My experience using SkyeBrowse as a Mechanical Engineer
The following is an independent review of SkyeBrowse by Michael McDermott, the McDermott Group
As a mechanical engineer, I often need to access the HVAC equipment on the roof for identification and location when developing construction documents. Accessing the roof is often difficult and potentially dangerous when using ladders or having to rely on access through another tenant space for the roof hatch. For engineers, drones have become a productive tool by allowing us to obtain an overall layout of the roof equipment and zoom-in on equipment tags for identification. The ability to have a 3D model of the entire roof just takes it one step further, however, the time and effort involved in making the models means that sometimes, it is does not help reduce the overall effort.
SkyeBrowse solved this problem by providing the ability to quickly create an accurate model of the roof, and making it simple to take accurate measurements of where the equipment is located. This is a huge benefit from a productivity and safety point of view. The ease and speed with which it works means that I can finish multiple projects very quickly, thereby increasing my overall productivity.
Construction projects often require documenting the location of the structure and site utilities (water, sewer, gas & electricity). Getting accurate measurements is often hindered by onsite obstacles (trees, other buildings or structures) and unleveled topography. Being able to use a drone with SkyeBrowse (or WideBrowse) to create an accurate site model simplifies this process by circumventing these obstacles and terrain variations.
An image of a roof inspection 3D model created by The McDermott Group.
As a mechanical engineer, drones have been a great tool in my arsenal for conducting building inspections (especially roof inspections). In fact, using drones, complemented by software like SkyeBrowse, to generate an accurate model for dimensional data and area/volume data benefits all trades in the engineering and construction industry. Some of the specific tasks I have been using it for include:
- Generating material take-offs for roofing, concrete or other materials
- Identifying optimal locations for solar panels on a roof without having to actually climb on the roof for measurements around chimneys, vent terminations and equipment
- Concrete or other flatwork material measurements from an aerial model
The ability to write missions to a disk for delayed uploading to the SkyeBrowse website has been a tremendous feature as well. This allows me to move on to other jobs more quickly without waiting for the project to upload while on site.
SkyeBrowse has been a great addition to my productivity tools and I would highly recommend the same to others in my line of business.