Humans and Drones Must Work Together

The increased use of drone technology over the last several years has had a positive impact on the field of civil engineering. Drone-based sensing technologies enable engineers to inspect large-scale infrastructure systems faster, and from angles that were previously inaccessible. Drones equipped with reality capture technologies, such as cameras and scanners, promise to be an effective apprentice to inspectors and engineers. These “assistants” will be collecting spatial data about large infrastructure systems at the resolution needed to give engineers a complete picture of infrastructure conditions during both construction and inspection. …