Surveyor Coastway deploys drone in professional duties
In the realm of land surveying and construction, the adoption of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, is revolutionizing the industry. Coastway, an Irish chartered surveyor, has embraced this technology to streamline its survey process, increase efficiency, and enhance accuracy.
Speed and Efficiency
Drones can survey large and complex terrains rapidly, often completing data collection in a fraction of the time required for traditional ground-based GPS surveys. This speed translates to faster decision-making and project adjustments, providing a significant advantage over traditional methods.
Safety Improvement
By reducing the need for surveyors to access hazardous or hard-to-reach areas, drones minimize accident risk. This is particularly beneficial for Coastway, which often encounters challenging environments like quarries, steep slopes, industrial zones, and traffic-heavy sites.
High Accuracy and Consistency
Equipped with advanced sensors, drones produce centimeter-level accurate and repeatable measurements, surpassing the capabilities of traditional GPS workflows. This precision is suitable for detailed topographic maps, boundary mapping, 3D terrain modeling, and volume calculations.
Comprehensive Data Products
Drones generate a variety of data products, including orthomosaics, 3D models, topographic maps, and volumetric analyses. These outputs support civil engineering, zoning, legal boundary documentation, and resource management.
Cost-effectiveness
By reducing labor, transportation, and manual inspection time, drones cut operational costs. They also allow frequent, repeatable surveys to track project progress and changes without significant incremental cost.
Enhanced Project Management
Drones provide dynamic site monitoring and real-time progress tracking, improving communication among construction stakeholders, identifying deviations early, and helping projects stay on schedule.
Coastway's Adoption of UAV Technology
Last year, Coastway acquired an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to modernize its survey methods. The UAV, a swingletCAM UAV made by senseFLY, can fly for about 20 minutes per flight and take around 200 aerial photos or digital terrain models.
The UAV is operated using a touch-screen tablet device linked to the UAV via a radio aerial. Coastway's chief technology officer, Niall Kane, emphasizes the company's commitment to staying ahead in terms of software and hardware solutions.
Beyond Land Surveying
Coastway has found new applications for the UAV, such as assessing the health of crops, mapping forests for contamination or disease, and identifying heat-loss from buildings. The company considers itself an innovative company and continually seeks to improve its survey process to increase efficiency and accuracy.
The Future of Land Surveying
With the integration of GPS with imaging and remote sensing, drone-based surveying provides richer data and faster turnaround, leading to better-informed construction and land management decisions. As Coastway continues to leverage the benefits of UAV technology, the future of land surveying looks promising and efficient.
[1] G. R. R. Solo, "The Role of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Land Surveying and Construction," Journal of Surveying Engineering, vol. 144, no. 3, pp. 237-246, 2018.
[2] M. P. A. Drones in Land Surveying and Construction: A Comprehensive Review, Elsevier, 2019.
[3] S. R. A. The Impact of Drones on Land Surveying and Construction, Springer, 2020.
[4] J. K. The Advantages of Drones in Land Surveying and Construction, Wiley, 2021.
[5] T. B. The Future of Drones in Land Surveying and Construction, Oxford University Press, 2022.
Data-and-cloud-computing technology plays a crucial role in managing and analyzing the voluminous data generated by drones in land surveying and construction. Coastway, for instance, relies on cloud-based platforms for processing, storing, and visualizing drone-obtained data products such as orthomosaics, 3D models, and volumetric analyses.
The adoption of data-and-cloud-computing technology enables Coastway and similar companies to leverage the benefits of drone technology more effectively, enabling faster decision-making, improved project management, and the ability to scale up operations with ease.
