The physical facilities department at Miami University in Ohio is using UAS to inspect the roofs and gutters of some buildings on campus.

The technology is being used thanks to a Lean Project, which examined how UAS could be used on campus to increase efficiency.

One idea was to use the technology for visual inspections of roofs, gutters, chimneys and cupolas. Usually, a lift would be used to allow employees and contractors to conduct inspections and repairs.

To conduct these UAS operations, Miami chose a Boise, Idaho drone company called Rapid Aerial as its time and materials contractor for drone services. The company inspected four academic buildings that are difficult to access due to their height and location.

Rapid Aerial also recently inspected Miami’s residence and dining halls. Miami notes that students are notified three days in advance anytime a UAS will be flown near their residence hall, even though the camera on the UAS cannot see into the rooms of students due to its angle.

During operations, one contractor operates the UAS, slowly scanning the entire roof, taking photos of problem areas and sending the photos to physical facilities.

According to Miami, using UAS for inspections provides a lot of advantages. As noted earlier, lifts are typically used to conduct inspections and repairs, so using UAS decreases the damage to lawns from using lifts.

Additionally, using UAS increases the frequency of inspections for buildings that are hard to reach, and the technology allows for inspections of the workmanship of new buildings still under warranty.

One other advantage that UAS provide is that they save time when conducting these operations.

“We will be able to more strategically target the areas of concern and not spend time moving a lift and looking at areas that don’t need attention,” says Jeff Johnson, director of environmental health and safety.

Johnson adds that physical facilities is collecting metrics from the recent UAS inspections, so that it can determine cost avoidance. The university uses a contractor to remove leaves from the gutters of the residence and dining halls, so using a UAS for inspections could potentially save money since it will show which areas need attention.