A few years ago I wrote about an interesting new trial to test the use of drones by utility companies to inspect and maintain their networks. A number of American utilities have been applying for FAA approval to use drones to replace the time-intensive and dangerous task of monitoring their network.
“When you look at the amount of information we can gain to make accurate decisions about our systems, and look at the cost and time savings, this is a huge opportunity for us,” said Andrew Bordine, a Consumers Energy executive.
Since then, such applications have become more widespread, with Sharper Shape doing novel work in this field across a number of sectors, and Pro-Drone doing a similar job with wind turbines.
Enter the big beasts
It’s perhaps a sign of the growing potential of the market that Intel have launched a partnership with market leader Cyberhawk. They will be using drones to inspect a gas terminal in St Fergus, Scotland. They plan to utilize the Intel® Falcon™ 8+ system, which Intel believe offers superior speed and accuracy in such tasks.
Drone based inspections offer a tremendous advantage to the industry, as traditionally any inspection would require a complete shutdown of the facility, with significant cost implications. Add in the safety risks posed by workers inspecting facilities in extremely dangerous locations and utilizing drones becomes a real no-brainer.
“Flying in Scotland, the devices have to withstand strong winds,” the team say. “The Intel Falcon is perfect for that because it has the highest wind tolerance and the best power-to-weight ratio of any platform on the market.”
The Intel Falcon 8+ drone deployed for this mission captured 1,100 images, translating to 12GB of data, over the span of one to two days. This would have typically taken a three-man team three days to achieve. These analytics can be used for asset maintenance including pre-maintenance inspection, repair work, resource planning, maintenance prioritization and more.
Check out the video below to see the drones in action.
