Impact of Drones on Civil Engineering

1|© 2018 Skylogic Research, LLC
IMPACT OF DRONES
ON CIVIL
ENGINEERING
Presented to ASCE
Golden Gate Branch
January 24, 2018
By Colin Snow
CEO and Founder
Skylogic Research

Buzz Word Bingo

Topics 1. Commercial use of drones - overview
2. Successful drone use in civil engineering projects
3. Competitive and traditional approaches using incumbent
technology
4. Lessons learned / opportunities and challenges
5. What’s next for drones in civil engineering?

Hobby
Mass produced
Cheap
Commer cialapplications
Extensible
High ROI
Specialized use
Proprietary
Custom made
Expensive
Commercial drones
Source: Skylogic Research

Types
Fixed wing
Multirotor

Aircraft Sensors/Payloads Ground Control &
Communications
SoftwareAvionics
Unmanned ‘systems’
Commercial Applications

Successful uses
Aerial Photography Pipe/Power Line Inspection
Real-estate Surveillance
Mapping Stockpile Measurement
3D Imaging Mail / Freight Transport
Rail Monitoring Agricultural
Disaster Response/Relief Movie Productions
Damage Assessment Sporting Event Coverage
Infrastructure Monitoring Flare Stack Inspection
Inventory Management Construction Reporting

Civil Engineering

Surveying / Mapping

Surveying / Mapping Independent surveying / engineering / GIS companies
Mining
Construction
Railroad
Public infrastructure (highway, bridges, waterways, etc.)
Business cases show drones to be a
flexible alternative to manned aircraft and
ground survey crews for mapping and
surveying – sometimes at a lower cost.
Drones are changing this science by
putting the ability to shoot high-quality
geotagged images into more hands

Drones can…
..create
automated
maps

Surveying / Mapping Major applications / use cases
2D orthophotos (using composite imaging software)
• Survey drawings
• Orthomosaic maps (site/zone/area)
• Distance measurement
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) input
3D point cloud imaging (using photogrammetry software)
• Digital elevation models (surface, terrain)
• Distance and volumetric measurement (e.g. stockpile)
• Building Information Modeling (BIM) input
3D imaging (using LiDAR)
• Topographical mapping
• BIM and infrastructure modeling input

Public Infrastructure The inspection of structures like roads, highways, bridges, tunnels and
railroads is a task that often can be made more efficient, effective and safer
with drone technology.
There are costs and dangers associated with sending a survey crew to look
for damage that takes place over years or even decades. The pictures and
videos can be easily captured by drones are only part of their appeal.
Data taken from new sensor technology will open up opportunities related to
preventative maintenance that will help resolve issues before they turn into
actual problems. Utilizing drones also keeps people on the ground and away
from the dangers associated with the inspection of structures like bridges
and tunnels, regardless of their condition.

Public Infrastructure Use cases – Bridges, Dams, Tunnels, Highways, etc.
Corrosion
Roadbed wear
Weather & flooding damage
Spillway cracks
Geologic site conditions
Hydrology
Emergency preparedness documentation
Structural stability
Seismic stability
Vegetation encroachment

Railroads Since 2015 drones have been uses to do detective work in dangerous
conditions, keeping rail employees safe while improving railroads’ ability to
gather the information necessary to help detect problems and to plan and
prioritize corrective action.
As drone and associated on-board detector technologies advance,
inspectors use data gathered by drones to identify defects rather than
needing to physically access the track.
Several other Class 1 freight railroads like BNSF and Union Pacific have
been gearing up to incorporate drones for capturing images and air quality
testing. These companies also is assessing drones for hard-to-do
inspections, for example of elevated bridges and telecommunications
antennae several hundred feet tall.
As regulatory and operational hurdles to flying drones beyond visual line of
sight are overcome, railroads across the United States are making plans to
enhance safety programs using drones.

Railroads Use cases
Track alignment and measurements
Track surface integrity (cracks)
Track wear and damage assessments
Bridge inspection
Telecommunication antenna
Corridor vegetation encroachment
Physical and threat security
Air quality assessments
Spill and environmental monitoring
Facilities management
Construction progress reporting

AEC

AEC Use cases (by lifecycle)
Design
• BIM
• Marketing (e.g. floor views)
Construction
• Cut & fill specs
• Asset management
• Stockpile volumes
• Egress and on-site logistics
• QA (CAD plan vs. actual)
• Compliance and progress reporting
Operation (use and maintenance)
• Surface integrity
• Measurements
• Wear and damage assessments
Demolition
• Physical security
• Facilities management
• Spill Detection

Incumbents Satellite data from companies like DigitalGlobe, Airbus Defense & Space,
TerraBella, and PlanetLabs offers extensive coverage with wide spectral
capabilities, but at times resolution can be relatively poor and clouds may
provide inconsistence coverage.
Manned aircraft - Higher resolution data with the same wide spectral
capabilities can be acquired from manned aircraft, is also subject to weather
conditions, but in some cases offer a lower acquisition cost per acre than
drones
Ground-based data acquisition using laser scanners and total stations also
collects high-resolution data, but the process can be time consuming and in
some cases more expensive.

Typical data work flow Typical work flow today is an app based systems to perform basic UAS
flight functions and trigger camera.
After the flight operators upload the data to a cloud based software
solution of their choice that are industry specific (e.g., Airware,
DroneDeploy, Skycatch,) or desktop photogrammetry tool (e.g., Agisoft,
Autodesk, Pix4D, SimActive)
Plan
mission
Fly and
capture
data
Upload data to
desktop or data
service provider
Process
data
View, analyze,
annotate, take
measurements
Download and
create a report..
..or import to
CAD tool

Pain points The pain points we hear most often about are:
• Data accuracy
• Workflow and data processing time
• Downstream software integration
• Data interpretation
Data
accuracy
Software
integration
Workflow and
processing time

Lessons learned 1. Drones provide value on the jobsite daily.
The value that drones bring to AEC
firms is the ability to fly the exact
same mission over and over. Once
the initial flight plan is developed,
any pilot can load a mission and
replicate the original flight.

Lessons learned 2. Using drone data in BIM requires pilot projects.
“To achieve all the benefits BIM
offers, everyone in the architecture,
engineering, and construction
industries will have to learn to work
in fundamentally new ways.”
Put another way, BIM requires a
culture of collaboration—the exact
opposite of throwing the plans over
the wall to the team downstream.

Lessons learned 3. Choose autonomous, integrated drone solutions wisely.
A classic positioning battle has broken out. A partial list of players and
their promises in alphabetical order includes:
• 3DR – The Complete Drone Data Platform
• Airware / Redbird – As-built vs. as-bid comparisons
• DroneDeploy – The Complete Mapping Experience
• Autodesk Forge – Future of making things, meet proven foundation
• Identified Technologies – Never run late or over budget again
• Kespry – Aerial Intelligence Platform
• Pix4D – Generate 2D and 3D information, purely from images
• Precision Hawk – Empowering The Commercial Drone Industry
• Propeller – Effective and accurate site surveys and overall progress
monitoring
• SenseFly – The Professional’s Mapping Drone of Choice
• Skycatch – Turn your drone photos into 3D models. Fast.
• Trimble InSphere – Mobile workflows you can trust.

Lessons learned 4. Drones require that you adopt more safety protocols
Every drone operator and mission should be operated within the rules
and regulations stipulated by the governing bodies applicable to you
and your specific equipment. Safety plans should encompass not only
the drone aircraft airworthiness it- self but also the following:
Area and environment – hazards, weather, airspace restrictions,
bystanders
Mission plan – contingency planning for safe exit routes in the event of
a system failure, degraded performance, or lost communication link
Public awareness – notification of nearby property owners of your
intentions (permission)
Preflight / run-up – verification that all ancillary equipment is operating
to specification
In-flight – proximity of other aircraft and pilot intensions to land

What’s next? We believe in 2018 software will dominate drone technology
advancements. This includes:
Imaging
• RGB, thermal imaging, orthomosaic, radiometric data combo
Cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI)
• Machine learning (deep learning, predictive analytics)
Edge-based AI
• Vision (image recognition, machine vision)
BIM, workflow, and asset management systems
• Documentation, tracking, and GIS data integration
Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM)
• Drone ID
• Performance based navigation (standards based)

Questions?

About Skylogic Research, LLC is a research, content, and advisory services firm
supporting all participants in the commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
industry.
We help companies make critical investment decisions with confidence by providing
research-based insights on the commercial drone markets.
Our focus is on the needs of three constituents:
• Manufacturers, suppliers, and business service providers – who need research and insight
into buyer needs
• Buyers of UAS technology and services – to help inform their acquisition decisions
• Investors – who need to distinguish technical and market viability
This focus, plus research as a foundation and reach into a community of more than 90,000
business executives and innovators through social media and media partnerships, allows us to
deliver a high-value, low-risk method for achieving optimal understanding.
Drone Analyst® is the registered trademark and brand name and trademark of Skylogic
Research, LLC
Learn more:
Web http://droneanalyst.com
Twitter @droneanalyst
Email colin@droneanalyst.com

Management
Colin Snow, CEO and Founder
25-year technology industry veteran with a
background in manufacturing, electronics, digital
imaging, field service, software, research, and
mobility.
Colin served as a marketing and operations
manager at Olympus Corporation, Oracle /
PeopleSoft, Steelwedge Software, and SAP. As an
industry analyst at Ventana Research, he covered a
range of topics including supply chain management,
operational performance, and product information
management.
Colin holds an M.B.A. from Florida Atlantic
University, is a member of the major UAS industry
groups including AUVSI, RCAPA, and AMA, and is a
Part 107 FAA Certified Remote Pilot.
Full bio here.
Charlotte Ziems, Chief Content Officer
25 years of experience in publishing, business
management, market research, and content
marketing.
Charlotte served as vice president of InfoWorld’s
Test Center, founded InfoWorld Consulting
Services, and held executive editorial positions at
publications including Computerworld, PC
Resource, PC/Computing, PC Week, and Computer
Shopper. After leaving journalism to grow business
at a content marketing agency, she joined
Informatica and now Sitecore as VP content
marketing.
Charlotte holds a B.A. in English from the University
of Virginia and is an avid equestrian, gardener, and
drone enthusiast.
Deeptechnologyandmarketingexperience

Contributor /Advisors
Jonathan Rupprecht is a drone attorney
and a commercial pilot currently
practicing drone law in South Florida at
his firm Rupprecht Law, P.A.
Will Tompkinson is owner and
consulting lead for Insightful
Dimensions and specializes in the
domain of 3D data capture and LiDAR for
the purposes of metrology and geomatics
applications.
Bill McNeil has over 25 years’
experience developing and marketing
GIS applications and is an expert in
UAVs for mapping and surveying.
Chad Colby is founder and principal of
Colby AgTech and is the industry-leading
advocate for the use of unmanned aerial
systems in agriculture.
Steve Maller, founder of Mallermedia, is
a professional photographer and
videographer providing expertise in
increasingly complex and capable aerial
camera platforms for the film / photo /
video market.
These independent
professionals lend their
proficiency and assistance to
provide industry insights,
thought leadership content,
research, and consulting.

We have over 5,700 clients
worldwide
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©2018SkylogicResearch,LLC.
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These materials are provided by Skylogic Research are for informational purposes only, without
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In particular, Skylogic Research has no obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in
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Impact of Drones on Civil Engineering

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