Data’s Journey — Part 1: Planning
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Overall Project Stats:
- Structures Inspected: 1314
- Photos Taken: 39,401
- Defects Detected (more than traditional inspection approach): 10X
- Total Distance: 220 km
- Total Inspection Time: 22 Days
- In-field Team Composition: Pilot, Safety Officer, and Data Manager
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” — Benjamin Franklin
In this first installment, we’ll discuss the planning stages of a recently completed project, the 230kV transmission line inspection in Labrador, Canada. This project involved two parallel transmission lines, L23(A) and L24(A), spanning approximately 220 km between Wabush and Churchill Falls, NL.
Planning Overview
Proper flight and safety planning is required to ensure the safe and efficient execution of drone inspections for 230kV powerlines in Labrador, Canada. Excellent planning was vital, not only for the safety of our team but also to guarantee high-quality, accurate data capture. Below, we shed light on our robust planning procedure.
Flight Plan and Data Onboarding
Our process started with creating an in-depth flight plan, which included customer-provided data onboarding:
- Structure KML files
- Access Trails
- Designated Ford Sites
- Raptor Nests
Additional inputs were added while planning such as identifying other potential access trails, helicopter landing points, restricted flight zones, and wet areas to avoid travel via satellite imagery. All this information was prepared into a singular flight plan and presented to the larger team for feedback and comments.
Flight Planning Engine — Operations Estimate
Leveraging the provided information, we utilized Detect’s proprietary Flight Planning Engine to generate a time and schedule estimate which was then shared with the customer. Sample outputs include:
- Batteries Required
- Flight Time
- Travel Time
- Takeoff Points
- Field Operations Cost Estimation
- Software Compute Cost Estimations
More details on our Flight Planning Engine can be found here.
Data Collection Shot List
Part of the flight planning included a comprehensive shot list, which was thoroughly reviewed and enhanced based on past deficiency notes.
After the initial preparation, we ran through different flight operation scenarios on local similar structures, reviewing our process internally. The proposed shots were then presented to the larger team, where we gained valuable feedback, and the process was repeated based on the comments. This iterative approach ensured our plan’s efficiency and our data collection’s accuracy during flight operation scenarios.
Customer-provided engineering drawings were referenced as a guide for our pilots to capture the data — highlighting all steel members and components were captured with the appropriate image quality. This step is crucial to ensuring expectations are lined up prior to mobilizing to the field.
Navigating Restricted Flight Zones
The project location was in the vicinity of two aerodromes, which presented us with restricted flight zones. As part of our planning phase, we obtained necessary approvals from Wabush and Churchill Falls aerodromes, NavCanada, and Transport Canada, ensuring all our operations were compliant with local and national regulations.
According to Transport Canada — a Drone Pilot is conducting “Advanced Operations” if any 1 of these conditions are met:
- You want to fly in controlled airspace
- You want to fly over bystanders
- You want to fly within 30 meters (100 feet) of bystanders (measured horizontally)
- You want to fly less than 3 nautical miles from a certified airport or a military aerodrome
- You want to fly less than 1 nautical mile from a certified heliport
The images below show the applicable conditions (highlighted above in bold). More details about other flight restrictions or Transport Canada rules can be found here.
Detect’s drone pilots have previously obtained their Pilot Certificate — Advanced Operations so these operations would be feasible, pending a few additional steps being taken as well.
NAV CANADA is responsible for the safe, orderly, and efficient movement of air traffic in Canadian airspace. The next step for our flight planning is to get our flight operations approved from NAVCanada through their NAVDrone webportal. Here, pilots submit flight operations details such as:
- Date and time of operations
- Location of flight path/take-off & landing points
- Pilot contact details
- Technical details of drone operations if RC signal is lost
Once approved, our team reached out to the local aerodrome operators for approval with the following information:
- Contact information
- Operating procedure in the event of a flyaway drone
- Approval from NAVDrone
- Map of the operating area
- Drone specifications
- Purpose of flight operations
- Advance Operations Certification and Drone Registration Information
Once approval was obtained, all that there was to do was to call the aerodrome operators before and after each flight and complete the mission.
Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE)
Our HSE procedures were integral to our planning phase. This included creating a site-specific emergency response plan, defining roles and responsibilities, and developing safety measures like a flyaway procedure and fire watch. A daily risk assessment was also used to keep safety at the forefront of our operations.
We made sure that our in-field operations team adhered strictly to regulatory compliance, and we continuously updated their training and qualifications. We took environmental considerations into account, including raptor procedures and waste management, to ensure our operations were environmentally friendly.
Nesting season refers to the period of the year when birds breed, build nests, lay eggs, and raise their young. The exact timing of nesting season can vary by species and geographical location. For most birds, including many raptors, this tends to occur in the spring and early summer, when food sources are most abundant. Where this inspection was taking place during this nesting season, it was critical to develop a site-specific procedure for drone operations near raptors.
All safety procedures and documentation were shared with NLH and Stantec prior to mobilization.
Equipment
Labrador, Canada, with its daunting wilderness, harsh climate, and diverse, often challenging terrain, demands that anyone venturing into its expanse must be equipped with the right gear, which is absolutely crucial for survival and successful work in this rugged environment.
In the image above, the highway is represented by the red line, while the yellow line indicates the right of way for the transmission lines. Two things become evidently clear when looking at the above image.
- There was a severe lack of nearby available accommodations. Between Wabush and Churchill Falls, there were no available options for accommodations for the team. It was determined that the most efficient method of travel and accommodations would be to use an RV as a mobile workstation.
2. Helicopter usage was going to be required for portions of the right of way. These areas were predetermined with NLH and our flight plan was updated to categorize a structure that could be inspected either via helicopter access or via roadside or ATV access.
To capture the structure data, the DJI M30T was chosen as the ideal drone for this task, given its ability to navigate challenging terrain and its exceptional camera lens.
Key Specifications:
- Max Flight Time: 41 min
- Wind Resistance: 54 km/h
- Max Flight Speed: 82.8 km/h
- IP Rating: IP55
- Operating Temperature Range: -20°C ～ 50°C
ATV’s were also included in the set of equipment in case travel in rough terrain was possible and the helicopter was not available.
Now that a proper plan is in place — our next step is to mobilize and collect our data!
In the next post of the series, we dive deeper into the process of data collection. Stay tuned as we continue on Data’s Journey.
This post was part of a series detailing Detect’s data journey, produced in partnership with Newfoundland & Labrador Hydro and Stantec.