Tenterfield Shire Council is keeping a close eye on Boonoo Boonoo landfill to predict when a new cell will be required to take our rubbish. Imagine cutting the cost of such volumetric surveys by close to 80 per cent. Another NSW council has already done it, by using a drone.
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The potential for drones to dramatically reduce costs and increase the efficiency of local government operations was explored at a workshop attended by council personnel on Tuesday, October 23.
John Morrison and son Thomas of Morrison Aerial Robotics demonstrated how grid coordinates could be loaded into a drone to automatically survey an area, gathering information that can then be dissected back at the desktop.
Exactly the same survey can then be repeated to compare results over time.
Inspecting council assets such as rubbish tips, water reservoirs, bridges and rooftops could become much easier. Local Government NSW consultant Martin Bass, who is coordinating the drone workshops across the state, gave the example of examining the floodlights overlooking Federation Park near where the practical component of the workshop was run. Instead of staff needing to invest time and resources to erect scaffolding and climb to the light assembly, it’s a quick and easy job for a drone.
“Money, staff resources, the risk element, it negates all of that,” he said.
“You get very high-resolution video and stills, up to 20 million pixels, and can do the inspection back at the desk, enlarging the images for lots of detail.”
Although Mr Bass coordinates a variety of training programs for council staff across the state, the drone one has become the most popular over the past 12 months. The course itself came out of growing number of inquiries to council insurers regarding drone usage, and no one had the answers.
Now 16 NSW councils have done the course with several hundred staff trained. Mr Bass said Dubbo has gone to the length of establishing a large drone program with a dozen staff pursuing full licences.
The popularity of drone usage in council operations has led Tamworth Council to create a full-time position for a drone operator.
Although the size of drone required to do the necessary work does not require a licence, Mr Bass recommends at least one person on staff gain their ReOC (Remote Operators Certificate) to address public safety concerns and for the proper adoption of the new technology.
The cost savings can be significant. Mr Bass offered the example of one council in western NSW that was spending $18,000 a year doing two volumetric landfill surveys. That annual cost has been reduced to $4000 and the survey is carried out with pinpoint accuracy, and the investment in the drone to do it was only $2500.
While the drone is capable of operating at a distance of eight kilometres from the operator, he or she has to maintain visual orientation of the drone which limits the distance to around 400 metres. Each battery lasts around 30 minutes, with Mr Bass recommending having five batteries on hand ‘for a decent job’.
Not only have the aircraft become more sophisticated but also the development of applications to exploit it. Mr Bass said the technology provides more information to act on for decision-making and creates more self-sufficiency, particularly for country councils as it reduces their reliance on external contractors.
Even for assessments beyond the capabilities of local staff, Mr Bass said it’s conceivable for an external consultant to email survey coordinates to be downloaded onto the drone. Council staff can then put the drone in the air to gather the information and send the results back to the specialist for evaluation.
“It makes councils more capable, flexible and self-reliant, and saves time and money,” Mr Bass said.
