The use of drones has rapidly expanded throughout the asset management industry. An increasing number of companies are now using drone technology for visual inspection, as it is a cost-conscious and effective way of conducting high-altitude inspection and in difficult-to-reach areas.
However, this evolving technology may have changed the way we inspect physical assets, has it changed the way we manage them?
According to Gideon Gerber Airborne Drones CEO, Using a UAV for aerial mapping allows you to obtain detailed data quickly and easily. The drone enables you to bolt on whatever tools and accessories are required for each specific job, allowing you to customize the drone platform to achieve the best results. Aerial imagery and precise mapping serves as a replacement for traditional 3D measurement tools and sensing tools. A survey drone is therefore much more versatile and efficient than the traditional tools individually.
Mr. Gerber adds that, “Drones can be used in stocktaking and inventory management for infrastructure companies. Performing inventory assessments with UAVs allows companies to cut costs and accelerate the entire process, while providing more detailed information about the assets. It also increases workplace safety, as rotary-wing drones can fly into places that are difficult to reach without risking human lives.”
Asset inspection using drones in Africa
The biggest issue with inspection methods of the past was surrounding the quality and quantity of the data collected. Inspections were often conducted manually, in challenging environments, and with restrictions around access. Assets often had to be shut down during these inspections, which becomes costly and time consuming. The data recorded was often limited to drawings done by hand or single images taken by cameras with notes attached.
Using a UAV for aerial mapping allows you to obtain detailed data quickly and easily. The drone enables you to bolt on whatever tools and accessories are required for each specific job, allowing you to customize the drone platform to achieve the best results. Aerial imagery and precise mapping serves as a replacement for traditional 3D measurement tools and sensing tools. A survey drone is therefore much more versatile and efficient than the traditional tools individually.
Additionally, a variety of sensors payloads are now available digitally recording most aspects of assets, but the most successful UAV platforms are those who are able to interface with back-end data management processes. This is where integration with business processes really happens.
Recently some of these cloud-based data processing service providers, have been making rapid progress with developing improved solutions for the retail drones, where from backend software to airframe connectivity is not an issue. The good news is that the commercial UAV market is now able to integrate the UAVs to point where they are now able to scale these shrink-wrapped solutions up into the long range and high endurance systems.
With introduction of AI and uploading data into the cloud, customers can access, and respond to, actionable insights in real-time. This removes the protracted post-processing of data that characterized the past. The setting up of missions is increasingly automated and simplified reducing most of the need for specialists’ intervention.
Drone technology reception in Africa
Lack of infrastructure in Africa provides Africa with the unique opportunity to leapfrog the infrastructure development phases that first world countries have had to go through. Africa is not bound by legacy infrastructure that has to be upgraded. In other words, Africa can start by developing “Smart” Infrastructures (“smart” buildings, “smart” cities, etc.) rather than the slow, expensive process of ‘smartening’ old infrastructure. This is similar to what Africa has done with the adoption of cellular telecommunications rather than fixed line infrastructure.
This means there is the opportunity, not only to build smartly, using technologies like drones, but also to build smart infrastructure, that can benefit from smart infrastructure elements such as IOT (Internet of Things), Digital Twinning, AI, etc. but also for the ongoing use of drones.
Transformational impact of UAVs on traditional roles
- As the UAVs will be able to connect to cloud themselves, soon the only mission tasks left for drone operators will be to set up and maintain the UAV. Right now, the next generation of UAV operators will fulfill same roles as car mechanics once did.
- Surveyors themselves, and certifications they carry to operate in the surveying space, will eventually become more geared the software market and drone operators will receive certificates allowing them to operate UAVs on behalf of surveying agencies.
- At the moment it is not clear if UAV operators will even be allowed to fly AUVs on behalf of professional surveyors. This will become more easily managed if surveys formed part of software environment rather than being operated from the field.
- The skilled labour force that once was on site will move to an offsite office to approve surveying that will be done via AI and UAVs.
Why Africa should adopt drone inspection technology
Africa is an ideal location for the adoption of drones (many overseas concept projects are conducted in Africa) given the amount of physical space, the developmental nature of local economies and the natural entrepreneurial nature of Africans. At the recent WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM on AFRICA held in Cape Town during September 2019, the programme featured 2 sessions on drones on the first day of the conference, emphasizing the importance of drones in Africa.
- Firstly,
- Africa is known as a continent of large open spaces consisting mainly of developing economies.
- Unlike built up societies like the UK, where the security of the public is of a major concern, African countries have much more freedom in adopting, and benefiting from, UAV technologies (Drones).
- It also follows that large capital assets are often situated in remote locations.
- Secondly,
- At the same time the developing nature of African economies means infrastructure development projects enjoy a higher priority.
- Frequently these infrastructure capital projects are funded by foreign entities in a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) engagement model, which requires skills and technology transfer to local resources before the responsibility for large operational plants are taken over by local authorities/companies.
- During the build and operating phases of these projects, foreign funders typically have an interest in monitoring progress of their investments from afar. Enter the construction drone.
- For both of the above reasons remote capital site monitoring becomes important in Africa and can benefit much from transformational effect of the deployment of drones.
Example:
- Once per day, several drones automatically patrol the work site, collecting video footage. These images and meta-data are then converted into a three-dimensional picture of the site, which is fed into software that compares it to computerized architectural plans as well as the construction work plan showing when each element should be finished.
- The software can show managers how the project is progressing and can automatically highlight parts that may be falling behind schedule. The collection of sensing data can show, for example, that a particular structural element is behind schedule, perhaps because materials have not yet arrived. Productivity and efficacy of onsite labour can also be monitored remotely.
