Making roof assessments easy with drones

By Emma Peterson. 

Getting on a roof is a dangerous part of the job, but drones can eliminate that risk. 

In a recent episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth hosts Tim Cossette of EagleView to talk about how EagleView Assess™ drones are revolutionizing the roof inspection and assessment process. Historically, drones have been used in the industry as marketing tools. Tim explained, “It was before or after photos and videos. The resolution of the cameras wasn't great, so you couldn't really tell roof condition.” But developments in technology mean that the camera resolution has improved and, subsequently, there are more use-cases for drones. 

EagleView has been at the forefront of using digital imaging technology as it improves. Tim explained the power of these images, saying, “We take tons and tons of photos. From those photos we can deduce an immense amount of data.” Collecting this data allows for roof inspection and assessments to occur without the danger of putting a person on a roof. A new avenue that they are exploring is the use of drones to take their aerial images through their EagleView Assess program.  

Assess is a web-platform that uses a Skydio drone to collect a large quantity of images and then stitches them together so the contractor can see the entire roof at once. These drones fly themselves, so users do not have to have extensive drone experience. Tim elaborated on the process, sharing, “The drone comes in a Pelican Style case with an iPad with predownloaded apps, a controller and bunch of batteries.” Through the apps the contractor inputs the information about the job they’re working on. Then, on the job site, the iPad is used for ground assessment photos. The drone is sent off with one click of a button. Tim described the drone’s actions, saying, “It's going to pop up 10 feet in the air. It'll do a 360 and get its bearings. From that point about a 45-degree angle, it's going to go up about 50 feet above the roof.” It takes 8-10 photos per square foot of the roof and lands itself back in its case when done.  

After that, all the contractor needs to do is pack up the remaining tools and go back to the office. The drone sends the images to the cloud where the images are stitched together and software searches for anomalies on the roof to point out. Tim made sure to emphasize the quick turnaround time, saying, “Anything you fly today will be available by 9:00 a.m. the next day for your review inside the assess platform.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about how EagleView Assess program can benefit contractors.