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Terra Drone Indonesia maps underground campus utilities with GPR drone

March 9, 2020  - By
Photo: Terra Drone Indonesia

Photo: Terra Drone Indonesia

Terra Drone Indonesia, a group company of Japan-based Terra Drone Corp., has successfully completed a pilot project at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia. The project included flying a drone equipped with a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) system over the campus to map tunnels and underground utilities.

The drone data was then processed and compared with the infrastructure records of the university by geophysicists, who determined the underground assets were accurately and precisely mapped, Terra Drone Indonesia said.

According to Terra Drone Indonesia, the combination of GPR and drones opens up new potential for the use of unmanned technologies in areas that are traditionally challenging and unsafe, such as post-blast areas in open-pit mines. A GPR drone also could be used to locate underground pipes, map the conditions of the assets and detect hazards like pipeline leaks.

“The conventional GPR method requires field personnel to go to the field and carry GPR tools to conduct surveys,” said Michael Wishnu Wardana, managing director at Terra Drone Indonesia. “But this method has its own dangers because not only are some areas unsafe and difficult to reach, but also because severe weather conditions in the field can hamper workers from carrying out their jobs diligently. GPR drones, in contrast, have emerged as a much safer and efficient surveying solution.”

Terra Drone Indonesia worked on this project in collaboration with PT Airborne Geophysics Indonesia and the Geophysics Laboratory at ITB. TerraDrone Indonesia has worked with ITB in the past as well, validating Terra Lidar’s topographic mapping capabilities at ITB’s Jatinangor Campus.

About the Author: Allison Kral

Allison Kral is the former digital media manager for North Coast Media (NCM). She completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University where she received a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She works across a number of digital platforms, which include creating e-newsletters, writing articles and posting across social media sites. She also creates content for NCM's Pit & Quarry magazine, Portable Plants magazine and Geospatial Solutions. Her understanding of the ever-changing digital media world allows her to quickly grasp what a target audience desires and create content that is appealing and relevant for any client across any platform.