The Drone Inspectors

To legally fly a drone in Canada (that has a take off weight of 250g or more) ‘anywhere’ in the open air, the drone operator MUST have the following documentation in place (as an absolute minimum)…

• A valid Pilot Certificate for RPAS operations (appropriate for the airspace and location)
• A certificate of RPAS Registration (with the number clearly visible on the drone)
• Established procedures for pre-flight, take-off, launch, approach, landing and recovery
• Emergency procedures in place, with respect to…
  • (i) a control station failure
  • (ii) an equipment failure
  • (iii) a failure of the remotely piloted aircraft
  • (iv) a loss of the command and control (C2) link
  • (v) a fly-away
  • (vi) a flight termination
• A detailed Site Survey
• A copy of the RPAS Operation Manual
• A maintenance record for the RPAS

If a drone operator does not have ALL of these documents/procedures in place, then they are NOT operating legally, or in accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations for ‘Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems’.

Additional rules for ALL drones (of any size and weight) can be found here…

The data export is compatible with existing agriculture data analytic tools including the John Deere Operations Center, APEX, SST, SMS, FarmWorks, Encirca, FieldView + moren Export Map Projections – Web Mercator EPSG:3857 (WGS84); EPSG:4326 (WGS84); 2D Orthomosaic – RGB Image .tif (GeoTIFF); .kml (Web Mercator). Plant Health Mapping (NDVI) – RGB Image; .tif or .kml; Surface Modelling – .tif; .kml; .shp; .dxfn3D Point Cloud – .las; .obj surface (with .jpg); .xyzn. For a more detailed list of file types and data analysis services, please contact us.

How long a drone can fly for depends on the type of drone and its payload weight, but we can typically expect a flight time of 20 to 30 minutes. We carry sufficient spare batteries to conduct several flights in one day and always have mobile charging systems for each drone on location.

The biggest limiting factor to affect drone operations is wind speed, it becomes difficult (and more time consuming) to produce good results with wind speeds gusting more than 35kph (note also that at 100ft the wind is typically around double than on the ground!). We can operate in light rain and snow to a degree (providing we have good visibility), as we have a fully waterproof and submersible drone in our fleet, capable of taking off and landing on water. We can operate the Inspire 2 drones below freezing, at air temperatures down to -10C (but with limited range and flight times). In short, the nicer the weather, the better the results.

Yes, all our drones have video downlink (and our property walkthrough video cameras) and have live streaming capability and can be made available for live broadcasting platforms, such as Facebook Live and YouTube Live.

Note: Some of our drone equipment have fully encrypted video downlinks, in case sensitive information is required to be filmed.

The most important thing for a report is for it to clearly identify and help prioritize defects, and document them to monitor trends over time. The precise location and direction of every image must be recorded and the data must be easy to access from a database. It is equally important to record areas that are in a good condition and present an overview of the structure, so the client can make assessments and analysis for preventive maintenance measures.

Our reports include a fully interactive cloud based report service, together with a pdf summary document, with details and annotations of the observations.

Typically, for industrial inspection work, a professional grade inspection drone with interchangeable payloads would be used, providing a good, stable platform for dual camera payloads (for Thermal & Extreme Zoom capabilities for example), and RTK GNSS positioning if required. It is essential that the drone is capable of operating around high energy and Electro Magnetic Interference. Every inspection job is assessed to determine the best UAV and payload systems for that specific application.

First and foremost, the inspection team must understand the structure being inspected. A professional drone inspection company will…

Understand the tensile and compressive stresses and strain areas of a structure

Identify types of concrete and masonry cracks, scaling, flaking and crazing etc.

Understand fibreglass and composite material deterioration (stress cracks, oxidation, de-lamination etc.)

Know how to identify types of corrosion and where it may be of concern

Have the skills to inspect weld defects, cracks, porosity, weld profiles etc.

Be able to quickly identify structural safety issues and concerns

Know how to identify lightning strike damage and corona discharge etc.

Be able to suggest appropriate followup NDT inspection (MPI, PT, UT, etc.)

A licence to fly a drone can be obtained in just a few hours (without the need to actually fly a drone!). However, complex inspection services require highly specific training and piloting skills.

An inspection pilot needs to be able to fly a drone smoothly and safely, (without using automated flight management systems such as GPS), and have the experience and knowledge to quickly react to situations as they arise.

Exactly how sensors and equipment are affected by RFI (or the proximity of ferrous materials) are just some of the many factors a competent drone inspection pilot will understand and mitigate during their risk assessment.

Ground control points are large marked targets on the ground, spaced strategically throughout the area of interest, referenced to RTK GPS coordinates. The ground control points and their coordinates are then used to help drone mapping software accurately position the map in relation to the real world around it.

A skilled inspection engineer who understands your requirements, together with drone piloting skills able to deliver CVI (Close Visual Inspection) imagery, is essential for effective results. Unlike aerial photography, flying very close to dangerous structures and expensive assets, such as wind turbines, power lines and communication masts, requires many years of experience, good spatial awareness and a complete understanding of the constantly changing environment.