This article is part of a blog series, in which we discuss how drone adoption will grow and the benefits and challenges of using them in the construction industry

The future of drones in the construction industry

Drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are becoming ever more popular. They are unbelievably valuable on construction sites and built asset maintenance. They are used to:

• make land and existing building surveys
• keep track of machine inventory
• improve safety.

Drone technology is valuable to help you streamline your workflows. There are three main types of technology:

• real-time kinematics (RTK) drones can create digital maps of work sites for established structures and infrastructure, accurate to within 1 centimeter
• photogrammetry drones are so precise in their efficient data collection measurement, that you could count with precision the amount of material left on site
• light detection and ranging (LiDAR) drones bring a high degree of detail, they are used for mapping small objects.

Drones will aid you to:

• cut costs
• save time
  
• mitigate risks
• reduce labor
• streamline processes
• increase quality and accuracy
• collaborate efficiently.

How to use drones in the future? You could:

• direct and guide autonomous vehicles
• shorten the construction life cycle
• change the way projects are managed
• monitor quality
• identify potential safety issues
• simulate the position of cranes to ensure safer, more seamless operations
• enable site traffic to continue as normal, without the need to temporarily shut down operations to allow surveyor access
• provide copious amounts of reliable data including map-quality images, digital surface models (DSMs), and detailed point clouds so architects and site managers can improve the 3D modeling process.

Drones or UAVs:

• are cost-effective
• streamline operational efficiencies
• increase profit margins
• improve safety
• drive innovation across the industry
• offer new ways for the future of mapping in the construction space.

Construction drone worldwide market

The global construction drone market was valued at 5.3 billion in 2022 and projected to reach $12 billion by 2028.

The COVID-19 lockdown in many countries has slowed down the growth of the drone market in the construction industry.

Manual operations and automated operations of construction drones can support you to remotely get an aerial view of a construction site to:

• see where the material is located and should be delivered
• locate people and machinery to reduce the probability of accidents and thefts
• improve safety and security
• inspect on-site progress
• survey a field to map the geography of a site
• facilitate data acquisition in real-time
• capture accurate images
• access hazardous areas.

The global need to build new houses supports the growth of drone demand, to fulfill the need for surveying large lands with difficult access on uneven terrain or containing rocky obstacles.

Drones are perfectly adequate to perform these tasks efficiently and quickly, reducing the need for human intervention.

Initiatives like the Survey of India (SoI) are expected to drive the construction drone market growth. The use of drones and other technologies like GPS and artificial intelligence, make mapping activities easier and more efficient. For example, SoI using drone technology:

• mapped the Village Gaothan in the State of Maharashtra covering more than 40,000 villages.
• mapped five districts of the State of Karnataka for the revenue departments including village, semi-urban and urban areas
• initiated latent semantic mapping for the complete state of Haryana.

Governments in various countries have been under pressure to invest in residential and infrastructure construction to develop their economy and improve the standard of living. For example, Japan invested $367 billion in infrastructure projects in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

These initiatives will help the construction industry worldwide to grow, expanding the need to use drones and contributing to the growth of the construction drone market during the forecast period.

In the U.S., Canada, the UK, Europe, Russia, India, China, and Brazil, urbanization expanded due to a high rise in the population and posed major implications for the built environment and demand for housing in the short- and long-term.

An unexpected potential negative impact on the market is the war in Ukraine. Never in the history of warfare have drones been used as intensively as in Ukraine. Russians and Ukrainians depend heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles to pinpoint enemy positions and guide their hellish artillery strikes. The drone fleets of both sides are depleted, and they are racing to build or buy drones.

Rotary wing drone

This segment is projected to grow significantly, but the market could be slowed down as:

Construction drone margins are under pressure due to the use of expensive specialized equipment like:

• cameras
• batteries
• remote controls
• propellers
• GPS antenna.

Another negative impact on the global market growth is the lack of a skilled workforce for designing, developing, and operating drones.

The drone offering

The drone offering is continuously improving to fulfill the needs of our industry. For example:

• The US-based TraceAir company provides an integration platform that combines topographic information, site measurements, and other data collected by drones into any handheld device. As a result, civil engineers and construction supervisors have optimal visibility of the progress of construction in real-time.
• The Israeli company Civ Robotics flagship CivDrones are controlled by an autopilot algorithm and include data management software. It provides solutions for land surveying using smart stakes. Drones help deploy stakes in construction sites in line with the engineering designs.
• In the UK the company British Sees.ai offers remote drone operation solutions to construction companies. The control room simulates a virtual reality (VR) environment on-site that enables pilots to navigate the drones remotely. As a result, this increases efficiency, on-site worker safety, and profitability.

Land surveying

Advanced technologies are coupled with drones to improve the surveying of lands:

• global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)
• global positioning systems (GPS)
• geographical information systems (GIS)
• internet of things (IoT)
• thermal imaging
• artificial intelligence (AI).

For example, drones can create 3D models of large areas with laser scanners combined with standard topographic survey programs to identify what earthwork volumes are present on the construction site.

Segmentation

The global construction drone market is segmented into:

Types: fixed-wing drones and rotary-wing drones.

Application: surveying lands, infrastructure inspection, security & surveillance.

Clients: end users, residential, commercial, and industrial.

Regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Asia-Pacific holds a dominant position in 2019 and is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period.

Competition strategies

Acquisition, partnership, and product launch are major players adopting the key strategies to remain competitive in the market.

Drone usage

Data produced by drones are used throughout the construction lifecycle, from feasibility to maintenance.

Bidding and pre-planning

A topographic survey of the site with drones allows you to understand the environment of the future project, even during the strategy phase to show the possible:

• drainage points
• changes in elevation
• locations for building, digging, or storing materials.

Planning and design

You can use the topographic survey imagery in the BIM Execution Plan to collaborate with architects, local authorities, and engineers.

With a drone, 3D models, and augmented reality you can display an as-built building on the site to:

• get a clear picture of how a digital building may look next to an existing one
• assess how the new project will impact the area practically and aesthetically
• allow analysis and visualization of cast shadows and views
• import data such as curbs or manhole measurements into your CAD or GIS software to enrich existing data.

Maintenance and asset inspection

Maintenance may cost you a lot of money and time if you are using traditional facility management tools. To prevent serious problems, you must ensure the quality and maintenance of your assets at reasonable costs. Knowing exactly where the assets are located, and sending drones to visually inspect them, makes the complete process much easier, even in hard-to-reach and hazardous areas. It is cost-effective and brings you accurate data in real-time

Construction

The construction phase is where the drones will bring the highest value.

Earthworks

By importing drone images in software, you will be able to:

• generate a point cloud containing geospatial and color information
• get precise volume measurements and run a cut/fill analysis
• accurately measure the amount of earth moved so you can save money as you will know exactly how much to pay the contractors.

As-built vs. as-designed

Accurate site visualization allows you to compare what was built and overlay the design to identify differences between planned and real-time progress, and correct errors incredibly early on to avoid costly reworks.

Site progress monitoring

Using drones to survey progress allows you to check and validate the completed work on site every day so you can move on to the next task, shortening the construction process and making sure that deadlines are met.

Communication and collaboration

Monitoring progress with drones in real-time allows all stakeholders in their respective locations to know how things are progressing. It is more efficient and less costly than traditional site visits or helicopter images that are out of date the minute they are taken.

So, you can:

• update the schedules of the operations as needed
• explain how the work should be performed
• identify safe or hazardous areas
• send visual reports to customers about timing and budget.

Rework and litigation documentation

When your project is moving forward, and it reaches a milestone, you want to be sure that everything has been achieved to the highest quality standard. Further construction is based on that milestone, so if something has been done wrong, you will eventually get stuck, and you may have to tear down what has been done previously. Having up-to-date visual data can help you catch a mistake before it takes shape and avoid demolition and the waste of time and materials related to it.

And if a mistake happens, and it is built over, you have regular documentation of the process, and you can check back to see where the mistake occurred more precisely and settle disputes without lengthy discussion, or even court cases.

Handover

Detailed documentation presents advantages to both the contractors and the site owner, who will take over responsibility for the project once complete. Specifically, the owner can look carefully through the documentation before agreeing to the handover, and contractors can prove that the work has been conducted as per requirements, including details on who did what.

In conclusion

The drone market is expanding at high speed and is here to stay.

Drones can be used in all phases of a construction project. You can use construction drones remotely either for manual operation or automated operations to get an aerial view of a construction site to:

• locate machinery, materials, and people
• improve safety and security by flying drones over hazardous areas
• inspect structures
• survey a field to map the geography of a site, capturing accurate images
• facilitate data acquisition in real time.

Driving Vision can help you to decide if you need to invest in technology. Our technology diagnostic looks at the best way to incorporate innovative technology into your workflows.

A Driving Vision expert will conduct the interviews online and will discuss with you the report and our findings. Together we will decide the best way to implement the solutions at your pace and according to your budget.

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