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UAV INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS

Construction

Construction Header

Real-time control of the project is crucial for on-time completion. Our fixed-wing mapping drones efficiently deliver real-time data for monitoring a construction site’s progress, measuring cut and fill volumes for reporting, and generating geo-accurate 3D building models – all while keeping staff safe and productivity moving.

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What are the benefits of drones for contractors and engineers?

​​Fixed-wing drones have made it safer, faster and less expensive to collect geospatial data. From the early pre-construction phase to tracking weekly material inventories, drones have made it easier for surveyors, engineers and project managers to work smarter with greater productivity and efficiency.

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How are drones used in construction?

Thanks to the efficiency of drones, surveying a new construction site takes minutes, requires less resources and comes at a very low cost. Following are a few areas where construction and engineering professionals are using drones today:

Building Transportation

Building future  transportation infrastructure 

  • Airports
  • Railways
  • Roads
  • Bridges

Energy Utility Reliability

Maintaining energy and utility reliability

  • Oil and gas pipelines
  • Hydroelectric power plants
  • Electrical powerlines
  • Solar and wind farms

Inspections Large Asset Maintenance

Simplifying inspections for large asset maintenance

  • Dams
  • Water reservoirs

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How are drones used in construction workflows?

Optimize Bidding

Optimize bidding and pre-construction 

Produce a topographical survey of the entire project to ensure accuracy in planning from bid to groundbreaking.

  • Speed up project planning with accurate pre-construction surveys that guide engineering design.
  • Capture the jobsite before groundbreaking for future reference.
  • Share a 3D digital twin of the project with stakeholders.

Accelerate Progress

Accelerate progress tracking 

Generate fast 2D and 3D maps to track earthworks progress, measure weekly stockpile volumes and develop accurate estimates.

  • Monitor site progress and document activity for In-construction, and as-built surveys collected with simple and routine drone flights.
  • Identify plan deviations early by comparing high-density point clouds to early design plans.
  • Collect accurate volume measurements for cut and fill to closely manage inventories and budgets.

Streamline Reporting

Streamline reporting  

Conduct weekly reporting and monitor monthly KPIs to collaborate with project stakeholders.

  • Leverage eMotion’s built-in Flight Data Manager to automatically handle the georeferencing and preparation of images for post-processing.
  • Turn your data into a variety of deliverables, including high-density point clouds (millions of points per flight), 3D meshes and georeferenced orthomosaics.
  • ​​Extract relevant information from photogrammetry using PIX4Dsurvey to develop models and engineering-ready CAD files.
  • Generate outputs compatible with popular survey software such as AutoCAD, ArcGIS, Bentley and others for sharing with project stakeholders.

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What types of drone data outputs can you expect?

Orthomosaic raster

A large image comprised of adjoining orthorectified images that have been digitally reconstructed. Orthomosaic maps are helpful to construction firms for monitoring site occupation and measuring distances between points.

RGB raw images

Unprocessed, raw images offer an even greater level of detail and can be very useful for asset inspections and analysis.

3D point cloud

Point cloud maps comprise millions of individual points featuring X, Y, Z geospatial coordinates and an RGB value. Construction engineers use them to calculate complex stockpile volumes and automate cut/fill analysis.

3D maps

A 3D textured mesh is a reproduction of the edges, faces, vertices and texture of the area shot by the drone. This model is most useful for visual inspection or for when external stakeholder input or public involvement is essential for a project.

Digital Surface Model (DSM)

3D display of an area that includes the tops of buildings, trees and other ground-based objects. This detailed model captured with a drone is valuable for tracking earthworks, water flow management and measuring excavation depths.

Digital Terrain Model (DTM)

3D display of vector data that features natural terrain and regularly spaced points. DTMs can be used in planning new developments such as building construction or noise barrier designs.

Contour lines

Topographic map that delineates surface elevation using contour lines. The construction industry benefits from these contour line outputs for grade and slope monitoring.

Cadastral maps

2D property maps. Updated cadastral maps of entire townships and cities help determine where easements are located, utilities and other features adjacent to a worksite.

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What software do you need?

eMotion Software

eMotion software is a leading drone software solution for flight planning, geotagging and photo stitching. From here the imagery can be exported for further processing in Pix4D and other software.

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PIX 4D Fields

PIX4Dfields photogrammetry software is a popular solution for vegetation and crop mapping and analyses.

Measure Ground Control

Measure Ground Control can be used to manage a drone fleet, as well as to process multispectral imagery from MicaSense sensors

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Relevant Resources