I didn't move any goal posts, nor did I argue with you, I was really just asking a question, but you seem to have a chip on your shoulder about something so have a good one

You are way too defensive and triggered for the “authority” you supposedly have. And I do believe you. Also you gotta learn to chill and read. I’m not moving goal posts here, you just like to rant. Also big lol at your first paragraph in this comment. Hilarious irony there. Loved it.

Answering your comment and trying to wrap the discussion (I’m not gonna block you lol, what are you even talking about about). What I disagreed with your original argument is that doing a bridge inspector isn’t just getting some semi-pro pilot with an expensive but generic drone with a fancy camera. Snap some photos from a few meters distance and bam, job is done and you inspect one side of a small bridge in 1 flight. That’s it. It was pretty clearly laid out in my comments. To get any meaningful data you basically want/need to get as close as possible. And this usually means actually touching the object you are inspecting. You allegedly have experience in this field so I don’t need to tell you that “regular” drones (and by regular I mean not collision tolerant) don’t like to fly very close to large metallic structures. I’m sure you can guess why.

Not that it matters but yes, I have more than 5 years of experience as a Robotics Engineer working with drones. For my masters thesis I designed, simulated and coded my own control and estimation loops for a drone with tilting motors. You don’t even have to be from a Stem background to tune PIDs. They are stupidly simple but for most cases they are more than good enough. And yes I have a mechanical engineering degree (MSc). Anything that I said is wrong?

I didn’t disagree about the costs reduction. First these drones are still somewhat new in what I assume is an old school field. Also expensive af. Second usually they are usually performed by service providers. If a bridge inspections costs X and the provider can do it with a drone for like 1/4, then he isn’t going to charge that. He’s going to charge 3/4 because it’s a win/win situation. And because of the first point maybe you don’t have that many providers. Also because the drones need to be specialized, and not just any drone for aerial photography or mapping. Lastly regulation. That is always a PITA and more so with drones.

Edit: I actually went and read the article and the 30% are not at all related to bridge inspection cost. It’s basically a 30% reduction in some trajectory planning cost function because it takes into account the wind conditions. So yea kind of a useless discussion