You must have witnessed a drone in action while streaming any sport live or watching cinematographic shots. Did you know you can also carry out industrial inspections with it?

You can use drone infrastructure inspection to collect visual data to be analysed later. The cutting-edge technology used in these machines makes professional property and asset management a lot simpler. Moreover, you can conclude its importance from the fact the global drone market is all set to touch $43 billion in 2024. Nevertheless, in today’s digitally advanced era, using unmanned aerial vehicle technology is better to carry out structural inspections.

So read the following article to know more about why these drones need inspections.

1. Worker Safety

Consider sky-high structures like wind turbines or skyscrapers under construction. In such cases, traditional inspection methods with human involvement are highly unsafe since moving around at such dangerous heights is likely to result in injury or loss of life.

One such example is the 2011 nuclear power plant blast in Japan. Here, the periodic structural examinations were highly harmful due to radioactive elements. On the other hand, infrastructure inspection using a drone can be completed without risks.

2. Less Time Consumption

Conventional inspection methods require days of preparation work and planning. In total, the entire process can end up taking weeks or even months. And in case of unexpected delays or emergencies, the work suffers more lag. One such example is sourcing hydraulic lifts to wrap a bridge inspection.

Additionally, blocking the entire surrounding can cause traffic delays in the city. But when it comes to drone inspection, you only need a certified pilot and a licence from the local authorities. Besides, you can utilise the saved time to detect problems faster and prevent any more extensive failures.

3. Lower Inspection Budget

Drone inspections take less time, as you read in the previous part. You also require less preparation time and involvement of expensive equipment. So all these factors help save a considerable amount of money.

You also don’t need to cancel the visual examination repeatedly, thus preventing extra hiring costs. A lower budget will also allow for more frequent inspections, and it implies you can quickly identify any structural damage before it turns into an expensive repairing task. Therefore, an aerial examination will help save a ton of money in the long run.

4. Better Data Collection

Mere visual observation is not enough when you are inspecting some facilities like power plants or solar farms. Side by side, you also need different technologies like LiDAR and thermal or multispectral imaging. As such, these factors can be easily covered during a single flight with a drone examination.

Also, there has been a drastic improvement in the quality of optics captured with time. From grainy to high-resolution images, drones help provide accurate data as compared to manual inspection.

In today’s economy, all major industries are heavily dependent on a vast infrastructure network. Multiple structures like power plants, turbines, bridges, railway tracks, etc., are crucial for overall global development. Meanwhile, the conventional methods have been rendered obsolete when it comes to examining and maintaining these structures.

Renting heavy equipment and planning for a manned inspection takes several days and is dangerous to human life. In such cases, drone infrastructure inspection is one of the smart solutions. Moreover, it promotes worker safety, helps save time, requires less money, and provides better data cues.