Monitor progress with drones and orthophotos

Drones are now a common tool in infrastructure and civil engineering projects. As a construction manager, estimator, site engineer, or surveyor, you can use drone surveys together with InfraField to keep track of your project's progress with up-to-date visual information.

By using InfraField to bring together drone data such as orthophotos, 360 images, and point clouds with your project map and BIM, you can review site conditions, compare surveyor data, and keep up with project development in one shared tool.

The challenge

Many infrastructure projects, such as roads, tunnels, and railways, have adopted and rely on drone surveys throughout the project. Orthophotos, 360 images, and point clouds are often stored and shared in separate tools or reports, making it hard to fully integrate them into daily project coordination.

Comparing progress and sharing documentation of completed work can sometimes be challenging, especially when it involves various access permissions, systems, or stakeholders.

How Dalux InfraField solves it

With Dalux InfraField can import processed drone data into your project’s coordinate system and map-based environment, automatically positioning and aligning it with your BIM data. This allows you to connect visual surveyor data, BIM, and registrations all within the same platform.

• Orthophotos are easy to compare across different dates and integrate with the map. 
• You can view 360 images side-by-side or alongside your BIM models.
• Point clouds also work with your BIM models and can be combined with 3D tiles to provide real-world context.

Your surveyor data is available to everyone on the project and can be accessed instantly.

The result

With Dalux InfraField you get:

• Visual progress tracking directly on the project map
• Easy comparison between survey dates using drone imagery
• One shared, location-based source of truth 

Drag and drop into Dalux

With consistent and delivered data, you can use Dalux to compare and track progress, with the added benefit of a well-documented project.

InfraField supports a variety of file types that can be easily added by dragging them right into Dalux. You can find a detailed list of supported formats in this article: Supported data formats in InfraField

InfraField is built around map and coordinate systems, so BIM data and image documentation can be automatically placed based on GPS or custom coordinates. This makes implementation simpler and helps you match your data to its real-world location.

When working with orthophotos, we suggest the following:

• Upload orthophotos to Box and use the same file name to take advantage of version control
• Add orthophotos to the map from Box
• Set the creation date for the orthophotos

Working with a single file that has multiple versions of an orthophoto means the newest version will always be shown by default, while still allowing you to switch between and compare different dates.

Integrated Drone Data

Once you have your processed drone data in Dalux, it is integrated with BIM, the map view, and registrations.

Orthophotos in InfraField function similarly to drawings that are displayed on the map. This means you can easily:

• Compare orthophotos side by side to see progress
• Attach annotated orthophotos to registrations such as tasks, checklists, and test plans for added context
• Overlay orthophotos on the map and compare with your BIM and GIS data

Visual records of site conditions at various milestones help with handover materials, internal reviews, and communication with stakeholders. Since the data is kept within the project environment, it stays accessible throughout the project’s lifecycle rather than getting lost in external archives.

Instead of switching between different viewers or file folders, users can view drone-based visuals right where they already work. 

The best practice for orthophotos is to:

• Do regular and scheduled drone surveys, especially around major project milestones
• Use georeferenced data for automatic placement
• Use consistent file names, leveraging Dalux Box for version control
• Drag and drop into InfraField

Doing so lets you use the data in your everyday construction workflows, such as progress tracking, quality control, and RFIs. The drone data also integrates directly on the map and with your BIM data.

InfraField makes it easy to import and work with your data, adding more practical value to each survey.