Drones are becoming increasingly popular for conducting building inspections, as they provide a quick and efficient way to assess the condition of a building and identify any defects or issues. However, in order to extract the maximum value out of autonomous building inspections, drones must be combined with computer vision and data visualization.
 |
| Figure 1: Aerial Perspective of Drone Inspection Survey |
Drone technology allows significantly more area to be inspected in a fraction of the time. Additional technologies such as LIDAR and infrared cameras and AI analysis can help supplement visual inspection information. AI analysis can be particularly useful to alert inspection professionals or their clients where there are red-flag conditions that need to be addressed immediately.
The combination of reality capture and AI analytics software is now used throughout the architectural, engineering and construction space. This technology is being put to use for construction progress inspection, regulatory compliance, historic preservation, risk management and for general repair and maintenance purposes.
Capturing and Visualizing Large Datasets
While drones may be an attractive solution, anyone who uses them must remember not only the need for an accompanying analytics solution, but also data visualization. The hundreds or thousands of images captured by a drone can be processed through a technology called photogrammetry to deliver a 3D model depicting the as-built condition through a simple 3D visualization, minimizing the need to review thousands of photos.
Owners are realizing that owning their inspection data can be beneficial. Owners can leverage this inspection data to extract insights about adjustments to R&M plans, to increase efficiencies. For example, it might be more efficient to focus maintenance activities more regularly in a specific area on-demand when deterioration is identified rather than on a periodic basis across a whole building.
 |
| Figure 2: Data Visualization and Photogrammetry Tools Together (t2d2.ai) |
Inspection data is also valuable when it comes to claims. Performing a complete 100% building envelope inspection can allow for much faster insurance claims processing if the state of a property is documented before a severe weather event. This is also useful when documenting existing conditions prior to adjacent construction. Essentially, this “date stamp” digital-twin of a property’s condition can prove useful in many scenarios, either when there are legal implications or when any building stakeholder has a need to refer back to any point on a building at that time.
Case Studies
In one example, a cooperative 40-story concrete residential tower was able to use drones and AI to perform a cost-benefit analysis weighing their annual “patch-and-repair” program against a more comprehensive building envelope capital project. Drones provided a comprehensive building assessment that would have taken the engineering firm weeks to complete.
In another example, a large cathedral used drones to monitor exterior conditions on an ongoing basis after completing a significant repair project to minimize deferred maintenance by making sure that conditions do not deteriorate beyond a certain point.
In a third case, a building that recently completed construction used a drone analysis to “date stamp” the building and repeatedly monitor against the baseline to investigate and warranty claims that need to be made prior to the warranty period expiring.
Conclusion
Together, all of these technologies are making AEC professionals, building owners and other property stakeholders better equipped to maintain state-of-good-repair, process claims and take the guesswork out of past conditions.
Author Jonathan Ehrlich is the Chief Executive Officer of T2D2, the artificial intelligence asset inspection software platform. T2D2 is used by engineers, architects and building owners to make their inspection workflow faster, cheaper and more accurate.
Editor Thanh Do is an Associate in the Forensics practice at Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. As a structural engineer, structural failure analyst and investigator, Dr. Thanh Do examines building and infrastructure inadequacies and determines the root cause of the alleged failures. He specializes in design and construction defect evaluations, collapse investigations, Design-Build project delivery, and standard of care assessment.
No comments:
Post a Comment