Three students from the University of Strathclyde in the UK have developed a drone fitted with a thermal camera to monitor buildings’ energy efficiency.
The team aim to commercialise the concept, which is designed to give a comprehensive assessment of energy use. They have named the endeavour Drone Wrangler, and envisage there being uses for the technology across industries such as energy, agriculture and construction.
One of the three students involved in the project, Americo Pino, commented: ‘Energy efficiency is important in buildings for environmental and economic reasons, but some equipment used to measure it is expensive and doesn’t always give a full reading. Drones can make these types of inspections more comprehensive and thermal imaging technology takes this a step further.’
The drone lifts off automatically and can link to around 17 satellites at a time. On a recent test flight, the drone surveyed four buildings on Strathclyde’s campus and a fifth building at the University’s playing fields at Stepps. Each assessment took around 30 minutes to conduct. The students are currently analysing the data.
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