Top 5 Drones for Construction Emerging in 2021
Whether you call them Flying Mini Robots, Miniature Pilotless Aircraft, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), drones are slowly gaining its popularity. Drones are known to provide construction teams the ability to audit and measure the materials, permanent installation, and site progression. This technology helps in managing construction since they are in the stage of mass usage and adoption. That said, drones have made their impression in industries such as construction.
It reduces the risk of construction-related injuries or, worse, death. And with that, it helps in construction crew management as it lessens human-labor tasks and exposure to risk. So, what are the types of drones that are best to use for construction? 2021 has launched drones that are suitable for construction. That is why in this blog, we will unveil the newest power-house drones that are a big help to manage construction projects.
Choosing the Appropriate Drone for Construction Sites
These days, it has always been a part of project management for construction to utilize technologies. One of the technologies that most construction nowadays use is drones. Perhaps you are managing construction and considering the use of drones with your project. That way, you must first know how to choose the right drone for your construction site.
Drone Type
When choosing the type of drone to use, first, you need to know the construction area. If the site is less than 500 acres, probably the best kind of drone to use is the Multicopter. However, if the area is larger than 500 acres, you want to consider the fixed-wing UAV or a Multicopter.
If you opt to use fixed-wing UAVs, you must be aware that it is impossible to use or operate them in a restricted area. For example, you cannot use it in places where a lot of moving equipment or busy places. Since the weight of Multicopter is heavy enough, it needs a vacant runway to work with.
- Ease of Maintenance and Availability
One of the factors in managing tasks when you opt to use drones for construction is the availability and maintenance cost. Perhaps you should go for simple drones that are always available in stores. But, of course, you must be open about possibilities and dreaded events like crashing drones when used for constructions. It happens, especially when you least expect it.
Since you do not want to ruin the schedule posted in your construction scheduling software, you should prevent drone providers that can’t commit to repair or replace your drone if there are troubles. You should not wait that long if you want replacement parts or fixing. Go for brands known to provide replacement parts always to start flying again in just a matter of hours.
- Cost of Drone
The budget, of course, must be considered when you are choosing drones for construction. Multicopters are known to have mass-produced. This type of drone can be purchased easily, and it’s very affordable. However, fixed-wing UAVs can be limited in quantity. This means that units tend to be quite expensive or sometimes double the price.
- Real-Time Kinematic Enabled Drones
Go for drones that are RTK enabled since it’s not easy to get an accurate survey-grade for your site. With RTK and PPK-enabled drones, it will help you get a consistent survey-grade across your construction site.
Real-Time Kinetic drones will record geotags images and GPS information when working. There is an active base station on the ground that will send GPS data that are raw to the drone. It will combine with its data to determine the position consistently.
It must also stay linked to the base station while it gathers essential data. And you must be aware of the potential loss of signal, and if this happens, your data could be lost while you try to get a signal again.
- Post-Processed Kinematic Enabled Drones
You must have heard about another type of drone surveying called the PPK or Post-Processed Kinematic. The only distinction between RTK and PPK is that PPK gets trickier. First, you have to know that PPK is not hardware; it is another processing workflow using RTK drones.
The drone with PPK will geotag coordinates to each image based on the GPS unit. This will be based on the GPS unit, and while it is happening, the base will also record the information on the ground. That way, the base could record more accurate triangulation.
Once the flight is done, the GPS data should match through a photo timestamp. The drone’s primary GPS would be corrected and will give accurate geotags for the imagery. And that’s where images were used to build the site survey.
Most Sought After Drones in 2021
Now that you know how to choose drones to be used for construction, perhaps you should check out some of the best and top-notched drones that most construction managers use. These drones are the latest that features everything you are looking for in construction.
- Mini 2 Drone
Since more and more construction managers use drones, perhaps you want to consider the Mini 2 drone. With Mini 2, pilots will no longer use it to model or map construction sites since they will fly through the site. Instead, many project managers use the Mini 2 to fly through to monitor the progress or identify safety hazards of the construction.
That said, it would be easier for the construction crew management to lessen the laborer’s task and focus on other things since the drone can work for it. With the cheap price point that Mini 2 has, you should know that it may just offer limited functionality. However, this drone is just so easy to replace. Many people from the construction industry believe that the Mini 2 drone would be the future disposable camera. It just flies and does the job done right.
- DJI’s Phantom 4 Pro
This drone is believed to be a powerhouse mapping drone one could ever have for construction. It comes with a wide variety of apps that could be useful for construction modeling and mapping. The apps would allow pilots to save and set waypoints, allowing this drone to fly on a pre-planned mission. It would snap photos from the same position over time.
This is a rare drone that gives you a mechanical shutter to get photos for mapping quickly. Most construction engineers like its 1-inch sensor that is consistent and provides the photo with excellent color detail and depth. In addition, this drone is easy and simple to use, making it much easier to have that reliable flight. No wonder this is one of the emerging drones in 2021 and possibly for the years to come.
- DJI’s Inspire 2
Since more and more construction firms like to digitize their work, the DJI’s Inspire 2 could be the right drone that gets the job done. It has an increased safety feature, and it is very flexible as you can use this for other work. This is recommended to use if your site location is in cold areas with windy conditions all the time. In addition, it offers high-altitude props to help mountain towns build ski-lifts.
This drone also comes with an X7 camera that will allow the pilot to capture very good-quality images. You could create life-like 3D models with your site using this drone, and you could use various lenses to capture. The Inspire 2 is cheap, but when it comes to flexibility, it is genuinely brilliant.
- Wingtra One Drone
The Wingtra One Drone always gets the job done right when mapping large construction sites and long roads. This drone is appropriate for serious construction companies because they prefer fixed-wing drone-like Wingtra One Drone features. This is one of the rarest fixed-wing aircraft that comes with consistent vertical landing and takeoff capability. With this, you’re like viewing a work of art for the first time.
- Freefly’s Astro Drone
If your construction site is in some sensitive area, then drones from Freely can run this mission. It features a Sony A7R4 camera with 60MP quality photos, which is significant to most construction companies. It has a larger sensor, which means that this drone would only take a shorter flying time to finish the mission.
Another reason construction managers use this drone in 2021 is that it can fly higher than the usual drone. It still captures the exact resolution or way better than other drones. It can also have that Ground Sampling Distance that would be good for construction; no wonder most construction companies go for this.
Takeaway
There are plenty of good reasons why construction companies should invest in construction drones. For years, drones have been developed and are capable of modeling and mapping. That is why many would consider using drones, especially when the site is too large and located in sensitive areas.
In 2021, drones have become more advantageous for the construction industry and many more that need the help of drones. There are lasting effects, and as expected, drones will continue to emerge in the future and as the industry develops. It’s undeniably enabling efficient monitoring of the site, which is a big help in managing construction.
