{"id":10369,"date":"2026-10-29T13:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terra-drone.com.sa\/?post_type=case-study&p=10369"},"modified":"2026-10-29T13:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:33:30","slug":"autonomous-drone-inspection-tested-at-a-live-energy-facility","status":"publish","type":"case-study","link":"https:\/\/terra-drone.com.sa\/ar\/case-study\/autonomous-drone-inspection-tested-at-a-live-energy-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Autonomous Drone Inspection: Tested at a Live Energy Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/b>
\n<\/b>In late 2025, Terra Drone Arabia ran a field test of an autonomous drone inspection setup at a live oil and gas facility. The aim was simple: show that a drone can take off from a dock, fly a planned route, capture images and send them to a software platform without a pilot controlling every step.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Challenge<\/b>
\n<\/b>Manual inspections of tanks, pipes and elevated assets are slow, and they can put people at risk. Large facilities also need frequent checks. An autonomous drone that waits in a dock on site could handle routine patrols. For that to work, the drone also needs a platform that plans tasks, tracks flights and stores results.<\/span><\/p>\n

What We Tested<\/b>
\n<\/b>The test followed five steps:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Enter the inspection task<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Assign it to a dock<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Fly the route<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Upload the data<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Find defects in the images<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Equipment<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Device<\/b><\/th>\nRole<\/b><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u0642\u0627\u0639\u062f\u0629 DJI 3<\/span><\/th>\nLaunches, lands and charges the drone. Rated IP56, works from -30 to 50 \u00b0C, and charges from 15% to 95% in about 27 minutes<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    DJI Matrice 4TD<\/span><\/th>\nInspection drone with visual and thermal cameras and about 54 minutes of flight time<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    DJI RC Plus 2 Enterprise and DJI Pilot 2<\/span><\/th>\nUsed to plan the flight routes<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    DJI D-RTK 3 Relay<\/span><\/td>\nFixed relay beside the dock<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Third-party inspection platform<\/span><\/td>\nSends tasks to the dock and stores images<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    How the Test Ran<\/b>
    \n<\/b>Setup took longer than the flights. On the second day, the drone would not connect to the platform because new drone firmware did not match the platform\u2019s software kit. The platform team fixed it overnight.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The flights worked. The first autonomous flight lasted three minutes and checked take-off, altitude control and return to home. The next mission flew six waypoints in about six minutes with a stable link, even without the relay. Images uploaded automatically after landing. The team ran more flights to collect images for AI training, then held a live demo for client and partner representatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

    What We Found<\/b>
    \n<\/b>Hardware:<\/span><\/i> The dock and drone were stable throughout. Autonomous take-off, flight, landing and charging all worked, with precise waypoint tracking.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Software:<\/span><\/i> The platform could run routes planned in DJI Pilot 2 and store the images. It could not plan or edit routes, change the flight once it started, show live video or switch to thermal in flight. Automatic defect detection and reports were not working, so engineers marked defects by hand. The AI needs thousands of site images to train, and sensitive facility images could not be shared.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Client representatives liked the hardware. They said the platform was too basic for industrial inspection.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Lessons for Operators<\/b><\/p>\n