Software supplier Esri UK is partnering with drone specialist Heliguy to provide an end-to-end drone service to the construction industry.
The partnership will provide customers with drone hardware, pilot training and flying services from Heliguy, in addition to Esri’s existing drone flight planning, data capture, data processing and GIS software.
Esri UK and Heliguy will work on joint projects, aiming to introduce new and more efficient workflows by bringing together customers’ GIS and survey teams who have traditionally worked separately on drone-related projects.
"Esri has invested heavily in creating its drone technology and this new relationship completes the picture in the UK. As drone usage grows, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the AEC community is demanding more integrated programmes that can easily grow across their business. Heliguy’s vast experience and training capabilities, coupled with Esri’s cloud-based drone and GIS software are a perfect match for the industry’s new enterprise requirements," said Craig Evenden, head of AEC & BIM at Esri UK.
"The AEC drone industry is still in its infancy which sees many piecemeal projects with no proper joined-up internal approach, which leads to failure," commented Ruairi Hardman, Heliguy’s business development manager. "Internal drone programmes that can scale across a business are a fairly new phenomenon and these are what we look forward to delivering alongside Esri UK. Robust, standardised drone workflows, designed for the long-term, can lead to 1%-2% efficiency gains, which translates into millions of pounds on large-scale construction projects."
Esri UK customers include Arcadis, Mott MacDonald, Costain, Crossrail, the Skanska, Costain and STRABAG Joint Venture and Highways England, while Heliguy manages some of Europe’s largest drone programmes, working with Balfour Beatty, Atkins and Network Rail.
