Linear Inspection & Mapping

Nitz · Apr 2, 2019

Does anyone do lots of linear inspections and/or mapping?
If so, what is your equipment?

We are looking at doing some more of our transmission lines but want to see if anyone has tips / tricks to improve data capture and minimize downtime.

R.Perry · Apr 2, 2019

I do a lot of mapping with Drone Deploy, using and Inspire 2 X5 camera with 15mm lens.

Nitz · Apr 3, 2019

R.Perry said:
I do a lot of mapping with Drone Deploy, using and Inspire 2 X5 camera with 15mm lens.

What is the flight time on the inspire ? How many batteries do you have to keep you going all day?

Thanks

R.Perry · Apr 3, 2019

Max flight time is about 18 minutes, my flights are about 14 minutes max because I don't like running batteries too low. I normally use four pairs of batteries for mapping, but it all depends on how many acres your mapping.

I carry eight pair of batteries and rotate using them.

AH-1G · Apr 3, 2019

Nitz said:
Does anyone do lots of linear inspections and/or mapping?
If so, what is your equipment?

We are looking at doing some more of our transmission lines but want to see if anyone has tips / tricks to improve data capture and minimize downtime.

Do currently contract your work out or do you have your own fleet of drones?

R.Perry · Apr 7, 2019

My fleet of drones is one Phantom 4P, and Multivista supplies the I2 and everything I need. I'm not an employee of Multivista, but a contractor. I'm semi retired so this is as much a hobby as it makes me a few very good bucks.
I have no desire to start another business, or go back to work full time. Next year when my contract is up I'm going to actually retire again, well maybe.

When I actually worked for a living I worked for Uncle Sam and wasted tax payer money, after the military, I was a crop duster for a while then went to work for Uncle Sam.

charlieelkhoury · Apr 8, 2019

Hi @Nitz!

Well we are working with a client to inspect 800+ transmission poles using the M210! Their biggest concern is how to organize and manage the huge amount of pictures captured to present them to their clients. The best format they found was to label each picture by tower #, component and defect type (if any) and then share them online for the client to easily query and navigate through them (i.e. client can type in "corrosion" and they will get all corroded pictures or "tower #1" and will get all the pictures corresponding to tower #1). In addition to that they are building a PDF document that contains the major problems that needs to be addressed by the client.

Best of luck for your work!

Nitz · Apr 8, 2019

charlieelkhoury said:
Hi @Nitz!

Well we are working with a client to inspect 800+ transmission poles using the M210! Their biggest concern is how to organize and manage the huge amount of pictures captured to present them to their clients. The best format they found was to label each picture by tower #, component and defect type (if any) and then share them online for the client to easily query and navigate through them (i.e. client can type in "corrosion" and they will get all corroded pictures or "tower #1" and will get all the pictures corresponding to tower #1). In addition to that they are building a PDF document that contains the major problems that needs to be addressed by the client. Due to the huge number of images to manage, we are using a software called NAR (www.nar.ai) to complete all the above. It's a tablet-based app that enables you to label your data either on the fly or in offline mode, eliminating the need to wait for huge chunks of data to be uploaded and managed online.

Best of luck for your work!