The 5 Pillars of a Drone Program

So you’re interested in building a drone program for your organization. Maybe you’re in the forestry industry and want to monitor block layout and road access. Perhaps you’re the GIS tech for a regional district and want to be able to do rapid damage assessments after emergency events. You may work in an industry that requires monthly or quarterly volume assessments of inventory. Despite the industry, organization and application being different, all these examples have three common threads. Safety, legality and effectiveness of the program are critical. 

There are five pillars to a successful drone program. They are training, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and authorizations, hardware and software, data collection and finally, data processing and management. Ok, maybe there are eight pillars to a successful drone program. Some of these categories have common threads, some more than others, so combining feels necessary. Let me explain.

Training

It’s critical to have staff that understand how to legally and safely operate the equipment you intend to buy; this is obvious. In many ways, this is the easiest pillar. People can figure this out independently, or Transport Canada has provided a framework for minimum training standards; organizations that provide training to that level can be found here. This training will help your pilots pass their advanced or basic exams and should provide a solid foundation for operators to understand the legal requirements to operate an aircraft in Canadian airspace. 

Consider Flysmart Training. Transport Canada recognized. We offer live-online and in-person training classes. No self-paced online slogs through mountains of material. Ask all the questions you can think of to one of our three excellent instructors. Two of which started their own drone programs (myself and Jon), and the third (Kora - a total bad@$$) got her private pilot's license when she was only 14! 

SOPs and Authorizations

All operators are expected to have standard operating procedures and emergency procedures. Don’t forget every operation must include a digital or physical copy of your pilot certificate, drone registration, proof of recency and drone manual.

As part of any operation, an operator is legally required to conduct a site survey. As part of this survey, hazards will be identified and mitigated if you’re doing it right. This is where authorizations come in.

Authorizations can come from the government (Transport Canada), private organizations (NavCanada) and the manufacturer (DJI, Autel, etc.). Ideally, you’re operating in an environment where you can avoid triggering an authorization request. If you are in a city, the odds dramatically increase that you will need to request at least two of the following:

Government - Transport Canada gives you authorization to operate your aircraft within an existing framework - Canadian Aviation Regulations Section 900. However, suppose your operation is more complex and requires you to operate outside of those regulations. In that case, you’ll need to apply for a Special Flight Authorization Certificate. Initially, this is quite an onerous process, but the payoff can be huge. Once you’ve figured it out, you should be able to rinse and repeat for future operations. 

Private - NavCanada grants authorization to operate your aircraft based on the airspace. To operate in controlled airspace, you must contact NavCanada via the NavDrone portal. In some cases, the airspace is controlled by the military. If that is the case, you will need to contact them directly.

Manufacturer - Manufacturers lock their aircraft in certain environments to reduce the chances that uneducated operators fly them where they shouldn’t, i.e. near airports, heliports, national parks, prisons, etc. The largest manufacturer of drones in the world is DJI; odds are that is what you will end up buying. You can unlock your DJI drone by logging into your account on their website, requesting the unlock and specifying the area, aircraft and purpose.

We offer Special Flight Operations Certificates application support, including operations manual development. Call us if you want help conducting more complex operations or need quick guidance - (250) 857-5411

You can also check out our blog post breaking down everything you need to know about SFOC’s!

Hardware and Software

The mistake many drone program developers make is thinking the only purchase they will need is the drone and maybe a computer or tablet. There is a laundry list of items I’d recommend you consider. They include but are not limited to the following:

• Drone

• Computer (field and office. Put another way, collection and processing)

• Storage (Hard drive / SD cards/cloud)

• Radio (ground and aviation)

• Sensors (camera, infrared, lidar, multi-spec, etc.)

• Internet access (boosters, Starlink, sim card hub, etc.)

There are so many different kinds of software out there that support drone operations. Basically, all drone manufacturers have proprietary flight control software. Some have partnerships with data processing companies like Pix4D or DroneDeploy. Some manufacturers' apps try to do it with weather, airspace, checklists, etc. Those are great, but in some cases, what you gain in convenience, you lose in precision or sophistication. I’ll list a few software I use/like:

• Flight control software: UgCS

• Data processing: Agisoft Metashape

• Weather monitoring: UAVforecast

• Airspace validation: NavDrone

Give us a shout if you want to discuss software and hardware considerations (250) 857-5411

Data Collection

This is where things get complicated. Before you spend money on the sensor you want, consider reaching out to an industry expert and asking for advice for your specific needs. Photography is its own discipline. Photogrammetry is its own discipline. LiDAR is its own discipline. Multispectral is its own discipline. Anyone can step into these realms and get a product out but trust me when I tell you this: formal training, workflows or even just professional advice will pay for itself tenfold.

For hands-on training and one-pagers on photogrammetry, infrared and LiDAR data collection best practices - (250) 857-5411

Data Processing and Management

At the end of the day, it’s all about the data. Proper workflows for processing data are critical. In many cases, if one step in the process is missed, the final output should be scrapped, and the process should be restarted from the missing step. It isn’t always obvious where a mistake is made, so formalizing data workflows with fields for notes is recommended. Once you’ve established your workflow, follow it. DO NOT WORK FROM MEMORY.

Data management is a little trickier than one might think. However, you will want to pay special attention to a few points throughout the collection process to product delivery. 

• Transfer from RPAS to computer

• Data structure on the computer should be considered before transfer. Maybe you’re in a rush to take advantage of the weather and available daylight but trust me when I say this, organizing data after the fact can be a nightmare.

• Processing by-products

• Inevitably your processing workflow will produce by-products. Some are important, others can be deleted right away. Avoid storing them all in the same folder.

• Data storage

• Transfer speeds and accessibility…

If you’re like me, your mom probably told you that you could do anything if you put your mind to it. What I’m about to say brings me no joy. You might think you are the next Munkhshur Narmandakh, but trust me, in some cases, mom was wrong... 

If you want formalized workflows and guidance, don’t hesitate to contact our team for support at (250) 857-5411.

Drones are an incredible technology with tremendous potential to positively impact the world and your business’s bottom line. However, there is a lot to think about when starting a drone program. Many components are obvious, some require more research, and others are trial and error. I started my journey down this path eight years ago. I’ve put this blog together to offer guidance to new operators (and to do a little shameless self-promotion) so that they might avoid a few mistakes I made. 

When starting your drone program, consider the five (eight) components I’ve laid out here. Avoid making rookie mistakes. Give your program a good headwind on lift-off to take flight with the sky as the limit.

-Richard Sullivan COO