Surveying and inspecting safely from the air
UAVs – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – are now employed in many areas of surveying. This is not restricted to land surveys, but also includes open-cast mines, landfill sites and roads or buildings. In addition, these versatile little aircraft open up entirely new possibilities for the more efficient management of major construction sites. Before building work has even started, they can deliver a fast, low-cost aerial overview of local conditions and generate accurate and meaningful data for calculation and quotation purposes. Once building work has started, aerial photographs taken by UAVs provide regular documentary records of interim steps. Besides making it much easier to monitor construction progress, it also facilitates the control of internal processes. Once construction work has been completed, it is no problem for a UAV to carry out an inspection of the building and provide evidence that the work has been carried out as agreed and expedite final acceptance.
瑞士电力公司AXPO正在使用UAV AIBOT X6来调查和记录Glarus Alps地区的主要建筑项目“ Linthal 2015”。在最初的一步中，从空气中调查了整个林塔尔山谷，并生成了最高一厘米（0.4英寸）的点云。现在，该数据将构成计划施工过程后续步骤的基础。
The Swiss power company Axpo is building a new, underground pumped storage plant – the largest in the country – in the Canton of Glarus. In future, the plant will guarantee the future electricity supply to northeastern and central Switzerland. The plan is for the plant to pump water from Lake Limmernsee back up to Lake Muttsee – an altitude difference of 630 metres (2,070 feet) – where it can be used again to generate electricity when required. This large-scale project, which involves investment costs of around 1.85 billion USD (1.7 billion EUR) and is expected to take the best part of five years to complete, will employ up to 500 people at various construction sites. The plant should start to deliver electricity at the beginning of 2016.
Fast, flexible data collection
必须清除数十万立方米的土壤和岩石，以建造泵储存厂的隧道和洞穴。大部分这些损失将通过缆车将其运送到Muttenalp山，并用于建造大坝，该大坝长度超过一公里，最大高度为36米（118英尺）。其余材料将存放在现有的Limmern大坝前面。2014年10月，AXPO首次使用AIBOT X6来调查该区域，这被称为Limmerntobel惰性物质处理地点。由于周围的山脉阻止了卫星信号接收，因此飞机是手动飞行的，没有GPS导航。在飞行过程中以垂直角度拍摄地形的照片，以创建60％至90％重叠的处置地点的高分辨率图像。在飞行前，将14个地面控制点均匀地绘制在被调查区域的七个角度约50至80米（160至260英尺）的距离上，以便随后对图像进行地理参考。“这是Aibot X6第一次部署在2,000米（6,562英尺）的高度，但稀有气氛对其飞行特征没有不利影响，”飞行员Robert Lautenschlager解释说。
50,000平方米（12.5英亩）的土地进行了两次持续10分钟的航班调查。Agisoft摄影测量软件用于处理收集的数据，并生成具有最高一厘米（0.4英寸）精度的精确点云。处理的整个评估持续了约120分钟。然后将点云集成在施工现场的局部坐标系中，使Axpo的测量师能够计算沉积材料的体积。
Periodic photographic records of the disposal site had previously been created using an external filming system suspended from a helicopter. Not only can high-precision geographical data be recorded within a short space of time using the Aibot X6, but it is also possible to create complete and seamless documentation of the current status of construction work. At any given moment, the UAV can give contractors an immediate overview of how building work is progressing, thus helping them to plan and control processes better.
Combination of surveying and inspection
无人机的使用意味着现在可以越来越频繁地将测量和检查任务组合在一起。AXPO示例是一个完美的例证：将来，该公司打算使用AIBOT X6不仅用于创建地形数字模型来规划和建造电厂，还用于重要的检查任务。可以飞越现有的大坝并拍摄照片，以允许大坝的空气和水边上的混凝土表面的状况进行详细评估。在这种情况下，六角器将再次配备数码相机，并飞向将在所有关键区域拍摄高分辨率图片的位置，从而使甚至可以检测到最小的裂缝和其他异常。
The Aibot X6 can also be used to inspect electricity pylons. The hexacopter offers a number of advantages here, such as flexibility of deployment and availability at short notice in the event of a malfunction or defect. As the inspection is performed by a remote-control, unmanned aircraft, it is also safer and much cheaper than an inspection by helicopter or steeplejack, since it is not even necessary to switch off the current beforehand. In future, Axpo will also rely on unmanned airborne help in the environmental sector, where UAVs will be used to take pictures of mountain streams as part of residual water experiments.
由Friederike Nielsen和Robert Lautenschlager撰写
