KDDI, Terra Drone launch drone asset inspection service

Japan’s KDDI and industrial drone solutions provider Terra Drone have jointly launched a new drone inspection services for industrial infrastructure.

The jointly developed solution involves using a drone to generate a 3D, high resolution model of heavy industrial assets such as wind turbines, telecom and transmission steel towers, smokestacks, and bridges.

The drone will use the model to determine which components should be inspected, allowing the drone to shoot the inspection points from optimal angles and range designated by the Terra Inspection software.

It uses mobile networks to transmit data back to inspection crews and to allow operators to remotely plan flight paths based on weather databases and maps.

The solution also has potential applications in areas beyond asset inspection, such as large area surveillance, land surveying or precision farming.

KDDI and Terra Drone jointly developed the underlying Smart Drone platform, and have developed a number of solutions based on the platform since 2016.