Maintenance Solution
In July of 2019, the Waupaca Foundry brought me on as a consultant to implement a drone inspection solution. The goal of this solution was to mitigate a wide range of risks, cut costs, and increase efficency.
After meeting with the maintenance personnel to get an idea of what was needed to preform the inspections, I selected the right UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) for the job. Not only was the drone important in the process, but also the legality side of the implementation. Operating UAVs for commercial use requires a license from the FAA, called a Part 107. I was also tasked with training a staff member to head up the inspections company wide. The training solution was a 30 page drone regulation and operational course that provided practical knowledge to complete the exam required for obtaining a Part 107 license.
Being a company and industry first solutions, test inspections helped us to understand the pros and cons of aerial inspections both indoors and out. From the testing we were able to identify areas where using the drone would be most beneficial to operations.
