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How drone tech will revolutionize Guam industries


photogrammetry
Guam Air Traffic Control Facility


Intro

In the construction/engineering industry, drones have been used primarily for inspection purposes, but as technology advanced, drones started serving and supporting more complex operations like generating highly-accurate point cloud data, orthomosaic maps, elevation models, contours and 3D models.


Today, it is not a question of whether this technology works anymore. It’s been proven for almost a decade (since 2014) and has been adopted by the biggest construction companies in the U.S. including multi-national companies like McCarthy and Brasfield & Gorrie. It is now a question of “how can we integrate this technology to improve efficiency” (get things done cheaper, faster, better). As Guam has yet to adopt drones for industrial applications, 2cofly is leading the way to do so.


drone mapping
Setting up a drone mission in Guam

Drones provide tremendous value throughout the construction process and it provides support or in some cases completely brings a new way of getting things done. Some of the people drones can benefit in the field are project managers, site managers, BIM managers, surveyors, engineers, and even to the every day field workers.


Drone outputs we provide:

  • High-res orthophotos

  • Digital Elevation Models (DSM, DTM)

  • 3D point clouds

  • Algorithm-based contours

  • Stockpile measurements (volume, area, cut/fill)

  • High-res imagery (photos, videos)

  • 3D modeling

  • Aeromagnetic surveying (for UXO detection)


Orthomosaic Map (Orthophoto or orthoimagery)


Overlay orthophoto over Google Earth

An orthomosaic map is a 2D representation of an area that is corrected from the effects of terrain relief or camera tilt/angle to produce a unified, scaled map. This is created by taking hundreds, if not thousands of overlapping photos that are stitched together.


By georeferencing the map with ground control points, they can be used as map layers in GIS, overlay contours or DEMs, planning and updating all stakeholders, take accurate linear measurements, do as-built vs. as-designed comparison, spot potential hazards, analyze stockpiles, display operations, or for deep analysis.


They serve as a great form of site record-keeping/documentation to go back to, or to settle disputes on whether a work was done or not on a certain day. It also gives you the most up-to-date visualization of the site, rather than looking at a year or more old low-resolution Google Earth representation.


Turnaround time

Turnaround time largely depends on the size of the area and the accuracy needed. A 10-acre land with absolute accuracy in mind (incorporating GCPs) can be delivered in 1-2 days including data acquisition and post processing. Smaller areas can be done in a matter of hours.


Day-to-day progress tracking




3D Point Cloud Data