Drone Survey: Isle of Man

30/01/2025

Drone Survey were happy to do urgent out of hours droning to determine the extent of the damage to Peel Power Plant for the MUA.

Update: 1 February: Flue has been successfully secured 👏. More updates to follow.

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During the recent storm, we experienced damage to a flue cap at the top of Peel Power station stack. The damage was surveyed using a drone, and steeplejacks are to be mobilised to access the flues (via an internal ladder in the stack). The steeplejacks will also establish the cause of the failure, assess the other flue caps whilst securing the damaged flue cap until a full repair can be achieved. Work will begin this weekend, weather allowing

18/05/2024

DroneSurvey are pleased to share a recent survey of 18 roundabouts, corners and chicanes from Douglas to The Sloc. This collected data formed the decision process which will allow the wind turbine blades to be brought from Douglas rather than Castletown beach. The sites were challenging: the Sea Terminal and Quarter bridge, two of the busiest locations on the island, a further 9 locations within the airport zone with restricted flying. Weather was also challenging, wind and rain was the story of most of this winter, the wettest on record, finishing at The Sloc, with snow on the ground, and a biting wind.

Expertise gained over the last 5 years surveying went into this project, 3 months of flights with a perfect safety record. Data collection with an accuracy of better than 2 cm, some sites as long as half a km, verified with check control points.

Dronesurvey have perfected precise large area data collection, high population areas, with the upmost accuracy using ground control points, GNSS fixed base and roving receivers, the end result: 3d model, cloud point and a GeoTIFF for each location. Our flights required automated flights, multiple drones, terrain following, we are proud of the quality of the data collected, despite all these challenges.

20/01/2023

Plans have been announced by the Manx Development Corporation to develop the Westmoreland site, expanding the old nurses home regeneration, to also include surrounding buildings. Incorporating 133 new homes, 4 retail units and 20,000 sq feet of office space. To be known as "Westmoreland Village", meeting the everyday needs of the residents on site.

Drone Survey were happy to assist the MDC by undertaking an aerial survey of the site.

01/01/2023

Good turn out for Peel's 2023 New Year Dip, Happy Refreshed New Year!

30/12/2022

Not invented here? Over one year ago, we offered free assistance to the IOM Police in cases of search and rescue, the offer: a state of the art drone which most UK police forces operate, this drone is waterproof, flys in winds other drones cannot, 55 minute flights, radar, laser range finder, thermal imaging, controllable search light, together with 3 pilots trained to the highest uk standard (GVC).

With 6 hotswappable batteries and 3 pilots it would be possible to be in the air for 24 hours. Despite much efforts our offer was not accepted. A combined package worth between £30 to £40K (drone / pilots / insurance).

It is very different in the UK, a missing person, the police’s own drone team also liaises with local capable local drone companies, they know putting as many eyes in the sky as possible increases chances of success, it works well, arguably better than even a S&R helicopter which can be hampered by low clouds, also multiple drones can operate in closer proximity. See the same drone finding a missing person:

https://www.heliguy.com/blogs/posts/police-drone-saves-missing-pensioner

The IOM is unable to accept such help.

05/06/2022

Drone capture from todays memorial lap

03/06/2022

TT 2022 fast-craft arrival

15/05/2022

Busy surveying a number of well-known Manx sites, firstly Ronaldsway Aircraft Company which has been in that location before the airport even existed. Survey consisted of day and night flights, the latter collecting thermal images. Night flights require extra precautions, for this job a radar was installed onto the drone, effectively turning the drone into a bat, able to see in the dark, also flashing strobe allows visual contact on the drone, on an otherwise very dark night.

Onto a 40 acre farm at St Johns, drones make light work of large area surveys, conducted with centimetre precision thanks to GNSS and RTK corrections. This job required terrain following automated flying, due to land undulations of 50m. A total distance of 30 KM was flown collecting 120GB of data, that is a distance further than Douglas to Peel.

A stop by Braddan Community Centre, the building is progressing well, roof was first layer installed, ready for insulation.

Tynwald mills for a roof survey, then Nobles Hospital, not the easiest site to work as hospitals never close, extensive risk assessments were carried out and extra staff deployed to provide a visible cordon. With 3mm GSD per pixel accuracy, images shot were 45 million pixels per image, and combined to one 2GB GeoTIFF file, that is one very large image, just like google satellite map but with 3mm accuracy.

Drones are becoming more common place, for their ability to efficiently and accurately collect data. Drone survey employ state of the art drones and techniques to collect data as required by informed enterprises.

More details on our abilities visit https://dronesurvey.im/

07/03/2022

The old nurses home is to be redeveloped into flats for key workers, including hospital workers and teachers. This site has been empty for decades, a good use of redeveloping a brownfield site into accommodation for these important sectors.

Drone Survey were happy to assist the Manx Development Corporation collating survey data, the use of drones allow for quick and accurate surveys to be under-taken.

For details on our survey and drone capabilities please visit:

Drone Survey: Isle of Man