DJI and Skycatch have announced that they have extended their partnership to manufacture and deliver a fleet of high-precision UAS for Komatsu Smart Construction.

Known as the Skycatch Explore1 drone, the UAS will be deployed on Komatsu job sites.

​The UAS are manufactured by DJI, and outfitted with specialized Skycatch technology. According to DJI, this is the first time that it has manufactured a custom UAS for a partner.

“The Explore1 demonstrates DJI’s strategy to provide customers with the most powerful and reliable drone platforms on the market that can be tailored to the needs of any industry,” says Jan Gasparic, Head of Enterprise Partnerships at DJI.

“Our close collaboration with Skycatch on this exciting program has resulted in a best-in-class solution of software and hardware for aerial surveying that truly changes the game for both our customers and the commercial drone industry.”

DJI and Skycatch say that the UAS autonomously flies over job sites to create highly accurate 3D site maps and models. This map data will be used for Komatsu Smart Construction’s new data service that enables robotic earth moving equipment, which is used in the earthwork stage of the construction process to correctly dig, bulldoze, and grade land autonomously according to digital construction plans.

Built on DJI’s customizable Matrice 100 enterprise UAS platform, the Explore1 UAS is part of Skycatch’s High Precision Package along with the Edge1 RTK base station, which is a “highly powerful ruggedized computer” with software that locally processes UAS images into precise 3D models regardless of wireless connectivity and location.

Together, these technologies allow firms to create highly accurate maps and point clouds, discover costly job site mistakes, and predict schedule delays, which saves up to tens of thousands of dollars per week. 

With all of these capabilities, Chikashi Shike, Executive Office of Smart Construction Division at Komatsu, is excited about the value proposition that the Explore1 UAS will offer.

“Conducting a site survey using a drone used to take hours. However, by implementing Explore1, users can carry out surveying quickly and easily,” Shike says.

“Now it is possible to perform drone surveying every day. Taking off, landing and flight route setting are all automated. Ground Control Points (GCPs) are no longer needed. 3D data is immediately generated and an entire construction site can be visually checked with the 3D map. The Explore1 is a true game changer for the construction site.”