Reclamation Information Sharing Environment (RISE)

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have been a rapidly growing technology during the 21st century. Advancements in battery technology, UAV components, and software design, has pushed the boundary of what UAS can be used for. Reclamation has been investigating UAS and its various applications since 2012. This research builds on previous projects and focuses on the use of UAS for completing inspections of inaccessible features such penstocks, tanks, spillways, and other hydro-infrastructure. Investigation of companies and their commercially available products and services was conducted. A comparative analysis of traditional inspection methods versus UAS was also performed. This research found UAS offered several benefits for inaccessible feature inspections and are a valuable tool to Reclamation.