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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Drone Pilots have Rule!

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Drone update! Put Drones to Work! The eye in the sky (in the USA) is the FAA and they have laid out some drone pilot rules and. Your eye in the sky is your drone. As we move into an era of IOT, drones will play a larger part in businesses. In fact, there will come a day when drones will be traveling the skies much like the airlines do now. But first, let’s talk about some recent news before we get into what is to come.Tower Safety for all your safety training!

First, let me thank the FAA for doing something about the tedious process we had for flying commercial drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, (UAS), finally. It was funny that for fun I could do almost anything with a drone but for business purposed I could only hover over my head after I took the full pilots course.

5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixelsHere it is “The 5G Deployment Plan” available now!

Now, you just need to follow these guidelines. Link to FAA fact sheet, https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=20516. The FAA was kind enough to put this list together, well, to be honest, it’s their job. They need to define the rules so that businesses can move forward. They were holding back a business that was ready to burst at the seams.

What is on the sheet? Here is a quick overview is taken right from the FAA document.

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Operational limits:

  • Unmanned aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (25 kg).
  • Visual line-of-sight (VLOS) only; the unmanned aircraft must remain within VLOS of the remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small UAS. Alternatively, the unmanned aircraft must remain within VLOS of the visual observer.
  • At all times the small unmanned aircraft must remain close enough to the remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small UAS for those people to can see the aircraft with vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses.
  • Small unmanned aircraft may not operate over any persons not directly participating in the operation, not under a covered structure, and not inside a covered stationary vehicle.
  • Daylight-only operations, or civil twilight (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local time) with appropriate anti-collision lighting.
  • Must yield right of way to other aircraft.W4W Cover 4sw
  • May use visual observer (VO) but not required.
  • First-person view camera cannot satisfy “see-and-avoid” requirement but can be used if the requirement is satisfied in other ways.
  • Maximum ground speed of 100 mph (87 knots).
  • Maximum altitude of 400 feet above ground level (AGL) or, if higher than 400 feet AGL, remain within 400 feet of a structure.
  • Minimum weather visibility of 3 miles from control station.
  • There is so much more, download the PDF to get it all!

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Remote Pilot Certification

  • Establishes a remote pilot in command position.
  • A person operating a small UAS must either hold a remote pilot airman certificate with a small UAS rating or be under the direct supervision of a person who does hold a remote pilot certificate (remote pilot in command).
  • To qualify for a remote pilot certificate, a person must:
    • Demonstrate aeronautical knowledge by either:
      • Passing an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved knowledge testing center; or
      • Hold a part 61 pilot certificate other than student pilot, complete a flight review within the previous 24 months, and complete a small UAS online training course provided by the FAA.
    • Be vetted by the Transportation Security Administration.
    • Be at least 16 years old.
  • Part 61 pilot certificate holders may obtain a temporary remote pilot certificate immediately upon submission of their application for a permanent certificate. Other applicants will obtain a temporary remote pilot certificate upon successful completion of TSA security vetting. The FAA anticipates that it will be able to issue a temporary remote pilot certificate within ten business days after receiving a completed remote pilot certificate application.
  • Until international standards are developed, foreign certificated UAS pilots will be required to obtain an FAA-issued remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating.

A remote pilot in command must:

  • Make available to the FAA, upon request, the small UAS for inspection or testing, and any associated documents/records required to be kept under the rule.
  • Report to the FAA within ten days of any operation that results in at least serious injury, loss of consciousness, or property damage of at least $500.
  • Conduct a preflight inspection, to include specific aircraft and control station systems checks, to ensure the small UAS is in a condition for safe operation.
  • Ensure that the small unmanned aircraft complies with the existing registration requirements specified in § 91.203(a)(2).
  • A remote pilot in command may deviate from the requirements of this rule in response to an in-flight emergency.

There is more in the PDF, go ahead and download it at https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=20516.

So here we are building a business case to do drone work at towers. I am all for it. It won’t replace the climber but it will make inspections so much easier. The video they can use today is just awesome; it can catch almost any flaw that can be seen. It can do measurements either with extreme HD video or Lidar. How cool is that? To be able 5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixelsto do these inspections at the site in so much less time. WOW!

To be able to do coverage testing, optimization, and assist in the close out of a site. WOW!

Don’t you worry, NATE has been looking at this for over a year! That’s right, they put together a guide for people to use at Vertical Communications Structures. I think they mean towers because most buildings in today’s world are communication structures. Link to NATE’s UAS around vertical structure PDF, https://natehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/UAS-Operations-Document-2nd-Edition-Jan-2017-E-FILE.pdf.

Nate’s UAS committee is made up of:

  • Christopher Desmond (Verizon Wireless)
  • Greg Emerick (Sentera)
  • Jim Goldwater (Bob Lawrence & Associates)
  • John Paul Jones (Tower & Turbine Technologies LLC)
  • Robert McCoy (Crown Castle)
  • Jimmy Miller (MillerCo, Inc.)
  • Chris Moccia (Measure)
  • Art Pregler (AT&T)
  • Todd Schlekeway (NATE)
  • Jim Tracy (Legacy Telecommunications, Inc.)

Nate’s UAS Committee has pledged to be a source of information by providing timely updates to NATE members and industry stakeholders. (They have more in the bulletin, so go ahead and download it!)

Learn more about NATE at www.natehome.com when you have time.

Back to Drones!

Look how far we have come in a short time! Everyone was so scared to share the videos they took, but now they can show them and share them and make money with them. This opens new businesses in more than just the wireless industry.

I see a future of drone air traffic controllers. Human and machine monitoring the drone traffic, creating and verifying flight paths, weather stations, and more. All of this is moving into reality as drones are being used to deliver stuff. Can you imagine? Drones will be a useful part of society that will alleviate the traffic off the road. You know, the roads where we will have self-driving cars. Less oil and gas being used because the batteries of the drone are getting better and better every year. Remote work and safety can be monitored real-time remotely or locally as drones will take over the skies for a small economical job.

Can you imagine when we can fly them using 4G and 5G systems to monitor and control them? We will have the flight path and mission already programmed in them, but the possibilities will be endless for what they can do I the air and where they can go. They could be used for microwave path inspection, aerial population inspections, emergency surveillance, and so much more. Someone will need to Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!monitor them and keep tabs on them, like air traffic controllers. Someone will need to collect the video. Not only that but they will be equipped with radar and be able to talk to each other to verify flight patterns. It will be a cool future.

Drones have already made an impact with the wow factor. We all loved the videos early on. Now we are trying to put that video to work. I don’t think just anyone will jump in when they see the price tag for the equipment needed. It’s not cheap, sometimes up to $100K per drone and camera. Then you need to get in a network of pilots to get referrals in your area. Then you need engineers that know the industry, in our case the tower and wireless industry. Don’t forget; you still need the training and certification! You need to be certified.

It’s not all good; they will be spying on all of us. It’s bound to happen. The police will start using drones more and more in rescue and criminal investigations. It’s only a matter of time until they start flying up to windows and looking in. Draw your blinds! I have some links below about some spy issues, good and bad.

So, there you have it. I have resources below if you’re interested in becoming drone certified or want to learn more.

Was the FAA too slow to make this happen? Find out what Keven Gambold of Unmanned Aerial Experts thinks https://wade4wireless.com/2016/06/14/keven-gambold-explains-using-drones-for-tower-work/.

Resources:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

NATE Unite 2016 Drones On

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One thing that I wanted to see is the progress of drones in the wireless industry, Guess what, NATE is pushing the drone education. I put it like that because the FAA can’t keep up! They don’t know how to handle this new industry. In my opinion they are not addressing the tower industry’s needs fast enough.  I am hoping that the FCC will help them understand the role drones will play in tower safety and inspections enough to work with the FAA move ahead with the education of the drone industry.

There was a drone session where Todd Thorin of Sioux Falls Tower talked about what he has done with drones so far was great to see. However, one thing to think about is what the FAA will allow so we need to take heed before just flying drones. However, Todd did more testing for drones that we should document. He tested drones near dishes, broadcast antennas, cell antennas, almost every frequency of antenna. He has valuable feedback that we really should share with the industry so that we know how drones will react. This is a learning process for all of us, so let’s learn from his experiences. For those of you who don’t know, Todd put out a bunch of videos on YouTube, here are some samples:

In the session Todd had some great videos from his flights to show how we can use this in the industry. All these structural engineers and tower owners who won’t climb are able to use this dates to review the actual heights, mounts, positions, and all the problems on the tower. By the way, if you’re a contractor that took shortcuts on the tower and then lied to the owner, (you know who you are), don’t expect to work for that company when they see what you have done, thanks to drones! Drones will expose the problems that truly exist on the tower because now owners can look at the tower from a new perspective. How cool is that? If you remember at the FCC DOL Tower Safety Workshop Richard Cullum of Crown Castle Tower mentions how they used contractors and they had to take the word of the contractors as to what they did, so this seems like a solution to prove if they really did things right or if they just lied to get paid! Crown Castle should do this today!

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Todd was able to resolve tower issues. He told a story of where a contractor and the tower owner had a dispute over how a mount was installed near a lamp. They argued and eventually the tower owner called Todd to take pictures. Well, this made the owner aware of so many more issues. For instance there were several problems on the tower with equipment not mounted where it should have been along with problems with some of the mounting on the tower. I don’t remember all the drone pictures showed the owner all of the real problems with the tower, all the mistakes on the tower that were building up. This was a situation where the owner lost faith in the contractor so they brought in a third-party that could check on the tower at a very reasonable price and present unbiased pictures and videos to present to both sides. This really helped the tower owner see what was really going on up there where he relied on contractors to tell him or take pictures 3 or 4 feet from the tower. It was an eye opener. I really hope this is something that we can use for pre-climb inspections as well as close out packages at some point. I also think this would be a great tool for safety inspections and to be used when training climbers. There are new tools coming out for the training perspective where the climber wears a body camera or a camera on his climbing helmet, but I will talk about that in the future.

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Dave Culler also talked about what Hazon Solutions has done. They showed video of work they have done for utilities. They showed video of utility tower and line inspections that they have done. It really is impressive. They were called out to inspect the equipment after a storm because the drone team could deploy quickly and get access to areas that would have been a challenge for any crew. So this way they immediately know where to send the workers to do repairs on problems that may not be noticed from the ground. One example was the cotter pins that were starting to work their way out of bolt that would have caused a high power line to drop, and the utility company dispatched teams immediately to do this repair. By the way, they don’t use just a HD camera, but a 4K camera to catch all the details.

There was a demo of Tower Tracker Pro at NATE! Did you see it?

Hazon also brought up the use of LIDAR on the drones to make 3D images of the towers. I think this is a great idea but there are now more and more options coming out for 3D modeling of towers and utility lines. LIDAR is a system that can make 3D models of whatever you are catching. It is very accurate in its model, help you identify the accurate AGL and to the detail where you can catch missing washers.

Remember that drones have so many rules to follow. If you plan to use drones, then plan to be educated to do things properly and to make sure that don’t fly over people that have no idea what the drone is for. The utility companies have a system down where they put out flyers to explain when they will be doing something with drones. They let the people know ahead of time and educate them why its being done.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Drones Invade Wireless

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So today let’s talk drones for wireless work. I see many possibilities for drones to really play a big part in the deployments. So, I have a few scenarios that I would like to play out.

Optimization!

Optimization drones, a thing of the future? No, here today and being used now! I thought I heard everything but now Nokia, (whom is taking over Alcatel-Lucent) is working on using drones for LTE optimization. How cool is that? Boy, Rajeev Suri must be a cool guy to authorize the use of drones! Nokia has been using them for tower inspections in the Middle East and now there is talk of using them for optimization. While they are not doing it here in the USA it is being done. It is only a matter of time before we see it here. Can you imagine how efficient testing will be when the drone can do all the tests? Don’t believe me that it’s being done? Go to this link! You will see that they are doing it in Dubai! If interested in looking it up the web look here and here and here.

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Optimizing drones would have GPS tracking and RF devices, probably smart phones on it to track coverage and performance. Basically a Smartphone that would transfer data and track the upload and download speeds automatically. Then it would send the information up to the cloud so some server could work with it to make adjustments as needed, or the adjustments would be made manually, most likely version at this time. Knocking down the coverage teams to one guy and a drone and automating the process. Now these files are huge, so make sure the data plan can handle it or make sure you have Wi-Fi access. They may just relay it back down to the engineer’s laptop so that person can put it all together.

How great would this be to not have to deal with traffic? This could really be more efficient with the addition of small cells, oDAS, iDAS, and mini-macro sites being deployed because you could concentrate the optimization with the hassle of walking, driving, and trying to hit all of the areas. I know most of the carriers are trying to automate this as much as possible by using PCMD data so who knows how much this will be needed beyond deployment in the future.

Inspections!

So for the inspecting towers it was obvious that they would put cameras on the drones and document what they find. Of course it would take a drone with a camera and a good pilot to make sure that they get the proper pictures. This would entail getting the right pictures and following the close out or site survey plan. You save the time of having a climber go up in the air. You get the documentation in one quick shot with one person on site. You get all of this in a timely and safe manner. Even the FAA is getting on board with it. Can anyone do it, maybe? I am actually a fan of making sure they are certified so that you don’t have some clown out there buzzing the college girls. If they have their certification to lose then maybe they will be careful and professional. Remember, I worked in the field, I know all the complaints I had to deal with when my crews said or did something stupid. The FAA article is here. This is where some GoPro cameras would really come in handy to monitor and record all that is being done. You could grab a snapshot from the video and then you’re done.

Now, on any of this you need to take video and record your results. I would like to think that Field Dailies will come out with a package to help us out. They already have close out packages. I am an affiliate of Field Dailies but I think they are great regardless. So if you go to http://www.fielddailies.com/field-solutions/ you will see that you can go right from your smart phone to the cloud to complete the closeout package. All in one shot while in the field it will be ready for you. I am a fan of efficiency and they made it really efficient. So go in and request a demo and let them know that Wade sent you. What do you have to lose? Just think if you have a drone to go out, survey the tower, then from your laptop or Smartphone you get the pictures and upload them from your truck, then you are almost finished! Imagine how much time you would save and how efficient you would be? Wouldn’t that be great?

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I also like using the drones for safety inspections out at sites while work is being performed at the site. However, it seems that no one in the industry shares that excitement. I would say that less than .001% of anyone out there has any interest in doing safety inspections.  Teaching safety is something that everyone is on board with, but no one wants to measure the results. The only measurement we have is when someone dies. Why would anyone care when it cost money and then reality would set in that not everyone is trained properly or responsible, but that is another story.

Future Ideas!

I also think that we could use drones to test microwave paths. This has not been cleared but it seems like the best use of drones. Again, you would need clearance and you would need to get FAA approval. So far we don’t have it because, as I understand it, you can only fly over people that know what is going on for business. Now it seems that for fun you can fly anywhere any time, but there will be a crackdown on some of this. It also seems that public safety can fly them anywhere they wish and take pictures. But for tower work, we will wait for the FAA to approve it. Once they do how cool would it be to fly a 2 mile link to make sure there is nothing in the path? I think that would be the greatest to verify a path. If a building goes up then you know right then! Trust me, I used to do path calculations all the time and I used to drive paths to be sure they were clear. I also did some spotting to verify LOS but it gets harder on long paths and many times the tower owner doesn’t want anyone on their tower unless they are inspecting or installing. So then you drive the path. If only I had a drone to fly the path.

What about small cell and DAS inspections? I think that you could knock out streets at a time by flying the drone about 30 to 50 feet AGL and then going around the streets. You could also verify the paths from the pole to a building, so you could plan out your build in an urban area, if the FAA would allow you to do it. These are populated streets. If you were disciplined then you would not interfere with any air space but you need to let the local authorities know what is going on because they would see it as a threat. That is until Amazon gets the approvals to make deliveries using drones. Then we can need traffic control.

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Certification!

As far as the drone pilots go, I really think you need to be certified. I just think that the pilots should take the flying seriously. Like I implied above I don’t think we should have some prankster who looks at it as a fun time and not a serious job to be out there acting stupid, that’s all. If you ever worked in the field then you know what I am talking about. I think that this will create new business out there and make all of the above services more efficient and cost-effective.

Why should professionals fly drones? Here’s why:

http://factually.gizmodo.com/drones-fly-too-close-to-airplanes-25-times-a-month-1668266409

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/24/drone-plane-vancouver-video_n_5209476.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/drone-seen-flying-in-path-of-landing-planes-at-vancouver-airport-1.2693601

What do you think?

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I am putting a small cell wireless deployment handbook together, it should be out soon. It will be geared towards deployment but a good reference overall. It will have most of what I post but also some extra notes is it.  If your interested, feel free to sign up for my newsletter below. 

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Tower Inspection Solutions

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As you all know there are several solutions for tower inspections. There are several times you may want a tower inspection completed.

First, what is a tower inspection? This is quite literally when you inspect the tower. No hidden meaning here, just inspecting the tower. Now, what are you inspecting the tower for, that is the real question. The inspection could be for several reasons, so you need to know what you are looking for and then you can gauge what the inspection is for.

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Types of inspections can vary and the way you do them will also vary. You see, the scope of the inspection really matters. The scope of work will outline what you need to do but look at the deliverables for what is expected. Each one is done differently. There are many reasons for inspections but I am going to list a few here.  I thought it would be a good idea to come up with a list of what you may want to inspect a tower for, then I will go over some solutions for each instance.

Types of inspections and brief explanation:

  1. Tower loading – this is a detailed inspection of the tower to define loading.
  2. Tower mapping – this is generally an inspection of what is mounted to the tower, specifically radios heads, cables, mounts, ground wires, and so on.
  3. Close out packages – this is generally an inspection of the equipment that has been mounted to the tower for a specific customer.
  4. Maintenance inspections – this may be a high level inspection but it could also be a detailed inspection looking for missing hardware and to include a loading study.

So now that you have the overview of the types of inspections, let’s look at more detail of what is involved in each one, where you would use it and possible solutions for inspections. You see not all inspections are created equal and they don’t all need the same work done.

Tower Loading

The tower loading inspection is a very detailed inspection. If done for the first time then it would require a tower climbing crew. They would need to measure everything. Let me be more specific. They would need to measure, in detail, each cross member, each bolt, each section, and each thing mounted to the tower. They would need to research the type of tower. If requested, they may need to dig down and look at the foundation to do it properly, otherwise they would look at the building drawings and assume it was built to specifications. They may also need to understand the soil, it may require soil samples.

If being done for the second time or anytime after that they should just need to inspect the tower for everything added to it and get the specification of everything on it.

So once all the research and inspection is done, what is the deliverable? The deliverable would be CAD drawings showing the tower and everything on it with the detailed specification on it. Many times these studies will tell you if the tower was built properly, many tower companies will drill holes to make it fit and that is not right. The inspection will have more than just the drawings. It will have loading information with details as to what each section can hold. It will have wind ratings, showing what the wind loading will be for that region. It will have the base specifications show what the foundation can support. It will be stamped by the mechanical engineer, a PE that is certified to inspect tower loading and that engineer is putting his name and reputation on the line to insure that the tower will stand for the ratings specified. That is why they constantly need to clarify what they actually measures, what they did an estimation on, and what they expected to be done properly (like the foundation).

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So for this type of inspection, what is the scope of work? You would need an engineer that could review all the data and certify it is correct and put a stamp on it. You would need someone to draw up the CAD drawing with all of the details on it. I know many of you would try to use Visio, but it is best to have CAD so if you need to file it with a local municipality they would work with CAD. They may just need a blueprint, but good to be prepared. You would also need a tower crew that is experienced in inspections.  Depending on the tower and height it may run from $2K to $4K for the crew per tower. It all depends on the expected time to inspect the tower and if the inspection has been done before. All measurements need to be very accurate and done with care.

Tower Mapping

Tower mapping is something that you go to the tower and map all the equipment mounted to the tower. This is something that is done dog-tags_clearbackgrondspecifically to verify everything on the tower. Today many tower companies take care of the tower and know exactly what is on the tower. They take pride knowing exactly what is on the tower and where it is.

The deliverable could be a CAD drawing, but many people just accept Visio drawings because it is cheaper and easier to work with. They may save it as an EasyCAD file to make it simple to pass around. It would have all of the hardware on the tower, including the radio heads, antennas, dishes, cables, and mounts. It should also include specification for each item including weight, dimensions, and location of each item.

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So for this inspection you could have a climber, running about $2K depending on size and scope. You could possible use a drone for this work, I don’t know the pricing but I would imagine it could be done with one person for less money and quickly. Now, no matter which way you have it done, it still takes office work. Someone has to build the drawing and put the pictures together and verify all of the data to make a deliverable to the customer. You may need to map the tower equipment to the shelter equipment which means you would need to verify each cable run. This is best done by a climber. Again, it all comes down to what the customer is requesting in the scope of work.

Close Out Packages

Close out packages are an inspection done after an installation, usually to a specific customer equipment, to make sure that the installation was done properly. They usually check the mounting, grounding, antenna position, and cable runs. There may be more depending on the scope.

The deliverable is usually a bunch of pictures along with descriptions all put in a document. I know many people use Field Dailies for this package because it makes it go quick and east.

For this most people use a tower crew, it could run from $1K to $3K per site depending on what you are asking to be done. This is work that a drone could do. I would imagine for less money and with one guy and no risk of an accident on the tower. No matter who does it, pictures still need to be put together and reports need to be completed. Carriers usually ask for a ton of pictures and if they don’t like what they see chances are you need to go back. If they ask to see pictures of the serial numbers, make sure you build time in to find them. Many times the OEMs put them on the side of the equipment mounted to the tower. If the installer does not document this, then it becomes a royal headache getting the proper information. Read your scope to understand what the deliverable will be so you don’t waste time with a second trip!

Maintenance Inspections

Maintenance inspections are pretty common but not very popular. This is where you go out and inspect the tower. Depending on the scope, you could be there just to eye everything up or you may be asked to look at every bolt. If you inspect a tower, and then it goes down in a storm, guess who is responsible? YOU!

So if this is something where you need to do a detailed inspection make sure you have the documentation prior to going to the site. In other words there could be equipment on the tower that the owner is not aware of. Make sure you verify what is on there should be there and if something is missing you document it.

This could be done by a tower crew, price would vary depending on the scope and deliverables. This could be done by drones, again, depending on the scope. This could also be done my Lidar. What is Lidar? Well, I will explain below.

Recommendations

So you now that you know more about each inspection, you could look at solutions for each. I know many people in the business and I met all of these groups.

For tower crews you probably know plenty of people that can do this job.

Mechanical engineers are usually with a preferred group for each tower owner or carrier. You already know plenty of people who do this.

For documenting the site pictures and information I know many people started using Field Dailies. I resell this service because they offer a great service. They offer SaaS, (Software as a Service), that will allow the information to be sent from the site, an iPhone or laptop or tablet directly to an online account to hold the pictures and organize them. For more information go to http://www.fielddailies.com/ and see what they have. Remember to let them know that you were referred by Wade of Wade4Wireless if you’re interested!

For the out of the box solutions you could go with one of the following. I know these guys so you can go with whomever you wish.

  • Drones – to save money and put fewer people at risk drones are a great solution. I know Phil Larsen, phil@hazonsolutions.com, of Hazon Solutions if you need a professional drone team. This company is run by pilots and I spoke to them, really nice guys. Now when I say pilots, these guys take flying very seriously. They fly real planes even to this day. Go to the website and read about David Culler who is a decorated pilot for the Navy, now retired, and still flies to this day. I got to talk to David awhile back and he is really an interesting guy. Here is one thing that I learned that pilots do, they analyze everything about the mission before and after. If something goes wrong they go over it again and again until they know and understand what happened, which is something that should be done in the tower industry. http://www.hazonsolutions.com/
  • Drones – to be fair there are other professional drone companies you can use. Both Sentera, (http://sentera.com/) and Prairie Aerial, (http://prairieaerial.com/) are other drone companies that could help you do any of this.
  • Lidar – I met Mike Windham, mike@newspin.com, from a company called New Spin, www.newspin.com who specializes in 3D photography at tower sites. They will go around to tower sites and take 360 degree photos of sites but the cool thing that they do is Lidar. Lidar is something that will take a 3D picture of the tower and catch every nut and bolt, specify distances of each piece on the tower, and show great detail. It is a very detail picture where they use a type of radar to get all the details. For tower pictures go to https://youcontrol.newspin.com/asset/216/show/pointcloud/#/58/Scenes to see what I mean. This is something that utilities have used because they can’t take power down for an inspection unless absolutely necessary. To see the utility picture go to https://youcontrol.newspin.com/asset/365/show/pointcloud/#/175/Scenes and see what they have. For all the examples go to https://newspin.squarespace.com/examples/ and see what they have. It goes way beyond communications. From Google: Lidar(also written LIDAR, LiDAR or LADAR) is a remote sensing technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analyzing the reflected light. Although thought by some to be an acronym of Light Detection And Ranging, the term lidar was actually created as a portmanteau of “light” and “radar”.

 Interested?  Tell me and I will add you to my email list for more information.