Using LiDAR and photogrammetry sensors, Delair-Tech recently teamed up for a pilot project with a Washington state utility to demonstrate the value of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for electric line inspections and digitization.
The company, which is based in both France and South Pasadena, Calif., performed a series of test acquisitions for Puget Sound Energy (PSE). Delair-Tech also provided training to the PSE operations team.
The data was directly uploaded onto Delair-Tech’s servers for further processing and analysis within Delair Analytics and with the help of Quantum Spatial. At the end of the mission, PGE had a classified point cloud, as well as a digitized model of the transmission lines over the flown segment. The products were delivered within formats compatible with PLS-CADD, software widely used within the power and utilities industry, says Delair-Tech.
“The results provided were of high accuracy and quality, confirming the significant advantage of using UAVs in our industry,” says Mitch Droz, commercial development manager at PSE.
Delair-Tech says it has benefited from some European countries’ regulations that are friendlier to drone operations taking place beyond the visual line of sight of the operator.
“This mission successfully proves Delair America’s readiness to deploy its custom solutions within the U.S. now that the Part 107 regulations are in place.” says Benjamin Benharrosh, co-founder of Delair-Tech.
