Remote Observation over Time (Drone in a Box)
Montana's diverse terrain and weather create unique problems for Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) Maintenance crews. Hazardous areas need to be monitored to assess risks such as avalanche and rock-slide sites. MDT Maintenance and MDT Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program would like to explore a portable, fully automated drone solution nicknamed ‘Drone in a Box’. This drone would monitor and or map hazardous sites remotely to reduce crew exposure and assess potential dangers to the traveling public. The Drone in a Box concept has been around for over a decade but only recently have we began seeing commercially available products. Most Drone in a Box solutions come with an untethered drone and operates remotely using a set of preprogrammed instructions telling the drone when to take-off, what flight path to follow, and when & where to land. Data collected during these operations is able to be accessed remotely, with the option to live stream the data in real-time. MDT Maintenance and MDT UAS Program management propose to deploy a Drone in a Box at one (or more) MDT locations where avalanche danger is common to monitor and map snow-pack over time. This research would propose to answer the following questions: (1) Is a Drone in a Box solution a cost effective and safer alternative to having maintenance crews physically inspect those areas? (2) Can the Drone in a Box solution be a reliable tool to collect the actionable data MDT needs to make accurate decisions? (3) Can mapping snow pack with a Drone in a Box solution in avalanche prone area's help predict occurrences to better prepare for incidents? (4) Can a Drone in a Box solution be an effective asset in assessing flooding issues during spring runoff?
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Proposed
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Sponsor Organizations:
Montana Department of Transportation
2701 Prospect Avenue
P.O. Box 201001
Helena, MT United States 59620-1001 -
Project Managers:
Callejas, Vaneza
- Start Date: 20230614
- Expected Completion Date: 0
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Asset management; Data collection; Drones; Monitoring
- Geographic Terms: Montana
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Maintenance and Preservation; Transportation (General);
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01888767
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Montana Department of Transportation
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Jul 26 2023 1:14PM