Spectacular point cloud results from test inspection at GRIP Sluppen.
GRIP Sluppen is one of the largest sports climbing and bouldering facilities in the world. We brought the Scout 137 Drone System and set out to map the whole thing in one point cloud.
The point cloud visualization is generated by the latest SLAM pipeline in the Scout Portal, our online inspection data management service.
The GRIP climbing facility spans hundreds of square meters and the rope-climbing halls are up to 20 meters tall. The standard tether length of the Scout 137 Drone System is 40 meters.
There were various challenges. For example: Can you scan such a large facility with a 40 meters long tether? The answer is “yes, you can”. Watch the video before moving on!
Indefinite tether extension
Here’s how we eliminated the so-called “limitation” of the standard tether length.
The Ground Station for the Scout 137 is normally plugged into continuous power networks, or a Portable Power Station. The latter is of course a great solution for when you simply don’t have continuous (grid) power available on site. But it also makes a lot of sense in other setups.
Sometimes you need to move the Ground Station around a little, for various reasons. ScoutDI customers inspecting large volumes habitually do this.
For example, when inspecting cargo tanks, it’s often practical to fly transversely and section-by-section along the length of the tank, repositioning the Ground Station as needed. And you don’t have to interrupt the flight to do this!
When inspecting any building with structures hanging from or supporting the ceiling, such as beams, it can be beneficial to keep the tether hanging straight. In which case you simply move the Ground Station while the drone hovers in the air.
Including the Portable Power Station results in a tidy setup with one less cable to manage. There’s only the wired connection from the pilot controls to the Ground Station, and the tether to the drone. Everything else is on the trolley.
Staying close to the trolley and moving it ahead of the planned drone path, provides a natural safety zone from falling debris. When the drone catches up, the trolley is easily pushed along while the drone hovers in the same position. And so on. It’s an easy setup that can cover lots of ground👍
📢 Did you find this a handy tip? Maybe you will also appreciate this: How to stream an inspection LIVE with just the Scout 137 Drone System and your mobile phone.
Would you like to know more about the Scout 137 Drone System?
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