Construction Dive: For good reason, drones are a big topic in construction. They promise to ramp up the speed and efficiency of surveys, inspections, mapping, monitoring, security and other tasks, and can help the industry make progress on an even more critical front as well — workplace safety.
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This is an odd article. It appears to be defeating itself. This makes me curious as to the point of what they are saying. They state that drones would be quite useful within construction because of their ability to reach high places in building for inspection. The purpose behind this to be that it eliminates the falling hazard that is associated with inspecting buildings and is apparently at a high rate for killing people. The article then goes on to explain that the drone is essentially made of plastic and carbon fiber making it lightweight and practically harmless. Of course, the counter point is that they are harmful as there have been cases where the blades have caused partial blindness due to contact while flying with someone’s eyes and another person being electrocuted when trying to dislodge it from a tree with a metal pole. The article instead of using this point as strengthener for the argument, it is instead exaggerated. The facts that the article states explain that drones will essentially save lives yet argues that because they can harm someone, not kill, but harm someone; that they shouldn’t be used. This seems idiotic and makes me wonder what the point in writing this article is?
Drones, as a tool, are at a really interesting place in their life. They have not been around long enough to have a lot of concretized regulation like other vehicles and industrial tools, so drone use is something of a 'wild west' as things currently stand. My dad, as a geotechnical engineering consultant, actually uses one fairly regularly to compile site surveys in 3 dimensional models for taking measurements and the like, then overlaying new CAD information onto it. He also uses them to inspect areas that he typically cannot access or are unsafe to access. As such, drones can be incredibly useful tools! However, as the article notes, casual use of drones can be dangerous and distracting. Further, they are federally regulated, even if that rarely makes much of a difference for the casual user. On a job site, workers need to know what, where, and when operations are occurring in order to maximize safety. If a drone suddenly flies onto a job site, the average worker can't know whether some passerby flew in for a closer look, or another contractor is inspecting something. It was certainly be interesting to see how regulations around drone use will evolve. Hopefully, they will not discourage beneficial drone use, but maximize safety, mitigate liability risk and guarantee full regulatory compliance when drones are used.
Using drone as a tool might sounds like some cutting-edge technology, but on the other hand, it really makes sense in many aspect. First is the mobility, drones being motorized platforms for carrying all the stuff that were usually carried by personal in the past, can reach almost any height we need in fabrication project, even covering enough perimeter in measurement purposes. This application can have a great positive impact on management front. For instance, when the drone is doing the room scanning, worker can be preparing the material already, rather than holding a tape measure,a note or a pen running around in the space. The other benefit is the safety. Robotics technology can trace back a long history of helping human working in hazardous environments. So do drone, if a camera can get up to a place that requires you to duck and climb(ex, catwalk, we might save us a great risk on high ladders or potential falling hazards just to get a measurement.
I find it interesting that this has become an issue. I suppose it was inevitable, particularly considering all the other articles I have read recently about drone piloting and regulating. It seems that most of the problems and injuries reported are clearly preventable by a very small amount of forethought and communication. The drone operator problem, however, seems to be growing. If drones are a desirable tool in construction, this article makes it seem like anyone who pilots a drone at a worksite should be certified to do so. All of the other machinery operators are licensed, so it is not that much of a stretch of the imagination to require it of all drone pilots. That said, as I mentioned earlier, some of the injuries seem to result from lack of common sense, and there is probably no fixing that. However, there is a risk of regulating production to a standstill--it seems ridiculous to have all work on a site stop so someone can fly a drone 500ft away.
Drones are one of the many technologies that stand to change a variety of industries drastically. With their low cost, high maneuverability and ease of use, and potential for photography and video, they represent the best platform that currently exists for easily and cheaply reaching or seeing hard-to-get-to places. That said, the speed at which they have developed has far outpaced the ability of regulators to ensure that their implementation is done in a thoughtful and safe manner. The author of this article makes a good argument that considerations of regulation need to be made now to ensure that the myriad positive benefits of drones can be realized as the technology becomes even more affordable, ubiquitous, and developed. Without regulation, there is a potential for drones to be used recklessly, tempering their benefits and making the workplace less safe as a whole, but if the issues of usage and regulation can be properly addressed now, they could become one of the most common and versatile tools around.
Any article that indicates that drones are a dangerous technology I am immediately skeptical of. As a drone pilot myself, I am fairly familiar with developing drone technology and popular brands such as DJI. While DJI has grabbed the consumer drone market, there are a number of startup companies that are developing extremely intelligent and reliable drones. I think one reason drones may get a bad reputation is because of the failure of a product that GoPro made and had drones falling out of the sky at random due to a faulty battery clip that would come loose. With that being said, as drone technology develops, it is getting harder and harder to crash a drone. Drones are expensive and the last thing someone wants to see is there $1,300.00 drone falling out of the sky and smashing into the ground, so companies are doing everything they can to try and stop that from happening by developing more autonomous flight modes. I think drones are going to revolutionize so many industries and people need to give the technology and the pilots more credit that they will be safe.
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