Mistras Group
Surface Corrosion Consultants Launches New UAV Service
Posted:
Surface Corrosion Consultants Ltd., Europe’s largest coating inspection company, has announced they launched a new UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) service to monitor and inspect corrosion for our clients across the UK and Europe.

The new service will offer long-term solutions such as reduced overheads and operations costs, as well as a host of health and safety benefits compared with the traditional manual inspection survey methods.

The use of UAVs is quickly becoming the preferred technique for Coating & Inspection across a wide range of sectors including Oil & Gas and construction, renewables, marine, industrial and transport and infrastructure.

Rab Grainger, Technical Director says:

"UAV services relating to the inspection sector has seen huge advancement in recent times as companies begin to understand the benefits of incorporating UAV inspection into their maintenance and repair budgets.

UAV Inspections are the safest alternative to any manned inspection survey method and using them on an asset reduces the risks associated with human surveying as inspectors are removed from potentially dangerous and hostile conditions such as height, weather, and radiation.

The improved ability to place a UAV anywhere goes beyond any other method of inspection. Essentially, UAV inspection can provide a number of solutions to combat what was once pain points within the inspection and coatings survey market."

Our UAV services will be combined with our in-house digital solution, Surface Asset Management (SAM™) – the ground-breaking app digitally streamlines all aspects of coating and NDT inspection to simplify the surface asset management process.

Rab explains:

"Our UAVs are closely linked with SAM™ – our trademarked software which will generate immediate conditional survey reports as the UAV is in mid-flight, removing the need for manual data input.

Multiple areas can be surveyed in a short period of time transforming what was conventionally a lengthy task into a much more efficient and safe process."

Our AMPP coating surveyors are now fully qualified with GVC (General Visual Line of Sight Certificate) Drone Training Certifications approved by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority).

Our surveyors will inspect assets, both onshore and offshore, with the use of onboard cameras, acting as an inspectors’ eyes in high resolution, 4K imagery.

UAV inspections offer a number of cost saving benefits as the surveys can be carried out whilst an asset is still operational reducing any costs associated with isolating an area or shutting down an entire asset. Further cost savings are achieved as companies no longer require a manual process such as rope access technicians, mobile elevating work platforms or scaffolds.

Rab adds:

"UAV inspection reduces days, weeks and sometimes months of planning associated with the logistics of shutdowns and manned inspections," continued Rab.

Surface inspectors have years of experience in the Coating Industry which means we know what to look out for and we can implement a real plan to support the next steps to protecting an asset."

Our team of specialists to have recently gained full certification in GVC Drone Training include Robert Dalzell, Chris Clark, Lee Mothersdale and Lee Nolan all based in Belfast and who are now ready to roll out the UAV technology to clients across the UK and Europe.

Rab further adds:

"Having focused our latest team training on UAV inspection demonstrates our ongoing commitment to staff development and we are incredibly proud of our team’s achievements which play a key role in securing Surface as leaders in the field of coating and paint inspection.

Surface Corrosion Consultants maintain a constant drive for efficiency for our clients and believe that UAV inspection, together with our innovative SAM™ software, is a game changer for the future management of corrosion in the energy and construction industries."

The CAA-approved GVC course was delivered by Heliguy (www.heliguy.com), and consisted of three parts: theory examination, a practical flight assessment, and the completion of an Operations Manual.For more information on our new UAV service, click here https://www.consultsurface.com/uav-inspection/
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