High-performance drones enable more effective monitoring of industrial production processes. To carry out maintenance work at Ford Dagenham Engine Plant in the UK faster and more safely, the car manufacturer has recently opted for the Hexacopter H520 from Yuneec. High-rise gantries, pipelines, and high roof areas can be inspected quickly and easily using the drone’s remote camera.
Various areas of the factory site, such as 40 meter long gantries that need to carry extreme heavy machinery, had to be controlled by using automated extendable scaffolding. Yuneec’s H520 supports the work of the Ford Dagenham Engine Plant inspection team to minimize the safety risk for workers while significantly speeding up the maintenance process.
Thanks to the H520, production stops are a thing of the past due to the production equipment no longer having to be stopped during the inspection. Putting an end to production stops means that Ford in Dagenham carries out maintenance work much more regularly and efficiently than before. Also, the time-consuming assembly and dismantling of the scaffolding are no longer necessary.
Meanwhile, the plant uses the Hexacopter not only for the inspection of hanging transport platforms. In combination with the Yuneec camera systems for the H520 with thermal imaging technology, pipes and the possible overheating of machines can be inspected as well. Furthermore, the flying helper is ideal for inspecting building roofs up to 50 meters high. Ford is currently investigating the possibility of using drone monitoring processes at other locations.
“With many projects, Ford stands for innovative capability and forward-looking application examples that make plant processes more efficient, more environmentally friendly, and safer. The use of professional drones such as the H520 is a convincing example of this. This is also shown by the successful participation of this joint project with Yuneec for the internal Ford Innovation Award,” explains Joe Schamuhn, CEO of Yuneec Europe.