Construction has already experienced many changes because of the impact of drones in their industry. This will only become increasingly true as people in the drone market are becoming more aware of the tremendous opportunities there are to get involved in this industry. In fact, it is already the industry in which drones are involved.
Part of the reason that the construction industry is the largest drone market — a 8 trillion* market per year — is because of the sheer magnitude of the industry. There are numerous aspects of the construction industry where you can find application for the use of drones, such as increased accuracy in reporting, improving safety conditions, cutting costs, increasing efficiency, etc.
As AI-driven software has developed alongside drone technology, it has provided powerful systems for processing the raw visual data of a drone. Such data provides detailed maps of construction sites, an essential part of so much of construction work.
By providing visual data on the progress of construction projects, quick updates on how things are proceeding is possible at any point in the construction process. Updates such as detailed maps of the entire site with GPS points is vital because it enables the workers to zoom in and view small details of the area.
Detailed visual data reports, therefore, are available to stakeholders at virtually any time of a project. This helps everyone involved in construction operations to see what progress has been done and what work still needs to be completed.
One of the great benefits of using a drone in construction is getting quick and accurate visual data of a site, which can be used to help improve safety, and to focus efforts toward completing a project faster. Another important benefit is that this data can be shared widely, that is, with stockholders, clients, and internal teams.
Visual Data from Drones
Not only is visual data important on a construction site in order to capture data in general, but the data a drone will be able to provide is more thorough and more accurate because the drone can capture visual footage constantly while in-flight. Such footage can later be processed automatically by using software created just for this purpose into several different kinds of maps of the entire site.
Not only are drones important because of the data from in-flight information, but also because they are able to provide visuals from places that are either impossible, or too dangerous, to get to by traditional methods.
By flying overhead and creating a record of what is happening in dangerous areas, drones are able to provide what may be crucial information to be able to determine how to proceed.
The traditional way of collecting data is by having construction personnel walking a site by foot and manually gathering information, which is a very labor-intensive and slow process. Therefore, it doesn’t make it possible for companies to react quickly to changes needed at any point of a construction project.
If there are adverse weather conditions during a construction project, data that was collected may be obsolete, even if it was collected just a day before. By a conventional approach, such a delay can result in serious setbacks, which would likely slow the project and thus result in the project running over budget, thereby increasing the cost.
The 3D and orthomosaic maps created by drones can be used for the following:
- Reporting to customers.
- Identifying safety concerns.
- Tracking progress and identifying potential problems /delays.
- Measure stockpiles of various materials on the construction site.
Drones are able to close the gap between what appears on-site and what it actually is. On-site sometimes means what is viewed through mud and dust, and thus is not accurately portraying reality. Therefore, there will be many changes that take time and thus delay everything, such as change orders, rework, and schedule slips.
Drones are already changing how construction companies are doing business by helping them coordinate teams more efficiently, track progress regularly, and complete projects faster, with less time wasted.
By using a drone, the amount of time is drastically reduced and the efficiency significantly increased. Probably in about 15-minutes, a drone pilot would be able to gather the same amount of visual data that it might take a surveyor, working for a construction company, half a day to collect by walking. The contrast in time is really incredible: 15 minutes versus 4 hours.
What an opportunity to make a difference in the construction business!
Such a business is just waiting for more people who want to contribute to the efficiency and profit of such a gigantic company and who can expect to see rich rewards for the labor.