INDUSTRY ISSUES continued from page 15
Brooks advises companies to look at outside vendors for data processing and management, even those with in- ternal drone-data collection programs. “A company that specializes in the software side of drone data manage- ment can help you get the security, speed, reliability, and convenience that you’re looking for at a lower cost than an internal program,” Brooks says.
Additional accessories such as extra batteries, hard cases, lens filters and more can also add up. “We spent over $100 on extra pro- pellers today for our drones, so there can be ongoing maintenance costs too!” Pellettieri says. There is also the time investment of training and educating your Pilot and Visual Observer. Despite these invest- ments, Pellettieri says they decided to
operate their drones in-house because of his professional background in tech- nology and passion for using tech tools in their work.
“I could see reasons why smaller companies may prefer to sub out drone work though because it does take a fair amount of investment to launch a drone program in-house, especially in a landscaping company,” he says.
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SUBCONTRACTING DRONES If operating drones in-house seems a little too daunting or expensive for your company, there is also the option of subcontracting the work out. “I’d encourage companies to think of a scalable drone program as a major IT undertaking – often there are more systems and business processes impacted by a drone program than are immediately obvious,” Brooks says. “It’s a huge value add for the companies we see do it but doing it in-house with limited experience in the technology is really tough, which is why I usually rec- ommend starting with subcontractors to learn the ropes.” The cost of subcontracting a drone pilot depends on the job requirements. The project’s location, timing, overall size, along with the type of data you’re trying to collect and the complexity of what you want to do with it will all impact the price.
Brooks says most subcontractors will do one-off projects, but most are looking for repeatable work. He adds that most skilled contractors are unlikely to do unpaid “proof of concept” work that isn’t related to obtaining a major contract. “Those subcontractors who accept are generally very new, so they’re nec- essarily a higher-risk vendor,” Brooks says.
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Most subcontracting drone data col- lectors work with their own equipment. “Depending on your subcontractor’s pricing models, they’re likely to provide equipment options that impact their cost – if you’re choosing something more exotic, such as a drone with a LIDAR sensor, smart contractors will confirm that the pilot and the sensor operator are used to the air frame and each other,” Brooks says. “Com- munication on a drone team in the field can be the difference between a happy customer and a total bust of an operation.” TLP
16 The Landscape Professional //July/August 2021
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