Cyberhawk helps utilities with drone asset inspection

  • October 9, 2024
  • Steve Rogerson

Operators in the utility, oil and gas, and capital project sectors can improve asset inspection using enhancements to Cyberhawk’s flagship iHawk Visualive enterprise SaaS visual data management platform.

Demonstrated this month during the Atlanta T&D World Live conference (events.tdworld.com/2024), this latest version of iHawk’s image inspection module delivers more capabilities and leverages AI to enable the instant analysis of drone-captured asset data, streamlining the inspection process.

The Visualive software release enhances overall inspection outcomes, lowers asset management costs and improves performance.

“We’re excited about the release of iHawk Visualive, which will bring cutting-edge enhancements to revolutionise asset inspections across key industries,” said Matt Zafuto, chief commercial officer for Cyberhawk. “With AI capabilities and user-friendly tools, Visualive streamlines the inspection process, enabling users to make informed decisions more quickly, ultimately lowering costs and maximising asset value. Our dedication to innovation continues as we support over 5000 iHawk users worldwide in enhancing their asset management experience.”

Visualive delivers data analysis and visualisation, such as multi-view inspection image comparison, enhanced annotation tools and customisable workflows. Building on the foundation of previous versions of iHawk, users can streamline their inspection processes, make informed decisions quickly, and simplify surveyed asset management more effectively throughout their organisations.

“The feature-rich functionality of Visualive significantly enhances our platform’s capabilities,” said Jay Jenkins, vice president at Cyberhawk. “By continuing to focus on addressing the challenges specific to the drone-to-decision process and leveraging AI-driven analysis, we improve the accuracy and efficiency of asset inspections. This technology reduces data interpretation time and enables precise decision-making, ensuring our users can effectively manage their assets and drive operational excellence across departments.”

Users can now run image uploads through AI models enabling instant identification and visualisation of components and issues, streamlining the inspection process. AI predictions can be transformed into actionable insights by creating annotations directly from the AI output, enhancing decision-making capabilities.

Visualive’s open model interface supports integration with existing in-house or third-party AI models, so existing investments and know-how are preserved.

Multi-view inspection uses multiple image comparison views such as side-by-side or four-image grid to evaluate conditions and discrepancies effectively. Concerns can be highlighted using a range of annotation tools, grades can be added for context, and collaborative commenting facilitated at both the annotation and inspection levels. Video functionality will allow users to play, pause and annotate videos, enhancing the depth of inspection analysis.

This version of Visualive introduces campaigns to better manage UAS inspection programmes, improve status visibility and track progress against targets. Multiple asset hierarchies and groups can be organised and displayed for easier navigation.

Users can improve collaboration with commenting and conversations on campaigns, inspections and annotations. A visual workflow builder tailors workflows based on inspection types, increasing flexibility and accuracy of information. Data management can be streamlined by importing in bulk as a background task, ensuring little disruption to workflow.

The roles and permissions builder provides flexibility and visibility, ensuring users with varying responsibilities across departments can work effectively while maintaining security and control over sensitive data.

Founded in 2008, Cyberhawk (www.thecyberhawk.com) is based in Edinburgh and Denver and specialises in visual data management, seamlessly combining drone-based inspection and survey data with its iHawk software (thecyberhawk.com/ihawk-software). Cyberhawk conducts hundreds of thousands of inspections and surveys each year and operates in more than 40 countries.