Jul 30, 2018 BLOG
Last week we flew 150 km to collect detailed data for one of the most important irrigation projects in Maharashtra. The project involved, the ambitious Gose Khurd Dam along with a network of water canals including 99 km long G.R.B.C (Gosekhurd right bank canal), and 50 km N.L.B.C(Nerela left bank canal).
The idea behind using drones for this job was quite clear, that is to get accurate data and to reduce time to collect all this information.We started our work with the same set of techniques we use for our regular survey projects, but here conditions were totally different.Automated flights were not possible as the area was more than hundreds of kilometre and time constraints were there as well. We were left with only one option
Our biggest challenge was to fly manually for the entire stretch which was a mammoth task for our drone pilots. All the structures were not visible, some small culverts were hidden under forest and soil. The power transmission wires can not be easily identified from few hundred metres.Our second challenge came from far away space i.e. sunlight and heat.Our iPad has shown the temperature warning for the first time on the very first day of the project. The temperature out there was 45° and sometimes 47° with UV index of 10 to 11 which was extreme as well.It was even getting more difficult just to maintain a line of sight all the time because of the scorching sunlight.Charging even one set of drone batteries which was not possible through a car charger was also a time-consuming process which we realised after seeing no power supply in most of the nearby villages.
Then we realised, to meet the deadline we will have to find some out of the box solutions on the site for our UAVs. And we really did. The first thing we did was splitting every team into two to put the batteries ahead, so by the time, one team reach that place one set of charged batteries were available. Taking continuous flight in beyond operating temperature was a huge risk, but we reduced it keeping it under refrigeration for some time and it actually worked for us.
We covered 150 Km including 450+ structures in the given deadline. Safety was an important issue when work is being carried out in the dense forest region with hundreds of wild animals around. No safety issues occurred during the entire operation.The presentation for the entire stretch with all the major findings was made available on the sixth day
Our team successfully overcame every challenge that occurred during this operation. Now with such an adventurous experience of extremely adverse conditions. Aerizone is ready to push some more boundaries to a new extent. We at Aerizone, are constantly trying to set our own benchmark in the UAV sector by covering all the sectors where technology is not important but necessary.