Real World Examples
Below are real faults found in the field that would have been difficult to detect any other way — each one required immediate maintenance by our customers.
Faults Not Visible From the Ground
The biggest advantage of an aerial inspection is how quickly the top of a structure — the part most exposed to the elements and most prone to rot — can be seen. Below is the same pole from the drone and from the ground looking up.
Cross-arm Rot: Drone View
Serious wood rot from the top. Both the right and middle insulators on the bottom cross-arm are in danger of detaching.
Cross-arm Rot: Ground View
From below, the rot on the right side simply isn't visible. The walking patrol done before our inspection missed it.
Thermal Fault Detection
Capturing thermal and RGB together lets our lineman inspectors compare issues instantly. These two photos of the same pole were taken within a second of each other. The fault: a failing secondary plug that required replacing the entire transformer.
Thermal Image: Red = Hot
The plug on the right reads clearly hotter than its surroundings — usually the first hint of a problem.
High Resolution RGB Image
The RGB image is crisp, but there's little visible damage here. The thermal camera gets us closer.