From Pilot to Project: How to Scale Drone Docks for O&M

Jared's first drone dock deployment began with two drone-in-a-box units in a high-risk, complex area. When they started, nobody was sure it would work. It did: a field task that used to take hours came down to 15 to 30 minutes. A little over a year later, that one small test has grown into dozens of remotely deployed units working in the field every day.

In episode 012 of Tap Into Data, Adam and Jared use that story to explain how organizations get from a small pilot to a full program. Adam is having more of these conversations in Canada, especially around construction progress mapping, and wanted to share what has worked for teams in the US.

Start with one dock and let the results do the selling

Jared says moving from old ways of working to new ones can be stressful, and it's hard to put a number on the ROI right away. The approach that has worked across industries is to start small: one dock, one drone, one use case. It's a low-cost, low-risk first step, and in his experience it almost always shows the value.

After that, he says, growth is "just exponential." It worked with one unit, so they tried two on a truck. That worked, so two trucks, then three. Jared's team now deploys docks on trucks, on trailers and on fixed mounts. They're also working on a storage container setup that lowers the cost of a fixed site while adding battery redundancy.

The staffing math is what stands out. Xcel Energy, whose Director of Remote Sensing, Zachary Roach, was on the show in episode 007, has added drone pilots, but only a few to support dozens of units in the field.

First, ask what you're doing today

Adam starts every client conversation with the same question: what are you doing today, and is it working? If your current approach still scales, he says, you don't need a pilot. A pilot makes sense when you've hit a wall and your clients still want more.

He described one company that told him it had the most drones and the most pilots in Canada and still couldn't get all the work done. Much of that work is at remote sites, where a monthly inspection can mean a flight in a plane and a full mobilization. A dock left on site changes the math. A client who only booked a monthly inspection because getting there costs so much could switch to weekly, because the drone is already on site.

Adam adds that remote operations also cut down on driving, which he calls one of the highest-risk things many companies do. A day spent driving out, collecting data and coming back can turn into less than an hour of work from a central location.

Better data, not more data

You might expect remote operations to bury teams in data. Jared argues the opposite. When you can capture data whenever you want, each flight can be more precise. The result is less data but better data, which means less to review and more value from what you keep.

Adam points to consistency. As he puts it, "the more you touch it, the more opportunity for failure." He remembers wind sites where drones had to recalibrate because they didn't like how they'd been set up. A docked drone that launches the same way every time gives you reporting you can compare flight after flight.

From there, Jared says, machine learning and computer vision can flag defects and changes, and the reporting can be automated too. Weekly capture doesn't give you real-time data, but Adam says it gets you much closer to a live view of the asset.

Facilitating the inspection, not replacing the inspector

Adam brought up a question Canadian organizations often face: how will unions react? Jared has had that conversation many times in the utility space. In a power pole inspection, he explains, the remote drone pilot "isn't actually doing the inspection. They're facilitating the inspection." The lineman still puts eyes on the pole and makes the call. The work is just faster and safer.

Adam suggests jobs this could create. Experienced pilots could fly from a command center, and summer students could join a kind of apprenticeship program. Modified-duty workers could drive the drones out to sites. Field crews still matter: a person in the truck can check the base of a pole for rot or cracks the drone might miss. Jared adds that drone skills make union workers more valuable to their current employer and to future ones.

Making the case to scale

Adam says the pilot isn't where the real decision gets made. It's where you work out who needs to be involved. Bring IT, security, finance, and operations into the room at the start. Once everyone has seen how data gets from the field to the desk and agrees it's secure, the project can scale without the same debates coming back.

Jared's pitch is simple. He keeps seeing five to 10 times gains in efficiency and revenue opportunity, and "money talks." Whatever platform a team flies today, DJI, Skydio, or something else, he says there's a low-barrier way to start adding automation. You don't need to buy ten units tomorrow. Go from one to two, then four, then six, and let each step prove the next.

Listen to the full conversation to hear Jared and Adam work through the pilot-to-project path in detail.

Key takeaways

• Start with one dock, one drone, and one use case: Jared's first two-unit pilot cut a field task from hours to 15 to 30 minutes and grew into dozens of units within about a year.
• A pilot only makes sense if your current approach has hit a wall; Adam opens every conversation by asking what you're doing today and whether it's working.
• Docks on remote sites make inspections cheaper to run, so a monthly inspection can become a weekly one.
• Frequent, consistent capture means less data but better data, which is easier to review and to automate with computer vision.
• In utility work, the remote drone pilot facilitates the inspection while the lineman still makes the call, which helps address union concerns.