When I first heard about drones being used in the particular construction industry, Ill be honest – I thought no way, how will this happen? The key reason for my scepticism was that I used to operate the industry and did not want to see drones replacing a real-life person’s job (You know, robots taking over plus that).
However, as I experimented more with drones and pushed these to their limits, We began to realise that I was wrong and fact, drones tend to be more useful than I ever imagined. So the research began…
Drones are being used in structure for three main reasons:
- To improve data quality
- To Improve general efficiency
- To reduce the risk of injury
This is getting achieved by using drones in the following ways:
- Health And Safety
- Security
- Inspections
- Progression
- Training/Site Inductions
According to Bim+ , a lot more than 50% of the design industry is now aboard with using drones. That being said, the most common usage of a drone is perfect for photography and videography. Not the best make use of, but it’s the start. I believe there are a couple of reasons for this:
- Price of using a drone pilot – It’s a specialised skill
- Lack of understanding of how drones can be utilized
Using an experienced drone pilot is not cheap. And for good reason. As a drone pilot personally, I know just how costly it can be to take a flight drones. Not to mention the legal side of flying. The cost of finding a commercial drone owner can cost anywhere from $250 plus an hour.
I was recently talking to a construction site manager about drones, and to become honest, he didn’t know that drones might be used for anything aside from taking photos and videos. As soon as I explained to your pet their uses, I can see the brain ticking over and he said he would raise the idea with his superiors.
There is an old-school mentality still inside the construction industry (not all of it), the same as there is with farmers in the agriculture market. However , agriculture is currently one of the biggest and fastest industries to adopt the use of drones . So maybe the construction business will follow fit.
Benefits of Using Drones in Construction
During the last few years, drones have developed into these amazing multi-use machines. No longer are they just flying cameras. They can search and rescue, measure the lay of the property, spray crops and much, much more.
Here are some of the most common uses for drones in construction.
1 . Surveying and Mapping
Probably the most important aspects of any kind of construction project will be the planning stage which is where drones can play an important role.
To keep things easy, this is how it works:
- The of interest is chosen
- The land in question needs to be surveyed or mapped
- As soon as it’s agreed the fact that land is okay and all the legal aspects are in place, the building blocks work begins
- The project is regularly checked out and monitored
- The task becomes complete
I am aware there’s more to it than that, but as I said, I want to keep it simple.
Drones are used to take hundreds (sometimes thousands) of high-quality aerial images that are then stitched together using photogrammetry software. The final image is then utilized to help plan the particular construction site.
Additionally , these same images can be used to build a 3D model of the particular land. This helps to identify the lay from the land and create the vision before any work begins.
However , to create a 3D model , the drone operator would have to take a different group of photos other than straight above. Images might have to be taken from various angles and heights. And in some cases, a drone with a different set of sensors may have to be used.
2 . Health And Safety
Health and Safety on construction sites are paramount, it goes without saying. Sites should have all the risks and control measures in place just before any employee steps on site. A basic safety inspector will total regular inspections to ensure these control steps are being followed.
Safe systems of work ought to be in place, explaining the safest way to go walking the site, how to deliver work, where transport should be stored and so forth. It’s a huge task, and so it should be. Structure sites can be harmful places if all of the above is not in place.
So how can a drone help with Safety and health?
Drones can assist with Health and Safety on building sites by:
- Inspecting hard-to-reach areas, especially the high points
- Scan the whole site much faster than a human, looking for potential risks and hazards
- They can even be taken to move light products around the site
- Monitoring put movement
According to ForConstructionPros, in the US (and the same applies to the UK) the most common cause of injuries or death upon site is dropping from height including Slips, Trips and Falls;
This is why from the pie chart, Falls are the individual most common cause of injuries or death upon site. And what is really a drone good for? – Reaching heights. Even though it’s not overly common, drones are now being utilized to complete tasks with height, things like inspections etc .
It isn’t really possible for a drone to completely replace just about all working at elevation tasks. However , when using a drone is able to reduce these numbers over anything, I am pretty sure that is a positive move in the right direction.
Another make use of for drones upon construction sites is to repeatedly scout the site looking for any changes to the environment. A regular sheet should be finished on-site that gives a detailed report of any kind of changes that may have happened overnight. However, if the site was massive, this could potentially take a long time. Not having a drone.
3. Safety
With all that expensive equipment sitting about when the site is definitely shut, security is really a must on any kind of construction site, big or small. As someone who once worked on building sites, I know only too well how it feels to be on the receiving end of an empty site in the morning.
Now, most websites will usually use security guards, who are likely to be awake all of shift and frequently walk around the site – checking for trespassers. Another security determine, particularly on bigger sites is installing CCTV. These two steps are good, but can only cover so much ground at any given time.
This is where drones can be a very useful addition, especially utilizing a thermal drone . Utilizing a drone as safety on a construction site not only saves time scouting the area, but it may also deter potential risks before they also enter a site. With an added thermal camera, it is much easier to discover potential threats throughout the darker hours.
Imagine this particular, a security guard can be sitting in their shelter and an alarm goes off on the other side of the site. For the safeguard to reach the point of interest could take ten or 15 minutes. Not to mention the danger of confrontation.
Today imagine this, the very same guard receives an alert of trespassing. The particular drone is ready to move. They operate the particular drone and fly on an airline it to the part of concern. The time it takes is 2 minutes and there’s no confrontation. Additionally , attachments such as spotlights and speakers can be put into the drone to boost the chances of scaring away from criminals.
According to Concrete Construction , construction site thefts cost up to $1 billion annually. This is not a direct reflection associated with theft of devices, it’s also the cost of work stopping, increased insurance policies and much more.
4. Inspections
Inspections are among the most time-consuming jobs on a construction web site. They involve examining every square in . of a site to ensure everything is safe plus working as it must be. Also, inspections consist of checking the structures from particular stages from the build. Again, this takes time and comes at a high cost.
Drones are now being used on sites to deliver these inspections. With top quality images and information, drones are able to provide accurate assessments, saving time and money as well as decreasing the risk of injury to the inspector.
A drone operator that is completing inspections will fly a drone up, lower and around a structure and get as close up as possible and the live feed will be analyzed. However , live nourishes are not always the best quality compared to 4K video. The video footage (and any high-quality images) can be examined when the drone is back in the base.
5. Development
Another good use of drones on a construction site is progression images. A client will always need up-to-date images showing how the project does. Also, video footage could be provided to give the client a real in-the-moment watch of how the task is beginning to take shape.
Due to modern drone technology like umschlüsselung and geo-tagging, the drone can take the exact same image over any given period of time. These pictures can then be stacked and produce a good visual of the work from start to complete.
Not only that, but progression images can help a Contractor or Project Supervisor see how their project is progressing. Is the development going to program? Is it going to end up being finished on time? Can it look like how it had been designed to look and so on?
Something I like about development images is when construction sites display the public what is happening and exactly how it is beginning to appear. Believe it or not, the public is very interested in what’s happening. They also make excellent photos to use inside the new build once it is finished.
