Predictions about the billions of dollars that drone technology represents are as pervasive as they are extreme. Drone industry experts are currently tracking over 75 firms that offer drone market reports or forecasts of some type, all of which offer various opinions and numbers around what sort of an impact the technology will enable in industries like construction and agriculture as well as maritime and offshore services.
It’s easy and in some cases justified to get excited about the potential of the technology, but many of these predictions are based on how the drones might be utilized, as opposed to the difference they’re actually making. It’s why figuring out the ROI of UAVs is a key consideration when it comes to adoption, and it’s why the current applications of drones in maritime and offshore services are so important to consider. The use cases of today are what will make some of those billion dollar predictions possible, and makes it essential to see these uses explored in depth and detail at industry events.
Gathering Data for Inspection Purposes
Many professionals think of drones as little more than sensors in the sky, gathering information in faster, cheaper and safer ways than are otherwise available. Those differences are almost always realized in the context of augmenting or supporting work that’s already being done, by providing technology alternatives. In maritime environments, these differences can be seen directly and indirectly.
The UK Royal Navy has used drones to identify ship defects so that they might be able to diagnose and resolve issues while at sea. Doing so represents an incredible reduction in time and maintenance costs that would otherwise be committed to spotting and resolving such issues.
The impact drones can have on safety considerations is sometimes difficult to measure, but easy to understand. Sending a drone to visualize a flare tip is far safer and more efficient than having a person climb up scaffolding. Drones are also able to enter environments and conditions (in order to conduct the inspection of an industrial chimney, for example) that would otherwise need to be totally shutdown before a human could go into them, causing costly delays. By using the technology to gather data for inspection purposes, a drone of relatively modest cost can provide potential $1 million-plus daily savings for certain oil and gas clients.
The Elios from Flyability is a collision-tolerant drone, designed for the inspection and exploration of the most inaccessible places. It has been used to carry out tank inspections beyond where an operator can physically see the drone, without the use of safety equipment that would otherwise be required for human inspectors.
We’re just at the beginning phases of where and how this technology can gather critical information though. The Naviator is a drone that is designed to fly just as easily as it can swim, and the maritime applications of such a drone are practically endless. Since it was designed from the ground up to be able to operate underwater, by default it is capable of operating in intense weather which means it would be able to gather critical info regardless of storms or other bad weather conditions. The need to gather critical info about structures such as piers, ships and docks can be complicated since many of them have components that are both in and out of the water, which is why using a single device to capture all this information will create incredible value.
All of the data being gathered by drones isn’t just being used to augment inspections though.
TO BE CONTINUED
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