Drones Stand To Help Service Truck Operators

Drones are perhaps mostly widely known for their recreational use and for occasional near misses with aircraft. But they’re also looming the horizon as yet another tool for mechanics and their service trucks.

David Culler, CEO of Hazon Solutions, is scheduled to talk about drones — otherwise known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs — during a panel session at the Utility Fleet Conference in Louisville, Ky., in early October.

Based in Virginia Beach, Va., Hazon inspects power lines, railway bridges and other infrastructure. Culler says he plans to talk during the panel session — titled “How Will Drones Impact the Future of Fleet in the Utility Sector” — about how his company uses sensor-equipped UAVs to help with inspections and how fleets might benefit from the technology.

The fleet conference coincides with the biennial International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition also taking place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville from Oct. 3 to 5.

UVA use increases 31-fold

While governments set the rules for recreational and commercial drone users in order to prevent airspace chaos, the market appears poised for considerable growth. In a recent report, Navigant Research forecast a sharp hike in global annual revenues for drone and robotics technologies used for transmission and distribution — abbreviated as DRTD — from $131.7 million in 2015 to $4.1 billion in 2024. That’s a 31-fold increase over 10 years.

“Transmission and distribution (T&D) operators and utilities across the globe are beginning to look toward UAVs to reduce costs, improve safety, and increase reliability and response times across their systems,” says a report synopsis posted online. (To access the report, visit www.navigantresearch.com and search for “drones.”)

“T&D utilities have traditionally performed line inspections and maintenance, storm damage assessments, and vegetation management using line crews, helicopters, and third-party inspection services companies,” Navigant stated. “Working on T&D systems is cost-intensive, difficult, and highly dangerous, and DRTD solutions represent an alternative with the potential to offer many benefits to grid operators.”

Hazon Solutions is part of this growing sector of the economy, using UAVs on a routine basis to do comprehensive inspections of hard-to-reach infrastructure facilities.

“When there’s been a storm, we’ll utilize a UAV to fly down transmission lines to get a good overall view of their integrity,” said Culler, who company maintains a fleet of about 20 drones. “We’ll be able to see if any trees have fallen in the right-of-ways, and if there are any we can identify the location and what the issue is.”

Hazon’s experience using drones to inspect bridges and transmission lines has opened Culler’s eyes to similar opportunities for other sectors — thus his appearance at the Utility Fleet Conference in October.

Another tool your truck

“Think of them as just another tool on your truck,” Culler said when Service Truck Magazine asked him how drones might benefit field mechanics. “Unmanned systems with whatever sensors you need can help you get to the location where the repair is going to be and can enhance your situational awareness before you start the repair.”

A drone’s value proposition is vantage at height. A conventional service truck might have a bucket to ferry a mechanic upward to inspect transmission line structures and other equipment, or someone might even climb a pole or tower. However, a UAV could be dispatched and controlled remotely to take photographs, including close-ups, from multiple angles. That way, the mechanic can view on a phone or other mobile device exactly what’s wrong, what tools are needed, and what potential hazards to expect before making the climb.

“If you climb, there’s only so many places you can go,” Culler said. “With a UAV, the information is going to be better quality, with all kinds of unique vantage points. It’s going to increase your efficiency, effectiveness and safety.”

UAVs are also useful for getting the lay of the land.

“It’s a great situational awareness tool for access,” Culler said. “Say a vehicle has broken down and you’ve got to send a service truck. If there’s been a storm and there’s fallen trees or power lines, you’ll be able to see what roads you might take to get there.”

The same goes for steep terrain.

“If you’re trying to get a service truck into a precarious area, a UAV would be a huge potential safety piece because it can help ensure you take a road that’s accessible and gets to the right location, not up a winding mountain road where you can get up only so far and have to back down.”

Prices vary greatly

As with any technology, drones have limitations. Near-misses with aircraft have led governments to implement strict rules. These vary jurisdictionally, but by and large UAVs must be operated within line of sight and rules that govern proximity to airports and populated areas.

In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration sets the rules, including mandatory training for commercial operators. “The FAA has to ensure they integrate these unmanned systems safely into the national air space,” Culler explained. Regulation in Canada is through Transport Canada.

There’s also the price. Cheap consumer drones cost just a few hundred dollars, but serious commercial drones can fetch upwards of $10,000, with some truly high-end systems exceeding $100,000.

“What you pay for is what you get,” Culler said.

UAVs vary in size and adaptability in terms of their ability to carry multiple different cameras. Battery capabilities also vary while some systems are rain-resistant.

It’s much like purchasing any significant piece of equipment, Culler said.

“What information are you trying to capture? Do you want high-definition imagery or video? You can get infrared if you’re looking for hot spots, and radio metrics will give you a temperature reading so if there’s some sort of a failure, and you know what the temperature should be, you could read that.”

Culler envisions the technological capabilities increasing over time, yet he expects prices to moderate.

“We’re already seeing that,” he said. “Even with some of the really high-end ones in the commercial space, it’s becoming a much more competitive market.”

For more information about Hazon Solutions, visit: www.hazonsolutions.com.

For more information about the drones panel, which takes place Oct. 4, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., search ICUEE’s education page: www.icuee.com/visit/conferences-education.

The 2017 version of ICUEE, also known as the Demo Expo, takes place Oct. 3-5 at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

Saul Chernos is a freelance writer based in Toronto.