At this year’s DroneDeploy Conference (“DDC20”), we announced an entirely new way to capture data and established a fast, consolidated process to reimagine your job site. Utilizing the principles of digital transformation, IoT, and automation, we announced not just a new product but a workflow for the future of work.
Let’s break down what DDC20 taught us about 360 Walkthrough and the future of digital reconstruction.
One Complete, Objective Perspective of Any Site
First, to understand digital reconstruction, it’s important to understand the concept isn’t based only on capturing site data. Yes, that is one aspect of it. But digital reconstruction is essential because it not only captures reality, it transforms the site into one complete, objective perspective. Digital reconstruction allows you to analyze anomalies, pain points, and problem areas; it makes it easy to readily share information across employees, teams, and stakeholders – no matter where they are in the world; and it allows companies to act quickly on issues that need solving. Perhaps most importantly, though, digital reconstruction will enable companies across a variety of industries to measure every aspect of their projects, assets, sites, from the ground-up, from the sky-down, inside & out, all in one solution.
Aerial-to-Ground & Vertical Data Connecting Everyone in One Platform
It isn’t enough to see the top of a building or an aerial view of a field or well pad; industries require a complete, objective view of their site – a sole source of truth to determine what companies should and should not be working on. It was clear that what was missing was one solution designed exclusively to bring the elements of site reality to anyone, anywhere, from any angle. Several companies can, in fact, capture a site’s exterior; a select few more can capture the interior – some even do it quite well. But companies and industries alike want (and need) a solution that integrates exterior, interior, ground, aerial, and vertical data all in one platform. DroneDeploy has accomplished that.
One of the most advanced and unique elements of digital reconstruction is the launch of DroneDeploy’s 360 Walkthrough. The introduction of 360 Walkthrough represented one of our goals at DroneDeploy: to create a seamless experience from the exterior to the interior; to simplify your site’s view; to change the way people work for the better.
In the simplest terms, using any 360-camera on any device, you can walk a site, upload the data into DroneDeploy, and get a 360-view of any floor, at any angle. But where DroneDeploy stands alone from the rest is that after processing, the customer can align the walkthrough to their aerial capture, providing a comprehensive view of their site. This process is incredibly fast and exceptionally intuitive.
At any point, team members and stakeholders can drag their view to any position on the map – providing complete documentation of work while simultaneously tracking progress. Workers can even track and assign work still in need of completion. Teams can also show and join any overlays that have been added to the project, typically useful for aligning to a drawing or floor plan. Clicking on any point on any walkthrough will take you to a 360-pano viewer of that location: unlimited insight in one solution.
Think about the traditional methods of capturing a site: they are often expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous. The cost of renting a helicopter to hover over multiple areas is exorbitant; the time it takes to fly site with a plane can take hours (not to mention expensive); and workers building and climbing scaffolding is a combination of costly, lengthy, and risky. Initially, drone data helped mitigate the cost, time, and risk associated with these traditional methods. Still, something was missing: a complete reality capture of a site – inside and out.
Expanding the Limits of Visual Data and Digital Reconstruction
Digital reconstruction also incorporates vertical flight and 3D inspections into customer workflows. Vertical flight allows you to create an automated flight template that will capture high-resolution imagery, whether it is a 20-story apartment building, a hospital, a cooling tank, or a tower. Traditional methods required you to spend tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars on scaffolding, swing stages, or bucket lifts to conduct an inspection for a bid or maintenance.
3D inspection enables you to zoom, pan, and rotate to conduct your inspection. Using the keyboard or on-screen controls, users can quickly cover a facade, tagging issues in the full resolution images, and working methodically to cover the entire surface. This next level of inspection is making previously complex and expensive asset and property portfolio inspections simple, repeatable, cost-effective, and safe, helping our customers to save time and money by transforming physical work into digital workflows.
One Complete Tool for Streamlining Workflows
One of the basic principles that DroneDeploy abides by is to simplify. We understand it can be tedious and cumbersome to track progress on a job site using multiple tools that fail to integrate. It is a frustrating and unpalatable daily realization for so many. But complete digital reconstruction has changed all of that. The future of work is simple, complete, and efficient. And with a comprehensive perspective across all job sites, everyone is assured to stay informed through consistent documentation across all stakeholders.
While there are many facets of digital reconstruction we covered: capturing, processing, vertical flight, sharing, analyzing, 3D modeling and inspections, annotating, and assigning – to name a few – every facet is consolidated into one platform, expediting operations and improving workflows, and ultimately saving time and money. Digital reconstruction is the first step in solving problems. And companies no longer have to search for multiple solutions to solve those problems; DroneDeploy is already here, transforming the future – and it’s only just the beginning.
Want to learn how DroneDeploy helps drive more key performance indicators (KPIs) in construction? Read our eBook, or talk to us.
