Terra Drone and KDDI launch drone infrastructure inspection services

Terra Drone Corporation (Headquarter: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Toru Tokushige, hereinafter called “Terra Drone”) and KDDI Corporation (Headquarter: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: Makoto Takahashi, hereinafter called “KDDI”) announce a breakthrough in asset management by launching safe, fast, and cost-effective infrastructure inspection services using drones.

The solution uses drones with high-resolution cameras to monitor the structural health of industrial systems, such as, wind turbines, telecom and transmission steel towers, smokestacks, and bridges. The data management and report generation is further automated via Terra Inspection software, an online platform based on Terra UTM autonomous flight system and Terra Mapper 3D modeling system (SfM).

The process of infrastructure inspection using drones
Under the solution offered by Terra Drone and KDDI, a drone will generate a 3D model of the heavy industrial asset by flying around the structure, whilst simultaneously determining which components should be inspected. This allows the drone to shoot the inspection points from optimal angles and range designated by the Terra Inspection software.

This solution is one of many utilizing the “Smart Drone*1” platform which Terra Drone and KDDI have jointly developed and demonstrated several times since 2016. Smart Drone connects drones with a mobile communication network, weather database and maps to enable remotely planned drone flight paths, as well as monitoring and control of flight operations. Apart from asset inspection, the solution can be used for several other industrial applications, including large-area surveillance, land survey, and precision farming.

*1 Drones with the capability of longer and safer flight using KDDI telecommunication network