Which sensors make drones useful for safety during inspections?

Thermal cameras and LiDAR provide indications of overheating and structural damage without inspectors having to expose themselves directly to these hazards.

How do drones help reduce plant downtime?

External flights and many hall areas can be inspected while operations continue. For internal flights in tanks, silos and boilers the plant is usually out of service – but because no scaffolding, rope access technicians or man entry is needed, the shutdown is much shorter.

How do drones improve visibility of hard-to-reach areas?

With their compact design and collision protection, drones reach areas that are difficult for people to access, such as shafts as well as large pipelines and ducts with a sufficient cross-section. Lines that are too narrow for the drone are not something we can fly.

What role does drone technology play in assessing damage after incidents?

After incidents or severe weather, drones can provide images at short notice by arrangement, without anyone having to enter areas at risk. Your expert assessors evaluate the damage on this basis.

How do drones contribute to safety in high-risk environments?

In chemical plants or refineries, drones deliver images from areas that people could only enter with great effort or risk. Gas-free testing for personnel is not needed; in hazardous (Ex) areas, the operator decides whether the drone may fly.

How do drones support emergency planning and response?

Drones deliver a live image and up-to-date footage that help with emergency planning, evacuation planning and safety monitoring. This allows the team to observe critical areas and prepare targeted measures.

What are the benefits of drones for inspecting tall structures?

Drones make aerial work platforms, scaffolding and rope access unnecessary for inspections of tall structures, reducing the risk of falls and other accidents at height.

How can drones improve maintenance processes in the long term?

Regular drone inspections detect small defects early so they can be repaired before they lead to bigger problems. This improves plant safety and helps plan maintenance work better.

How are the inspection results documented?

Drones capture photos, videos and a 3D point cloud, which are stored directly and compiled into an inspection report with located anomalies. This documentation provides a sound basis for decisions in plant maintenance.

10 ways drones are redefining industrial inspection

Industrial maintenance is changing – and drones play an important part in this. They replace elaborate and risky traditional inspection methods, shorten shutdowns and deliver detailed data. With technologies such as LiDAR and digital twins, drones are changing the way industrial plants are maintained and monitored. Read how drone inspections replace scaffolding and rope access technicians, reduce costs and keep your employees out of danger zones.

Less scaffolding, shorter shutdowns: what drones change in maintenance

In industrial maintenance, accurate and regular inspections are essential to keep plants running smoothly. Traditional inspection methods that required rope access technicians, scaffolding or extensive preparation are often expensive and time-consuming and involve considerable safety risks. Drones have fundamentally changed these processes. With LiDAR and the ability to create digital twins, they capture plants comprehensively in hours instead of days. In power stations and hard-to-reach areas in particular, drones offer flexible solutions without scaffolding or cranes that shorten shutdowns and reduce maintenance costs in the long term.

Christian Engelke

ELIOS 3 with its lights on inside a dark tank

Severe rust on the internal coating of a tank, seen through the ELIOS cage

Kopterflug team with an ELIOS drone and a laptop in the office

1. Nobody has to enter confined and hazardous areas

Challenge: Traditional inspections often require employees to enter confined, hazardous or hard-to-reach areas such as tanks, silos, chimneys and boilers. Such tasks are risky and laborious, as scaffolding often has to be erected or rope access technicians deployed.
Solution: Drones such as the Flyability ELIOS 3 provide direct access to these areas without people having to enter hazardous environments. The drones navigate safely through confined spaces, capturing high-resolution images and videos. This makes an inspection possible without scaffolding or rope access technicians, and without exposing employees to additional hazards.
Benefit for the plant operator: Using drones improves the safety of employees, as they no longer have to be sent into hazardous environments. Costs also fall, since no climbing equipment or scaffolding is needed, and the inspection takes hours instead of days.

2. Shorter shutdowns: hours instead of days

Challenge: Conventional inspection methods often mean interrupting production or taking plants out of service for long periods. Lost production is expensive.
Solution: The drone shortens shutdowns considerably, and some plants we can even inspect without interrupting operations. External flights, for example on pipe racks, and many hall areas can be inspected while operations continue. Vessels, tanks, silos and boilers are usually out of service and released for an internal flight – but because no scaffolding, rope access technicians, crane or man entry is needed, the shutdown is much shorter.
Benefit for the plant operator: The inspection takes hours instead of days, and several plants can be inspected during a single shutdown. That means less downtime, higher productivity and lower costs.

3. Up to 80% lower inspection costs, because scaffolding and cranes are not needed

Challenge: Deploying rope access technicians, building scaffolding or using cranes is expensive. In addition, long plant shutdowns increase the total cost for the operator.
Solution: Drones can replace these traditional inspection methods in many cases, as they require no scaffolding, cranes or elaborate safety measures. Drones can be deployed flexibly and deliver the necessary inspection data within hours instead of days.
Benefit for the plant operator: Your inspection costs can fall by up to 80% because scaffolding, cranes and rope access technicians are not needed. Using drones makes the inspection process shorter and more economical, as less preparation is required.

4. LiDAR: your plant as a 3D model

Challenge: Traditional industrial inspection offers no simple way of creating detailed 3D models of complex installations such as tanks, boilers or chimneys. Without these models, accurate analysis is difficult.
Solution: Drones with LiDAR create point clouds during the inspection from which a digital twin of the plant can be built. The point cloud represents the geometry and locates every image; the photos show the condition, and your expert assessors evaluate it.
Benefit for the plant operator: The digital twin gives operators an accurate overview of the condition of their plants and helps them to identify problems and plan preventive maintenance. This reduces costs.

5. Capturing visible corrosion, cracks and damage across the entire surface

Challenge: Damage such as corrosion or material fatigue is often difficult to detect, especially in hard-to-reach areas. It is often only discovered when it has already led to expensive repairs.
Solution: Drones with high-resolution and thermal cameras record the entire surface rather than taking spot checks and reveal even small damage to installations such as tanks or pipelines at an early stage. They do not record wall thicknesses or concealed damage; for this, the expert assessor takes targeted measurements at the marked points. The live image can be followed during the flight.
Benefit for the plant operator: Early detection of damage helps to avoid unplanned shutdowns and repairs. Plant operators receive an inspection report with located anomalies, on the basis of which their expert assessors carry out the assessment and make maintenance decisions.

6. Tank, silo, furnace, chimney: one method for many installations

Challenge: Industrial sites consist of many different installations such as tanks, silos, cyclones, industrial furnaces, chimneys and pipelines. Each of these structures requires specialised inspection methods, which makes inspections complex and costly.
Solution: Drones are versatile and can be used for a wide range of installations: inside with the collision-tolerant ELIOS 3, outside with the DJI M30T, underwater with an underwater drone. This produces comparable data for many types of installation.
Benefit for the plant operator: The flexibility of drones reduces costs, as they can be used for different types of installation without additional specialised equipment. This makes planning and carrying out inspections considerably simpler.

7. Occupational safety: your staff stay out of hazardous areas

Challenge: Conventional inspections often expose employees to hazardous work, such as working at height or entering confined, hazardous spaces such as tanks or chimneys from the inside. Some of this work involves high safety risks.
Solution: Drones take over these hazardous tasks; employees stay outside the vessel and on the ground. The drones fly into hazardous areas and deliver detailed data without putting people at risk.
Benefit for the plant operator: Drone inspections considerably improve the safety of employees. The risk of accidents falls because nobody has to work at height or enter the vessel.

8. Detect damage early, plan maintenance

Challenge: Without regular inspections, damage such as corrosion or cracks can go undetected until it leads to major plant failures or safety risks.
Solution: Drones make frequent and detailed inspections possible, in which damage is detected early. This gives the plant operator the opportunity to take action before major repairs become necessary.
Benefit for the plant operator: Detecting damage in good time minimises expensive emergency repairs and extends the service life of the plant. Plant operators benefit from detailed reports that can be integrated into maintenance strategies.

9. Less need for rope access technicians, scaffolding and cranes

Challenge: To inspect hard-to-reach or tall installations such as silos, boilers or chimneys from the inside, rope access technicians, scaffolding or cranes are often used. These methods are costly and take a great deal of time.
Solution: For visual inspection and documentation, drones replace many of these methods by reaching even hard-to-reach areas safely without scaffolding, cranes or rope access technicians. Where a measurement on the component is required, such as wall thickness, the expert assessor carries it out specifically at the points marked in the inspection report.
Benefit for the plant operator: Scaffolding, cranes and rope access technicians are not needed; data capture takes hours instead of days, and the inspection costs less.

10. Live image and decisions on site

Challenge: In conventional inspections, the data collected often has to be analysed manually, which causes delays and makes timely decisions more difficult.
Solution: Drones transmit a live image that the operator can follow during the inspection. Maintenance management sees anomalies directly and can plan further steps early if damage is discovered.
Benefit for the plant operator: Because the images are available during the flight, you can respond to problems earlier and plan the next maintenance steps. This keeps shutdowns short and reduces costs.

Shorter shutdowns, more safety, up to 80% lower inspection costs

Using drones in industrial maintenance has proved its worth: it shortens shutdowns and significantly improves staff safety. Your inspection costs can fall by up to 80% because scaffolding, cranes and rope access technicians are not needed. While traditional inspection methods are often expensive, time-consuming and dangerous, drones offer a flexible alternative without scaffolding or cranes. With LiDAR and digital twins, operators gain detailed insight into the condition of their plants and can plan maintenance ahead. Learn more about internal flights with the ELIOS 3.

Detecting damage such as corrosion or material fatigue early helps to avoid expensive repairs and unplanned outages. The live image during the flight allows a response on site to any anomalies found. Overall, drone inspections bring operators economic benefits, extend the service life of their plants and improve operational safety.