5 Tips for Capturing Bridge Inspection Data with Autonomous Drones

During the last week of January, I had the privilege to work side-by-side with the?Bridge Inspection team from Stantec on the inspection of the O'Callaghan Tillman Bridge, connecting the states of Nevada and Arizona.

Let me start by saying how welcoming and professional the the team has been throughout the project. For such technical backgrounds, it was humbling to experience the eagerness to learn and share their knowledge with Skydio. Michael Marshall (Bridge Engineer) and Joshua Sexton (Reality Capture Technology Manager) have provided invaluable support in understanding the challenges along the way.

Our collective goal was to assess the value of Autonomous Drones for Bridge Inspection workflows. And the potential of integrating this technology from the operational practices all the way up to more reliable and informed business decisions.

Summarized below are the top 5 lessons I learned during this project, and the ones I found most relevant for anyone getting started on Autonomous Drones for Bridge Inspection workflows:

1. Use Skydio.

You want to use technology that is truly enabling your team to do their job more safely and efficiently. Infrastructure inspections typically involve many external factors beyond the Operator's control: ongoing traffic, weather conditions, tourists and curious people alike, Engineers and Inspectors hanging down snoopers and ropes...

It is a challenging environment to work in. Skydio & 3D Scan fully enables autonomous data capture, with no previous Drone or Photogrammetry experience required, so that the Operator can focus on high-quality tasks.

2. Plan your Flights.

This one is the most obvious, but probably the most relevant to ensure successful execution on-site. From the very essential ones (airspace, weather, supplies, safety gear, batteries, etc.), to the easily overlooked ones:

• Understand accuracy and deliverable requirements. This will have a direct impact on the amount of data you capture.

• Use a sketch or croquis of the flights you are planning on executing, and review when you get on-site.
• Ensure everyone understands their role and the plan of action before you start flying if you have multiple Drone Operators on-site. We had 3 vehicles flying simultaneously for this project, and communication was key.
• You might want to bring a laptop and an external hard drive to review, store or even pre-process some of the data on-site. Data resiliency is critical.

3. Think about Data Management.?

In under a day and a half, we did over 20 flights, captured about 140GB of data, over 12000 images, and a good amount of 4K videos. This might become a hassle if data is not properly stored and managed after each flight.

• Have a system in place that works for all teams involved in data capturing and processing. For example, ensure everyone follows the same nomenclature. A common language drives project success.

• Store the captured data in one place to avoid unnecessary duplicates.
• The more cautious planners ( Joshua Sexton ) would recommend copying the data in an external drive after each flight. And this might be a very good idea, especially for those flying a non-Skydio drone.

4. Safety First.

Standing for + 4 hours on-site, in the wind, cold, heat, is strenuous to say the least. The stress of these environments impact us all in different ways.

• Be extra mindful of your own needs and those of your colleagues.
• Make sure everyone follows safety protocols, takes breaks, has enough food and water, etc. Pushing your body to the limit might affect your ability to react promptly to an unexpected emergency.
• Safety first. Always.

5. Autonomous Drones are Here to Stay. Not to Take Over.

Much credit to Joshua, Michael and Jordan for all of these tips and particularly for this last one.

• Autonomous Drones are not here to replace or do Bridge Inspections. We should consider Autonomous Drone technology as an additional tool to optimize inspection workflows. As Michael Marshall put it:

"The same way new hires are getting a laptop and a tablet, I want them to get a Skydio."

• By integrating drone data in their workflows, the Stantec team can work much more efficiently on-site, enabling the team to focus on high-quality tasks, diversifying their services - while adding more value to their end customers.
• Ultimately, it will be an Inspector or Engineer who will use this technology to perform their jobs safer, faster and more efficiently.

Overall, the project was a tremendous success for both teams. Autonomous Drones (aka Skydio ) are just getting started in driving digitalization into very analog and complex workflows - bridging more efficient and safer infrastructure projects.

More details about the project in our next LinkedIn Live .