Insurance

Overview

DroneHive was hired to provide aerial data collection with remote sensing services in support of both a nationwide insurance data and a forensic construction company. The clients used the data to reduce insurance and construction costs, enable transparency across multiple teams, and to improve planning and execution by way of visual observation.

Method

Flying a UAS drone over the site daily required that our flight plans consist of a cross-grid flight path with an 80% and frontlap and 60% sidelap. These flight parameter specifications refer to the amount of overlap that will be in each individual image. The overlap of each image increases accuracy and resolution by increasing pixels which allows for extremely detailed maps of the job site. We flew the drone at a speed of 50 feet per second and 400 feet above ground level. This produced an average of 1637 photos per scan of the entire construction site. Using a high-end multi-rotor drone allowed us to safely fly over the site at a low elevation and capture very high-resolution imagery that showed extreme detail of the project site in an efficient and quiet manner. We uploaded this data for processing nightly to deliver the client the following each morning:

• A high-resolution 2D map of the site area with 2cm accuracy. Providing focus during certain phases.
• A 3D high resolution rendering of the site, called a “point cloud, compatible with damage detecting machine learning algorithms and CAD software to assess damage to a given property.
• Verify “as-built” to the original design plans
• High Resolution photos and videos of areas of particular interest to the forensic engineering teams on that given day per their requests.

Result

The aerial data collected by DroneHive increased awareness of property conditions, damages, and ongoing repairs, which was viewed remotely by owners, adjusters, property managers, and general contractors. Our clients achieved improved communication and planning, plus significant cost savings on rework. The results were a very positive ROI on the cost of the drone equipment, processing software and remote pilot provided by DroneHive. The benefits of using a drone for high-value property assessments are clear and were accepted without hesitation by these two clients.This ongoing partnership, which helps to document numerous individual properties per day, helps to optimize the property inspection process and support massive construction projects.