But if drone use is still experimental, the R&D team found at least one quick payback by using GoPro cameras on extenders to inspect steel connections in hard-to-access areas.
"They had a little damage to one of the steel beams and wanted to be sure the original weld hadn't cracked from damage to adjacent pieces," says Mike Williams, field inspector for Briggs Engineering and Testing, Rockland, Mass.
"Structural members were already decked over and 60 feet above the ground," explains Suffolk Assistant Superintendent Rob Morsi. The usual inspection method would have required hoisting a lift into the excavation beneath the steel members and connections, then raising an inspector to the welds. But that option was shelved due to interference of temporary braces.
Using the camera, "we were able to cut holes in the decking, insert the GoPro extender and snap some shots of the connections," Morsi says. The high-quality photos let the inspector sign off on the connections he was not able to access safely. "We were able to turn what seemed like something costly and time-consuming into a simple, quick and inexpensive solution," Morsi says.
"Without the GoPro camera, we would have had to cut out the upper deck to place an angel wing [construction platform], but I am not sure I could have gotten my face close enough to the weld to scrutinize it effectively," Williams adds.
Last fall, the team also reviewed MEP coordination on the hospital using CAVE virtual-reality technology, leased from Mechdyne Corp. While examining a 3D model of a penthouse, one of the hospital's operating engineers "wanted to know how to get up to a valve in a certain spot," Seaburg recalls. "There was nothing in the drawings to access the valve, so we realized he needed a catwalk." Adding a catwalk in design cost $30,000; it would have cost $100,000 if the omission had to be corrected after the MEP was in place, Seaburg says. To avoid having to set up a big immersion environment, the team also tested an Oculus Rift wearable immersion headset for similar use. "What you see is almost identical," says Seaburg.
