The construction industry is perpetually evolving, embracing new technologies and methodologies to enhance productivity, safety, and project management effectiveness. One such innovation is drone technology. This article delves deep into how drone-based construction progress monitoring can revolutionize the industry and why Plus15 Drone Solutions is at the forefront of this transformation.
Deliverables Offered by Drone-Based Monitoring
Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras and sensors can capture a variety of data formats, each offering distinct insights. The most prominent deliverables include:
1. Virtual Tours:
Immersive tours, that offer 360-degree perspectives, both from the outside and from the inside, provide a comprehensive view of the site from a specific vantage point. It gives stakeholders the ability to walk the site, document the site, submerse themselves within, enabling them to grasp the site’s holistic perspective.
2. Perimeter Videos:
Drones can fly around the project site’s boundary with ease, recording detailed videos that can provide heightened visibility to project stakeholders. This helps in understanding site progress, identifying potential boundary issues, security issues, and ensuring compliance with site plans. Additionally, through flying pre-programmed autonomous flights, with today’s RTK technology, repeat paths allow Drone enterprises to blend video changes throughout time, allowing project stakeholders to visualize changes and making for great marketing updates.
3. Detailed Photographs:
High-resolution photos captured from various angles and altitudes provide close-up views of specific areas, aiding in identifying potential issues, assessing work quality, and monitoring progress. These photos can become highly valuable for all project stakeholder teams. Additionally, with the metadata that they carry (GPS coordinates, date/time stamps), they help supply chain of custody information for claims disputes.
4. Digital Before-and-After Sliders:
Transform the way stakeholders visualize progress with dynamic digital sliders. These powerful tools provide a side-by-side comparison of the site at different stages, offering an intuitive and visually compelling way to analyze changes over time. Plus15’s advanced approach allows high-interest areas to be seamlessly interwoven, making it easier to pinpoint improvements, identify discrepancies, and tell a compelling story of transformation. Beyond their analytical value, these sliders are a standout asset for creating impactful marketing materials, fostering engagement and transparency for both internal teams and external audiences.
5. Orthomosaic Maps and 3D Models:
Orthomosaic maps and 3D models provide georeferenced, high-resolution representations of a site, offering a reliable baseline for tracking progress, identifying encroachments, and analyzing cut and fill volumes. These tools support water management planning with digital surface models and allow precise measurements for material quantities. By interlacing design drawings directly onto maps and models, teams can seamlessly compare as-built conditions with planned designs, ensuring accurate progress tracking and effective planning for subsequent steps. These integrated solutions are essential for streamlined, data-driven project management.
The Plus15 Media Edge: Secure Client Portal
Capturing these deliverables is just one aspect of the experience that Plus15 offers. Efficiently presenting the data to our stakeholders in a usable format is equally crucial. Plus15 has pioneered a proprietary secure client portal where all of the above deliverables are hosted, and presented in a way that enhances their value by allowing the users to interact with them right in the platform, with before and after sliders, VR tours, maps and 3D models.
Applications in Construction
Drone based deliverables can be pivotal in various construction management aspects:
1. Construction Reporting:
Detailed reports incorporating drone imagery offer a factual representation of progress, assisting stakeholders in decision-making.
2. Safety Assessments:
Safety teams can leverage high-resolution imagery to identify potential hazards, ensuring the well-being of site workers and compliance with safety regulations. Additionally, VR tours and enhanced visuals can eliminate the requirement of non-essential personnel traveling to site, reducing risks with site incidents and contributing to a safer project culture.
3. Environmental Impact:
For environment teams assessing a site’s ecological impact, drone imagery provides invaluable insights into site conditions, enabling effective mitigation strategies.
4. Project Controls:
Teams can leverage Construction Monitoring data for an in-depth analysis of progress against scheduled performance, visibly identifying work completed while assessing potential delays, and devising strategies to stay on track.
Cost Efficiency:
Project managers and other resources can significantly cut back on travel expenses. Drone imagery offers an extension of information, allowing them access to comprehensive site visuals as if they were present on-site. It not only saves money but also time, which is often a more critical resource in construction projects.
Drone technology, when harnessed effectively, can be a game-changer for the construction industry. It offers enhanced visibility, detailed insights, and promotes data-driven decision-making. Plus15 Media is proud to be at the vanguard of this transformation, offering solutions that not only capture detailed data but also present it efficiently for maximum impact. Welcome to the future of construction management!