PV Solar Panel Field Inspection with UgCS

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UgCS: Flight Planning & Control
June 28, 2017

Riga - June 28, 2017 - Solar panel fields, like any other artificial infrastructure objects, require periodical inspections. UAV equipped with thermal camera is the best choice for inspection, as in most cases it saves costs compared to manned aviation and saves time compared to visual control with handheld IR camera. UgCS is a professional drone mission planning platform design to provide sophisticated tools for UAV surveyors.

Usually photovoltaic (PV) solar panel field inspection requires use of two sensors - infrared (IR) and daylight cameras, to detect faulty panels which heat up because of connection issues, physical damage or debris.

To minimise time required for inspection usually both sensors (cameras) are used simultaneously requiring a drone with enough lift-off capability. Semi-professional drones with changeable cameras also can be used but this will require double amount of time - to enable survey flight first with daylight camera and then repeat the flight after changing to IR.

“Without doubt the usage of UAV for area surveying or infrastructure inspection is time and cost saving. Continuous development of UgCS drone mission planning tools enables UAV professionals to customize each mission according to application requirements.”, said Janis Kuze, Sales Director at SPH Engineering.

UgCS supports most UAV platforms and provides useful tools such as Photogrammetry tool, Image geotagging tool, custom map and DEM data import. In the latest UgCS update functionality is added to show position of camera (image centre) from EXIF data on the map as marks, which enables to control in-the-field if significant image gaps exist.

Detailed guide of using UgCS Photogrammetry tool for solar panel field inspection is published in collaboration with aerial inspection professionals Industrial Aerobotics.

Full article: https://www.ugcs.com/solar_panel_inspection

About

About UgCS

UgCS is a complete platform developed by SPH Engineering to plan and fly drone survey missions. Automated drone mission planning, built-in photogrammetry and geotagging tools, map customisation and battery exchange option for long routes make UgCS an effective solution for professional applications for all popular UAV platforms. UgCS DDC is developed to manage drone swarms equipped with lights and other payloads for entertainment outdoor shows. SPH Engineering offers unmanned systems integration services: building, acquiring and consulting on selection of airframes, autopilots, payloads for particular application and performing proof of concept projects and software development.