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Unlike some of the latest consumer drones, who fly almost autonomously, Asio X requires mainly manual control, and in some very inexcusable places as well, as Astorino points out: “Dark is, air flow can change quickly within a closed space, and managing a flowing water flight in a limited tube.” As a result, he leaves flight to experts: “Our main operator, Captain Zach, is able to fly through some very complicated environments.”
This will be said, the inspection process itself is direct. “An antenna sits in the wells to ensure the signal strength from the drone controller in the drone,” Astorino Wired tells. “The operator will fly the drone from one well to another, recording the video through that flight path.” With about 20 minutes of battery life, Assio X can document about 1,000 meters of tube on a single flight, capturing not only videos, but lidar and infrared scans, and gas readings while passing through a sewer.
According to the old system, the video data would be analyzed in the field, with the defects of the camera operator when navigating through the pipes. Now, the data captured by the drone is sent to the sewerai contractors, who direct them through their algorithms assisted by him to automatically identify the defects. Astorino tells me that he was a player of the game, saving his team huge amounts of time and money.
“We have carried out months of testing against the codified video in the field by various contractors against what Sewerai was able to do with the same images, and every time Sewerai shone in what he was able to find and encrypted.” Previously, inspection of part of the sewer pipe may last month, but Sewerai has an agreement to send data analysis back to the circuit within 10 days; Astorino says he usually does this within 24 hours.
The team has been so impressed with the software package that even in areas where the drone cannot go and more traditional methods of inspection – small diameter pipes are required, for example – the resulting data is sent for analysis rather than codified in this area. Old data can be quickly reviewed and re-analyzed, capturing defects that original contractors may have lost at the time. This means that the repair work can be done where it is most needed, preventing the type of deterioration conditions that can lead to catastrophic and costly incidents as Sinkhole 2016.
The Macomb district has been a pioneer in this field. The first district in Michigan exploiting this combination of drones and software for inspection of underground infrastructure and has won two awards within the state as a result of its thinking forward. But Vince Astorino tells me that he and his team are always looking for new ways to modernize operations. “Hard hard to calculate big steps forward in technology around this space, especially with the big race of what is taking place around us. We are keeping our options open.”
