Roof inspections and building surveys with the help of drones are becoming the norm these days because there is no better way to access difficult areas, particularly those which are at height, intricate roofing spaces and general large areas. But the question is, do the surveyors get enough data during aerial inspection using drones? Let’s take a look at how things work in this regard.
Technology used for Roof Inspection and Building Surveys Using Drones
When Drones were used for the first time, it was shocking for everyone to know that they can have an aerial view of any building. Drones made sure that surveyors capture data to see all areas which were not accessible by cranes or cherry pickers. Before drone technology, trained staff used machinery to inspect the buildings, this was often very heavy and hard to move plant, that required a lot os setting up and planning of logistics. However, with the arrival of drone’s or UAV’s (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) it became easy to capture images effectively and quickly.
The drone technology is using many and varied applications in mobile hardware and computing power to acquire more detailed data apart from capturing just images and videos alone. This includes elevations, measurements, point clouds RGB and Lidar information to generate 3D models of buildings and construction sites. These 3D models help surveyors building inspectors plan carefully to maintenance and repair procedure. Which in turn provides budget plans and scheduling for greater economic factors with provision of works. Defects in the building are also a consideration, which the technology can also pick up upon.
Why Drones are Great for collecting Photographic Data?
UAV’s have actually proved their worth in the inspection of buildings and roofs through their accuracy, but this also depends on the professional operators skills as well as the equipment The technology used ‘onboard’ the drones is adapting and changing all the time, any drone survey company will be able to advise about the best drone to use for the job in hand. If data from a roof is required a smalll and convenient drone will be utilised, however if a large land has is required to be measured, a larger higher capacity aerial vehicle could be used, however this also depends on various location factors. Is the site within a city or rural location, will the drone effect to residents or even livestock. Ask the drone company to provide examples of their previous work to check they have the credentials.
When conducting a roof survey for example the drone will be able to look at the following:
• Detecting the cracked slates
• Detecting the state of gutters
• Detecting the cracks on elevations
Once the information is returned back to the surveyor they will analyse the data and provide a written report detailing all three professional observations with a plan to remedy the defects and issues.
How are Drones Helpful as compared to other Traditional Methods?
There are a number of reasons to use drones instead of traditional methods including steeplejacks, cherry pickers and cranes.
A few of those reasons are mentioned below:
• A drone survey or inspection completes faster than that done by traditional methods.
• You don’t have to close pavements causing less disruption to the general public and right of ways.
• Drones can be charged with the help of solar panels also, making them cost-effective, ecologically sound and renewable.
• Clients can get real time data and instant feedback, if the inspector is on site they can direct the operator to know places of issue.
• Once the data is captured, the files are downloaded to share with the client.
Conclusion:
As safety is key for using any form of technology, drones provide an important and viable link for capturing data and information that is convent to all, short notice can generally be actioned (depending on the survey location) but if a client requires a fast turnkey solution within the surveying industry a UAV company should be invited to tender and given conservation of any traditional form of survey method.
