Inspection of Vulnerable Facilities Using Drones

Dongdaemun-gu to Deploy Drones from April for Safety Inspections of Hard-to-Access Steep Slopes

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) conducted a pilot safety inspection of steeples by deploying drones at three religious facilities in the area last February. Starting in April, they will actively carry out safety inspections by deploying drones in collaboration with the National Safety Capacity Association, a drone filming team, and a facility expert team to inspect two locations with difficult access, such as private buildings adjacent to steep slopes.

The small-scale hazardous steep slopes (residential slopes, retaining walls, terraces, etc.) adjacent to private buildings targeted for inspection have received less attention compared to other areas. Due to difficult access for on-site investigations, facility inspections and continuous maintenance have been challenging, leaving these areas as blind spots for disasters.

In such harsh conditions, visual safety inspections using manpower have limitations, necessitating the advancement of work to enable scientific and systematic quantitative evaluations.

Through drone-based inspections, not only is a database established for simple slope gradient checks, but also high-level close-up filming and post-processing 3-D orthophoto precise analysis based on point-clouding have become possible, allowing acquisition of crisis management and pre-collapse information.

Additionally, measures have been prepared to actively utilize information to prevent damage in advance.

In particular, the post-processed 3-D orthophoto based on point-clouding vividly and precisely displays the site as it is, creating an environment where intuitive experiences can be gained just by viewing the images.

Through this, the future facility maintenance system is expected to transform into a ‘low manpower, high productivity’ model, enabling advanced and scientific disaster preparedness monitoring and risk management functions that can prevent recurring similar disasters.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “We will actively utilize the fusion technology of precise drone filming and post-processing programs in various fields to prevent disaster occurrences and minimize disaster damage.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.