Ely Aviation writes:
The construction industry has enjoyed significant growth over the past few years, with new estates appearing in the press on an ever-increasing basis. For every one of these projects there is a construction site, and with these construction sites come a lot of everyday issues that can be solved by the use of drones.
Because drones are operated remotely, you immediately solve a lot of health and safety problems and risks for construction companies, and also implement immediate cost savings. Drones can go where people cannot, they can also go where people can go, but in a fraction of the time, with less cost and with a far higher degree of safety
Aerial Surveying
Using a some of the software platforms that are easily available you can quickly and easily generate an interactive scale model (either 2D or 3D) which has a very high degree of accuracy (very low CM accuracy with the use of Ground Control Points) The resulting files can be pulled into existing software platforms such as Solidworks or Autocad and easily manipulated to fulfil most purposes. Where a man on the ground would have taken hours, days and sometimes weeks, a drone can be up-down and done in a matter of minutes, depending upon the size of your estate and of course with far lower opportunity for good old-fashioned human error being introduced into the equation.
3D Modelling
The very same software platforms can also be used to generate highly accurate high-resolution 3D models of any construction site and various point during the build process. This means that you can use the resulting footage as a marketing and communication tool to the end user and keep them informed as to where things are in the build process. And in addition to this, from a compliance point of view, they can also be used to track and alleged apparent damage to adjacent property should such a situation arise.
Flying a Drone
Right about now, you may be thinking of rushing out to buy a drone, you may even have one, or a friend that owns one. Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. In order to use a drone in conjunction with your business, you must have Permission for Commercial Operation (PfCO) status from the Civil Aviation Authority. This takes months of study, several thousand pounds and an in-depth understanding of Air-Law and theory. In short, you can just go out and do it yourself. There are currently over 3,500 CAA certified drone pilots in the UK many of whom (but not all) will be equipped to carry out any of the above services. So if you want to make your life easier, it might be time to take a top-down-view!