With drone technology quickly being adopted across a wide range of industries, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are significantly changing the asset management sector for the better. Traditionally, asset management, particularly in hard to reach or remote locations has been costly and often high risk.

However, drones have enabled organisations to quickly capture accurate, up-to-date data in a safe and cost-effective manner, meaning that they are now the ‘go to' solution for efficient asset management. With our rich tropical terrain, drone asset management in Cairns and North Queensland is a lifesaver.

Where can drones be used for asset management?

Drones have been proven to provide the data organisations need to make acute decisions in a range of sectors:

• Solar farms - where defect inspections are typically required when the sun is at its peak, drones provide a safe solution with thermal imaging that can identify faulty panels. Often located in remote locations, drones can inspect large areas carefully far quicker than traditional methods.
• Wind farms – where working at heights is areal problem, drones can photograph blades which can then be analysed for any defects on the ground.
• Powerlines – where electrical hazards and working at heights are both safety concerns, drones can carry out powerline inspections safely and up to ten times faster than traditional methods.
• Telecommunications – where phone towers and antennas are typically in hard to reach, high locations, drones remove the need for inspection-only climbs.
• Oil and gas – where offshore or power plant inspections may require partial or full shutdown to enable a safe inspection, drones can access hard to reach locations and confined spaces quickly and safely without impacting operations.
• Water pipes – where traditional inspections need to cover large areas, often in the hot Cairns sun, drones remove the need for time-consuming and dangerous leak detection inspections.

How drone-assisted asset management works

Providing clients with accurate data for critical assets, our pilots and drones enable quick decision making without putting team members at risk by working at height, or trying to access hard to reach locations.

Whether you need 3D models of assets, high resolution photos or videos, defect reporting or damage assessments, our pilots use high end imaging equipment to supply the data you need in a timely, cost-effective manner, without compromising outcomes. We can even provide data to help predict maintenance requirements and identify future issues which may require preventative planning.

Why are drones better than traditional methods?

Using drones for efficient asset management not only removes the hazards associated with risky manned inspections, but they provide additional benefits too.

Drones cut the cost of such inspections by removing or reducing the use of elevated work platforms, scaffolding or rope access. For hard to reach or more challenging locations, they also remove the costs of hiring helicopters or cranes.

Whilst traditional inspections can be complex and often slow, drones reduce the risk associated with these inspections whilst quickly capturing the data, often in a fraction of the time.

How common is it for drones to be used in asset management?

Although some may see drone technology as a recent innovation, if you are still using traditional methods to carry out asset management inspections, the chances are that you may be in the minority. Over the last ten years, drones have proven to be highly effective in mining, offshore drilling, real estate and infrastructure inspections.

We are blessed in Cairns and North Queensland to be surrounded by rainforest and large spans of fertile land, however these present challenges when it comes to maintaining and inspecting assets. Using expert pilots and high-end imaging equipment, we have helped clients reduce the cost of these exercises and improved safety and data capture at the same time.

We recently completed an inspection of telecommunication towers in western Queensland and carried out LOS survey tasks. Not only did this provide our client with up-to-date data, it also removed the need to dispatch their maintenance teams. This reduced the risk and cost associated with traditional inspections. Our approach was not only safer, it was also much quicker than alternative options.

With drones increasingly becoming the ‘go to’ solution in these scenarios, we are confident that their popularity will continue to grow overtime. As technology continues to advance, so too will drone usage as it becomes relevant to other industries.