Increased Safety with 5G Drone Inspections

Challenge and opportunity.

As the U.S. looks to modernize its aging civil infrastructure, public and private sector partnerships face the monumental challenge of repairing or rebuilding thousands of roads, bridges, dams, and utilities.

Effectively prioritizing and completing these rebuilding efforts means thoroughly inspecting and assessing structures, which can be a daunting task. Bridges, for instance, can extend for miles across waterways, hundreds of feet above canyons, or into other remote and difficult-to-reach places. Manual inspections may involve climbing or rappelling down the sides of bridge towers to ensure existing infrastructure and new projects are built to code. It’s resource and time intensive, expensive, and often dangerous.

In the U.S., 223,000 bridges need repair1

There’s got to be a better way—and fortunately, there is. Businesses are using aerial drones, enabled by wireless connectivity, to inspect and monitor work on bridges, rail lines, electric grids, and other essential infrastructure. Drones can be a safer, less expensive, and more effective way to inspect infrastructure and new construction—and the digital images they capture provide a record for compliance.

Regulations have required operators to keep drones within their line of sight. One promising new capability, which the FAA has approved on a case-by-case basis, involves flying drones even farther—beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). To do so requires far-reaching, low-latency wireless connectivity to navigate the airborne drone. A leading provider of infrastructure and agricultural-productivity solutions recently completed a 77-mile BVLOS drone flight, enabled by our 5G.

“A big challenge on infrastructure projects is viewing and monitoring hard-to-reach areas. Aerial drones can overcome physical barriers, keeping workers out of harm’s way.”
Mary Dougan, Manager - IoT Solutions at T-Mobile for Business

Drone site inspection.

Safer inspections go far and wide.

Drones have huge potential, but operation beyond visual line of sight is a challenge. With 5G networks, drone site inspections help teams get more done with less risk.

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Business benefits.

Inspecting and monitoring infrastructure projects is among the many valuable industrial applications of 5G-enabled drones. Others include real-time observation of sprawling construction projects, far-flung utility power networks, and vast commercial farms. Drones—equipped with high-resolution, often multispectral cameras and connected by 5G—offer businesses a better way to inspect buildings, bridges, and other worksites.

More efficient and timely inspections.

5G-connected drones can inspect sites faster, more comprehensively, and less expensively than site managers on foot or in vehicles—allowing the work to be done far more frequently.

Safer and simpler site management.

With drone monitoring, workers don’t have to climb on or crawl underneath structures or face other physical hazards. That means less risk exposure for workers and the business alike.

Digital representation and archiving.

Businesses can store video, images, and telemetry data and make it readily accessible to verify compliance with codes, regulations, and policy.

Key technologies.

5G networks provide the high-speed connectivity required to precisely guide camera-equipped drones and transmit video, images, and other data. As 5G networks continue to expand and cover more areas of the U.S., emerging drone use cases like BVLOS inspections are becoming viable in more places.

Long-range aerial drones.

Regulations allow camera-equipped commercial drones to fly several hundred feet above the ground, covering dozens of miles per day and gathering information for inspection, monitoring, and compliance.

High-definition cameras.

Cameras help the drone pilot navigate and record images and video. Multispectral cameras capture data at different frequencies, such as infrared. Footage can be downloaded and analyzed upon return.

Using drones for site inspections across industries.

With their bird’s eye view, aerial drones can be used for everything from monitoring cell towers and utility lines to inspecting acres of farmland. The common thread is their ability to navigate far and wide, collecting images and other data for site assessment.

Manufacturing.

In manufacturing, drones perform remote monitoring and inspections. They can be fitted with sensors to detect gas emissions and support other aspects of environmental safety.

Construction.

Camera-equipped drones are becoming essential tools to manage, monitor, and aid in compliance of immense projects like stadiums, airports, rail lines, and electrical dams.

Utilities.

Electric companies are using drones to inspect poles and power lines, producing video and thermal data, and to quickly assess storm damage and other emergencies.

Agriculture.

Drones help farmers observe crops and livestock at scale, including through new sensor technologies that monitor soil conditions, irrigation, and crop height and health.

An aerial view of two combines harvesting wheat.

Understand the impact.

Pressure to rebuild cracking and rusting civil infrastructure is driving a need to transform how worksites are inspected and monitored. And it’s not just construction companies that are looking for new ways to keep an eye on the progress of their projects. Road contractors, utility companies, and manufacturers all face the same challenge.

Aerial drones, operating with 5G-enabled navigation, are bringing a new level of efficiency and safety to these and many other types of large-scale site inspections. By one estimate, drones can survey a geographic area 20 times larger than traditional methods at a fraction of the cost, and with 60 times improvement in efficiency.² This explains why 5G-connected drones have such great potential for reaching remote and often inaccessible areas, such as gas pipelines that cut through a forest.

5,260 OSHA safety violations related to fall protection in 20223

A growing number of companies are adopting this cheaper, safer method of inspection. One construction and infrastructure company used to hire mountaineers, equipped with harnesses and ropes, to scale and visually inspect bridges. The company now uses camera-equipped drones to fly right up to a bridge’s structural components and capture digital images. The images are analyzed by artificial intelligence for signs of compromise or corrosion. What once took a month now takes a day.⁴

Elsewhere, a former CTO with a company that makes concrete and other material for construction projects said drones were part of a three-pronged approach to site inspections: fixed cameras on the perimeter, robots within walled structures, and drones for external inspection. Using drones, the company was able to look for signs of wear and tear. “You want to see if there’s any deterioration of things, and how it’s progressing,” the CTO said in a research interview conducted on our behalf.

The CTO added that it would be “very, very helpful” to be able to communicate with the drone in real time. That capability would allow site inspectors to make decisions, redirect the drone, and make other adjustments while the drone is in the air. 5G’s speed and bandwidth allow for this kind of in-flight communication and navigation.

In another example, a U.S. contractor conducts dozens of mapping projects using autonomous drones to create 3D models of sites. The drones keep workers away from hazardous conditions that are common to ground-based inspections.

The price tag to improve and repair aging infrastructure in the U.S. is enormous—one report put it at $1 trillion.⁵ Camera-equipped drones are a promising way to monitor and inspect that work efficiently and at lower costs.

“If we can get feedback from the drones in real time, we can change the path and the time we spend at different places. You can optimize it while you’re doing it.”

Former CTO in the construction industry

A SAFER VIEW
FROM ABOVE
MADE POSSIBLE WITH 5G.