Professional Documents
Culture Documents
01 02 03
Introduction Aerial Maps Drones
& 3D Models & VDC
Workflows
04 05 06
Tools & Case Studies Getting
Integrations Started
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 3
Drone data is a natural fit for VDC, and it is transforming the profession. With access
to high-resolution aerial maps and 3D models, busy teams can visualize job sites in
new ways, keep pace with the many moving parts of complex projects, and seamlessly
integrate drone data into everyday workflows.
UAVs offer a streamlined way for virtual design and construction to gather
high-resolution data and put that data to work in site planning and design, site survey,
earthwork management, and BIM workflows. If you are a virtual design and construction
professional looking to bring drones to your job site, we’ve put together a primer to get
you started.
“
Believe the hype you are hearing about drones.
Drones are going to change the construction
industry—it’s already happening.
Grant Hagen, Virtual Design and Construction Manager
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 4
02
Why Aerial maps and 3D Models are
Transforming VDC
As a virtual design and construction manager, you are a leader who helps drive innovation
at your company. But gathering the high-quality, timely data you need to do your job is
often a challenge.
For many VDC workflows, traditional data collection just doesn’t cut it anymore. Ground
surveys are expensive and can take days, if not weeks, to mobilize. Aerial photography and
satellite imagery doesn’t provide the high level of detail that you need for your specialized
workflows.
Aerial maps and models > Low cost. Fast turnaround. High impact.
Data in Hours, Not Weeks. With drone maps and 3D models, you have access to the most
up-to-date site information in a fraction of the time and cost. Where ground survey takes
hours.
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 5
Real-time Data. And, because gathering drone data isn’t a heavy burden on manpower or
resources, most construction companies find it easy to collect new data at least weekly.
This gives you access to the most relevant information at every stage of a project, not just
at a few select intervals.
High Resolution and High Impact. High-resolution 3D point clouds generated with
drones yield millions of data points, giving you a rich set of information that can be
seamlessly integrated into the software you use every day.
“
Drone maps give my team a bird’s eye view of
the site, which looks a lot different than being
on the ground. It gives them a full picture.
Matthew Forster, Project Engineer for Choate Construction
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 6
Site Surveys
In a fraction of the time it takes to complete a ground-based survey, a drone can fly
and capture imagery of a project site. By using ground control points, you can achieve
centimeter-level accuracy with your drone map. Export the map into AutoCAD software
to create contour maps in days, not weeks.
Total Time
Data Collection & 1-4 days
Post-processing
(1-2 weeks)
Total Time
2-3 weeks
“
When you’re looking at a dramatic 75% or
greater cost and time improvement by using
drones instead of a ground survey—it’s
really powerful.
Hunter Cole, Virtual Design and Construction Coordinator
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 7
Overlaying the point cloud with 3D site plan models allows you and your team to compare
real-time site conditions against plans.
“
Obtaining a point cloud of the entire site in a
few hours using a drone is a huge benefit to the
schedule and the budget.
Jesse Creech, VDC Coordinator at Brasfield & Gorrie
Drone data gives you the most accurate information about actual site conditions, which
can be leveraged at all phases of a project.
Overlay design documents with a 3D point cloud of actual site conditions to optimize
details like crane placement, equipment clearances, and concrete pour framing.
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 8
Many construction projects capture site data with a drone each week, making it easy to
measure and compare changes over time.
Overlay existing design models on top of point clouds to verify placement of concrete
footings and pipes, assure builders are following plans, and track project completion to
remain on schedule.
Monitoring Earthwork
Use drone-generated elevation data to monitor site grade on earthwork. Save time
compared to on-the-ground data collection without sacrificing accuracy.
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 9
Live Map turns hundreds of acres into consumable maps without the need to go back to
the office. Get accurate aerial views of your job site faster than ever before.
Monitor the progress of your job site by keeping track of earthwork, equipment,
subcontractors, and structures in real time.
“
Live Map helps me end each day with confi-
dence knowing where a project stands and what
our subcontractors have completed so that we
can provide the best product for our clients.
Ryan Moret, Field Solutions Manager at McCarthy Building Companies
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 11
05 Case Studies
Drones are transforming virtual design and construction by saving money and manpower,
and enhancing workflows. But don’t just take our word for it. Here are two examples of
how the VDC teams at major construction companies used drone maps and 3D models.
At the request of field operations, the VDC team at Brasfield & Gorrie used drones to
verify initial earthwork done by a subcontractor at a 61-acre hospital site. If the field team
had used the robotic total station to shoot a grid of elevation points instead, it would have
required over 1,000 individual shots with multiple setups.
The VDC team took drone-generated elevation data and overlaid it with site plans for
comparison.
The final output was a heat map showing the external contractor’s earthwork progress
according to plan. Green indicates areas where actual elevations matched the design
plans. Areas in blue are low, while areas in red are high. Read the full case study here.
“
With a relatively small investment in time and money
we were able to verify field conditions and complete
an analysis that would have otherwise taken much
longer and been much more expensive. We received
a very high ROI in this instance.
Jesse Creech, VDC Coordinator at Brasfield & Gorrie
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 12
The in-house drone team flew the field with ground control points, then exported the
elevation data into Autodesk Revit, where they measured the elevation differences
between various points on the field. Overlaying the drone data with the AutoCAD files of
the original site plans, it was easy to see what was causing the drainage issues and how to
fix them. Read the full case study here.
“
Signing on to DroneDeploy’s enterprise solution was
a huge step in expanding our in-house drone program.
Now we can easily get this information out to our
guys, and they have access to measurements, annota-
tions, and everything that makes the platform useful.
Steven Wells, General Manager at Key Construction
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 13
Ready to give DroneDeploy a try? Sign up to start a 30-day free trial of our software and
begin putting drone maps to work in your company.
Still have questions? We are happy to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate in reaching out
to us with any questions. We’ll connect you with one of our drone mapping experts to get
you the information you need to get started with drones.
Interested in bringing drones to your job site? Read our guide to starting a drone program.
Our construction webinar series, in conjunction with leading drone manufacturer DJI,
gives great tips and tools to help your company get started with drones.
For a one-stop-shop guide to help you through the steps to becoming a successful
construction user of DroneDeploy, turn to our Construction Onboarding support
documents.
Curious about the future of drones in construction? Read our predictions for what’s to
come here.
Drones for Virtual Design and Construction 14
About DroneDeploy
DroneDeploy is the leading cloud software platform for commercial drones, and is making the power of
aerial data accessible and productive for everyone.
Trusted by leading brands globally, DroneDeploy is transforming the way businesses leverage drones and
aerial data across industries, including agriculture, construction, mining, inspection and surveying. Simple
by design, DroneDeploy enables professional-grade imagery and analysis, 3D modeling and more from any
drone on any device.