms, and structures. Our growth is a testament to the growing community of commercial drone users.
While dozens of industries use drones, the fastest growing commercial adopter is the construction industry. Drone use on the job site has skyrocketed in the last year — surging 239% — and construction is now the leading sector using DroneDeploy.
With growth like that, you probably have some questions. How are companies putting drones to work? Who exactly is benefiting from drone data? And what are the results?
In this post, we share some recent insights uncovered from analyzing the latest DroneDeploy user data. Read on to get the most recent trends and statistics from drone data captured on 400,000 job sites in 180 countries.
Who’s Using Drones on the Job Site?
We talk a lot about what’s possible with drones on our blog, but who is actually taking advantage of the technology?Project managers, technology managers, and superintendents are the top roles benefiting from drone data to date.
It’s no surprise that project managers are leading the charge to bring drones to the job site. The typical project runs over budget, behind schedule. Drones help close the gap.
How are Drones Put to Work in Construction?
Builders use drones to collect real-time data about projects and understand what’s happening on site. Aerial insights improve progress tracking and help catch problems early — before they become costly or add weeks to a project’s timeline.
But progress tracking is far from the only way construction companies use drones. By spending less than an hour each week mapping a job site, contractors gain access to an unprecedented amount of knowledge about nearly every aspect of their project. With this data in hand, DroneDeploy’s software makes it easy to plan, communicate, and keep projects on schedule.
How are Construction Companies Benefitting from Drones and Aerial Data?
Drones do more than improve communication and help keep projects on track. They also increase safety, save time and resources, fast-track surveying, and deliver accurate measurements. We surveyed our construction customers to see exactly how use drones on the job site. Here are the top results.
We reached out to our construction customers earlier this year, and they reported a wide range of benefits from using drones. Explore the infographic below for the complete breakdown of the results.
What Software Tools are Construction Pros Using with Drone Data?
While thousands of construction customers use DroneDeploy on a weekly basis to collect, process, and analyze drone data, added value comes from incorporating maps and 3D models into existing planning, design, and management workflows.
How Accurate is Drone Data Captured on the Job Site?
As construction companies turn to drones for aerial data collection, we’ve seen a rise in the demand for higher data accuracy. Today, companies are using ground control points (GCPs) — ground markers measured with GPS to calculate absolute global positioning — more than ever before with DroneDeploy. The number of maps processed with GCPs grew 5X in 2017 and is currently increasing at a rate of 20% each month.
Measurements are also more common with construction customers. Construction companies use DroneDeploy’s built-in analysis and annotation tools to calculate area, volume, and distance accurately. Exactly how accurate are drone measurements? Using GCPs, customers achieve 99% accuracy. Learn more in our white paper: Linear Measurement Accuracy of DJI Drone Platforms and Photogrammetry.
What are companies measuring? Stockpiles are some of the most common things measured with drones on the job site. In 2017, DroneDeploy users measured more than 300,000 stockpiles to estimate value and track volume changes over time.
Teesside drone company DJM Aerial Solutions has recently invested in the industry-leading Flyability Elios 2, With huge success under their belts utilising the Elios 1 an investment made with help from both Digital City and Tees Valley Business Compass, The Northeast drone inspection company made the decision to upgrade their kit to the latest model.
The Elios range of UAS was developed around the requirement for confined space inspection and survey utilising none GPS technology and reliant only on the skill of the operator to carry out a pre-planned flight path to generate useable data for post review of dangerous confined spaces or hard to reach internal environments.
DJM Aerial Solutions invested in the Elios 1 in 2018 adding confined space inspection to their broad range of drone services. The financial assistance from both Digital City and Tees Valley Business Compass was key in securing the Elios without taking on any debts. The confined space inspection service has gained momentum over the last 2 years, really ramping up prior to lockdown with clients such as Heineken and Tarmac to name a few.
Elios 2 Point Cloud Company Director Dan Maine Added, “Our growing success utilising the Elios 1 for confined space inspection and survey of internal spaces was phenomenal, and it was a no brainer for us to upgrade our fleet to the next spec. Dan continued, “The Elios 2 has the ability to fly a preplanned mission allowing for photogrammetry outputs of that particular internal space, which we can then process into Point cloud or 3D models of the internal environment”
Internal Survey (s)
Internal survey and dilapidations are carried out generally using traditional manned access methods. Occasionally the properties can be come subject to vandalism or accidental damage from fires, water, rot, damp etc and are deemed structurally unsafe to enter on foot.
DJM Aerial Solutions areone of the few companies within the UK to own and operate the Elios an ideal solution to carry out these kind of surveys on dilapidated property or assets. However the Elios can also cope within an industrial environment too.
Confined spaces such as storage tanks and pressure vessels are to be inspected at regular intervals to comply with insurances and classification bodies. The process of carrying out vessel and tank inspections can be long and drawn out due to storage of toxic or harmful substances.
These storage tanks and vessels need to be fully cleaned of all or any potential harmful gasses prior to manned entry and even then pockets of gas may still be present. The Elios is obviously the ideal solution for confined space inspection as it can be carried out remotely without the need for any manned entry or confined space entry requirements.
Internal Point Cloud Survey
Teesside drone inspection company DJM Aerial Solutions has had numerous enquiries to provide internal point cloud solutions of confined spaces such as storage tanks, culverts, drainage tunnels and other internal environments and up until now there hasn't been a solution available.
The Elios 2 provides the solution to accurately fly a pre-planned flight mission utilising light-sensing technology to measure the distance from elevations and bulkheads allowing for sufficient overlapping photogrammetry methods.
The make up of the Elios 2 is such that the surrounding cage housing the UAS doesn’t cover up the UAS camera allowing full field of view unlike the Elios 1 which was limited due to the cage movement and its 4 axis gyroscopic technology. The Elios 2 cage is fixed however still allows the UAS to be fully protected from its surrounding environment.