Application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for a safer roof inspection at high rise building

Abstract

A roof must be inspected regularly since it needs to be durable and structurally solid and sound. Roof inspection may be dangerous since many buildings are tall and large. This study focused to carry out visual inspection for high-rise structure using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), determine the defects of Tunku Tun Aminah Library’s (TTAL) roof through photos taken by UAV and evaluate the suitability of UAV for roof inspection. A DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone was used to fly over the roof of Tunku Tun Aminah Library (TTAL) in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). Photographs was collected during the flight, and all photos are checked and processed to recombine the distinct images using Agisoft Metashape software in order to find the defects on TTAL’s roof. The results of analysis showed that there were seven (7) defects on the roof. The condition of the roof was evaluated using Condition Survey Protocol 1 (CSP1) Matrix which got the overall condition of TTAL’s roof is 5.6 (yellow) which shows the roof is in a fair condition. Knowing the condition of the roof only from photos of an UAV indicates that UAV is suitable to use for roof inspection. This study shows the difference between inspecting by conventional method and using UAV. The study conclude that UAV may be deployed in a way besides the conventional method and proposed a safer and time saving method for roof inspection.