Drones in industrial inspection
There is no single drone for industrial inspection. Outside, on plant components, the DJI M30T flies; inside boilers, tanks and silos, the collision-tolerant Flyability ELIOS 3; and in filled water tanks, an underwater drone dives. This overview shows which device is suitable for which task, which sensors are used and where the limits lie.
Which drone suits your plant: outside, inside or underwater
For many inspection tasks, drones replace scaffolding, aerial work platforms, rope access technicians and man entry. Which device is right depends mainly on where the inspection takes place: outside in the open, inside an enclosed space or underwater. We use the DJI Matrice 30T (M30T) for external flights, the ELIOS 3 for internal flights and an underwater drone for filled tanks. The result of every drone inspection is an inspection report with photos, videos, a 3D point cloud and located anomalies.
Christian Engelke
1. Where drones replace scaffolding and man entry: sectors and installations
Drone inspections are used in many sectors. Our focus is on industry and power stations.
Typical applications at a glance:
- Industrial plants and production sites: tanks, silos, boilers, chimneys from the inside, pipework and halls. The ELIOS 3 flies inside, the M30T around plant components from the outside.
- Energy and utility companies: in power stations, boilers, flue gas ducts, cooling towers and chimneys are inspected by drone from the inside; in fire protection, fire water and sprinkler tanks are inspected by underwater drone.
- Oil and gas industry: in refineries and tank farms, vessels and pipe racks are typical targets. Our equipment is not explosion-protected; whether the drone may fly in potentially explosive atmospheres is decided by the operator.
- Infrastructure: bridges, sewers and shafts can be captured without scaffolding or aerial work platforms, provided the drone fits inside.
- Construction and architecture: drones capture buildings, roofs and façades and document damage without erecting scaffolding.
- Agriculture and insurance: in agriculture, drones are mainly used for crop monitoring – that is not our field. For insurers and expert assessors, drone images provide a traceable basis for assessing damage.
- Public safety: authorities and emergency services use drones to get an overview of hazardous situations from the air.
What matters is not the sector but the task: outside, inside or underwater. That determines the device.
2. Safety, shorter shutdowns, lower costs: what you gain
Compared with conventional inspection methods, drones offer these main advantages in maintenance:
- Safety: nobody has to go up scaffolding, work at height or enter vessels. The drone flies into the hazardous area while the team stays outside.
- Shorter shutdowns and cost savings: your inspection costs can fall by up to 80% because scaffolding, cranes, aerial work platforms and rope access technicians are not needed. Our drone keeps shutdowns short: vessels, boilers and silos are usually taken out of service and released for internal flights, but the inspection takes hours instead of days. Some plants can be inspected without interrupting operations, such as pipe racks from the outside.
- Accessibility and flexibility: drones reach places that are otherwise only accessible with great effort – chimneys from the inside, boiler walls, tank roofs. Several plants can be inspected one after another during a single shutdown.
- Detailed data capture and analysis: photos, videos, thermal images and LiDAR data are captured in the same flights – covering the entire surface rather than spot checks. The result is an inspection report with located anomalies; the assessment is carried out by expert assessors or inspectors.
3. Camera, thermal imaging, LiDAR: what each sensor shows
There is suitable equipment for each of the three typical locations:
Outside: DJI M30T
The M30T flies in the open with GPS. It combines a wide-angle camera, a zoom camera and a radiometric thermal camera, and is suitable for façades, roofs, pipe racks and cooling towers.
Inside: Flyability ELIOS 3
The ELIOS 3 is a drone for internal inspection with a protective cage. It can touch walls, navigates without GPS using LiDAR and flies inside tanks, silos, boilers, industrial furnaces, flue gas ducts and chimneys.
Underwater
In filled sprinkler and water tanks, an underwater drone dives. Shafts and spaces that are too narrow for a drone are not something we can fly.
Sensors and cameras
Different sensors are used depending on the task:
- Optical RGB cameras deliver high-resolution photos and videos – the basis of every visual inspection. Thermal cameras show heat differences, for example in insulation or brick linings.
- LiDAR sensors capture the space as a 3D point cloud, in which anomalies can be located and geometry captured true to scale.
- Ultrasonic sensors measure wall thickness but need contact with the surface to do so. In practice, measurements are usually taken by inspectors with handheld devices – at the points shown in the drone images.
- Multispectral cameras and magnetometers: these are mainly used in agriculture and surveying; in plant inspection they play a minor role.
- Gas sensors can measure gas concentrations. They do not replace gas-free testing for personnel and do not make a drone suitable for explosive atmospheres; in hazardous (Ex) areas, the operator decides.
In dark areas, on-board LED lighting ensures usable images – important in tanks, shafts, boilers and pipes where no daylight reaches.
4. From live image to point cloud: the data you receive
What matters is what happens to the data after the flight. In industrial inspection, four points count:
- Real-time data transmission
The live image is shown on the screen on the ground during the flight. Operators and inspectors can watch and point out areas that should be looked at more closely. - AI and machine learning
Software can pre-mark anomalies such as rust or cracks in large numbers of images. This speeds up the analysis; the assessment remains a task for specialists. - 3D modelling and digital twins
The LiDAR data produces a 3D point cloud of the plant. Findings are located in it, and later inspections can be compared with today's condition. - Data archiving and documentation
Photos, videos and point clouds are retained for later comparison. This makes it possible to trace changes over the years and plan maintenance measures.
5. Corrosion, cracks, dark spaces: typical use cases
Some tasks for which drones are particularly well suited:
- Corrosion monitoring
On tanks, pipework and steel structures, photos and thermal images show where corrosion is forming. Repeated flights make its progression visible. - Structural defects and structural inspection
Cracks, spalling and discolouration on concrete, masonry and brick linings are captured at close range – inside and out. - Inspections in poor lighting conditions
In boilers, tanks and shafts, the drone's own lighting delivers usable images where nothing could otherwise be seen. - Insurance-related inspections
Traceable images with date and location help insurers and expert assessors to evaluate damage.
6. Where the drone reaches its limits: weather, batteries, permits
Drones have limits that you should know about before deployment:
- Weather conditions and battery life
Outdoors, rain and strong wind limit operations. A battery lasts for a flight of a few minutes; after that it is swapped, which is taken into account in the planning. - Signal interference and GPS dependency
There is no GPS in enclosed spaces. The ELIOS 3 therefore navigates with LiDAR and cameras (SLAM) and holds its position even in tanks and shafts. - Approvals and qualifications
Our pilots hold the necessary qualifications; in vessels and halls, your site's own release procedures are what mainly apply.
In addition, the operator's safety rules apply: induction, releases, cordons and emergency planning on site. Our equipment is not explosion-protected; whether the drone may fly in potentially explosive atmospheres is decided by the operator.
The drone needs visibility: dust, steam or murky water limit the footage. It sees only surfaces – wall thicknesses, samples or exact crack widths are determined by the expert assessor specifically at the points marked in our inspection report.
7. What is coming: autonomous flights, digital twins, AI
The technology continues to develop. These developments in particular are foreseeable:
- Autonomous inspections and multi-drone operations
Drones are increasingly flying predefined routes on their own. This makes repeat inspections more comparable, because images are taken from the same positions. - Integration with Industry 4.0 and digital twins
Point clouds and findings are increasingly linked to plant data, so that maintenance and planning work from a shared, up-to-date basis. - 5G and real-time transmission
More powerful data connections allow specialists to follow a deployment remotely. - Improved AI and predictive maintenance
Software will pre-mark anomalies more reliably and detect changes between inspections. This helps plan maintenance before failures occur.
The right device depends on the location – your result is the inspection report
In industrial inspection, drones are an established alternative to scaffolding, cranes and rope access technicians. Which device is right depends on the location: the DJI M30T outside, the ELIOS 3 inside, the underwater drone in a filled tank. They improve safety at work, shorten shutdowns and, with photos, videos and a 3D point cloud, provide a reliable basis for maintenance. To learn which solution suits your plant, visit our page on inspection with the ELIOS 3 – or write to us.