A Manual for Operating Drones to Examine a Tower Structure
Jumping onto the drone-based tower surveys bandwagon
Tired of scaling towers like some primitive human? Let a drone take the reins. Whether you're keeping those cell signals sparkling or maintaining water supplies, drones help inspection teams get the job done with ease and efficiency.
Why bother sending a person up the tower when a drone can do the trick? Safety, speed, thoroughness, cost efficiency, and the ability to spot hazards make drones the go-to solution for tower inspections.
Read on to learn how a drone can help address tower climbing risks and boost overall efficiency for communication companies, cities, and industries relying on towers for day-to-day operations.
Ready to dip your drone into tower inspection?
Why settle for a human when a drone could do it better?
- Safety: A catastrophic drone crash may result in a financial loss, but injury or loss of life is less likely when the risky task of tower inspection is left to machines.
- Speed: Comparing the swiftness of a drone in flight to the pace of a person climbing is a no-brainer.
- Comprehensiveness: Drones equipped with advanced cameras can capture a thorough 3D map of a tower with one or two flights, providing detailed data for assessments.
- Cost savings: Liability insurance and personnel costs for manual tower inspections are pricey. Drones are faster, reducing the time spent on inspections and lowering overall costs.
- Hazard identification: When searching for climbing hazards like beehives, bird nests, or areas of structural damage, drones offer a bird's-eye view without putting inspectors in danger.
Where drones outshine human inspection efforts
This video offers a great overview of how drones are essential for tower inspections:
[Insert video]
What's in it for me?
Use cases
- Identify and address climbing hazards
- Identify damaged areas
- Plan ahead for inspections to avoid wasting time finding tools
- Investigate structural integrity before a climb to ensure safety
Fieldwork that makes the drone-based tower inspection dream a reality
[Insert Case Study: Cell Tower Inspection video][Insert Video: Transmission Tower Inspection][Insert Video: Power Line Pylon Inspection]
Keeping your mission on track
Before launching, make sure your objectives are clear:
- Pre-work inspection: Use drone data to identify the tools and parts required for a successful tower inspection.
- Hazard and obstacle analysis: Utilize drone data to identify potential hazards or obstacles that may pose a threat to tower inspectors, such as biological hazards (e.g., bees or birds) or structural damages.
- Structural analysis: Leverage drone data to find degradations in the tower's structure and identify areas in need of attention.
Drone tower inspection — the finer details
Flying high or dancing around obstacles?
When surveying towers, drone flight often involves collaboration with tower inspectors or their teams for better data collection. Height and airspace authorization should always be considered during flight planning.
If you're flying a drone above a tower, bear in mind the Part 107 restrictions on flights above 400 feet. The FAA allows you to fly the tower's full height, as well as an additional 400 feet above its top, given that you remain within 400 feet of the structure during flight.
When flying near towers (e.g., guyed towers), maintain a safe distance from any potential hazards.
It's all in the planning
- Consider wind speed and other environmental conditions
- Familiarize yourself with tower-specific flight characteristics
- Use a Visual Observer (VO) to help maintain a safe distance from the tower
Putting heads together
While drones are the potential heroes of tower inspections, they require skilled pilots to navigate around obstacles and ensure a successful survey. Proper equipment, such as cameras, sensors, and software tools, are also essential for producing actionable data.
Choose professional drones like DJI's Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, Yuneec's H520, or DJI's Matrice 300 for optimal tower inspection results. Software options include Pix4D, DroneDeploy, PrecisionMapper, ArcGIS, and flight ops management solutions like Aloft and DroneLogbook.
Now, go forth and conquer those towers without breaking a sweat!
- A drone pilot might find unique advantages in tower inspections, as drones are safer, faster, more comprehensive, and cost-effective compared to human inspections.
- With their bird's-eye view, drones can quickly identify climbing hazards and potential areas of damage that might pose risks to inspectors.
- To ensure a successful drone-assisted tower inspection, it's crucial to plan ahead, considering variables like pre-work inspection, hazard and obstacle analysis, and structural analysis.
- When surveying a tower, drone pilots must be aware of airspace regulations, such as FAA's Part 107 restrictions on flights above 400 feet, and maintain a safe distance from potential hazards during flight operations.
- Choosing the right equipment, including professional drones like DJI's Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, Yuneec's H520, or DJI's Matrice 300, and software tools like Pix4D, DroneDeploy, PrecisionMapper, ArcGIS, and flight ops management solutions like Aloft and DroneLogbook, are essential for producing actionable data in tower inspections.
