Seven drone pilots from around the country tested their skills at maneuvering drones in difficult conditions to collect data, provide clear photos of specified targets and summarize what they found during a competition held at a simulated real-life construction site north of Chicago.
The competition was sponsored by technology company Oracle, which organized the event—attracting about 40 construction industry attendees—at the Oracle Industry Laboratory in Deerfield, Ill., a facility that brings together the company’s customers and technology partners to incubate and demonstrate new solutions to construction industry challenges.
The drone competition, which is in its third year, “helps us understand how data is collected in the field,” said Burcin Kaplanoglu, vice president and head of Oracle Industry Lab.
The two-day competition was held both inside and outside of the glass-walled lab which stands two stories in height and features a viewing area where attendees watched the pilots testing their skills.
Using different brands of drones, the competitors had five minutes to complete the outdoor course and three minutes to finish the one inside.
Simulating what they do in real life, the pilots were challenged to collect photos and data on various items in the field including corrosion on a steel beam, numbers of a code printed on a gas meter located behind two trees, counting the number of bolts and noting how many were missing on the base of a pillar and finding various safety hazards including a cord strewn across the ground, an overturned wheelbarrow and a worker asleep on the job.
The winner of the competition was Alex Powers, who operates drones for Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland, which uses the devices to detect maintenance issues at its buildings.
“I’m honored to win, especially when there were so many talented pilots,” he said.
The most challenging part of the contest for Powers was detecting the codes on the gas meter. Navigating the drone in less than ideal conditions was also a demanding task for Bryan Prignano, project manager in technical services for Pepper Construction, who said "it was challenging to get in tight on stuff."
The pilots were judged on whether they found the items that had been specified, the clarity of the photos they took and how thorough and correct their summaries were of what they had observed.
“We looked at the quality of what they collected and how they analyzed it,” Kaplanoglu said.
The contest enables his firm to learn about the needs of the construction industry. Oracle wants to know from pilots and attendees “what the problems are that you want us to solve," he says.
Kaplanoglu said Oracle shares the insights it gains from the contest in a complementary 22-page white paperthat is updated annually.
Looking to the future, Kaplanoglu expects more automation to be incorporated into drone technology.
“Then you could schedule a drone to fly at a certain time, or capture data at a certain time and you wouldn’t have to send a pilot on-site or have someone do it.”
Annemarie Mannion is editor of ENR Midwest, which covers 11 states. She joined ENR in 2022 and reports from Chicago.
