SMYRNA, Ga. — Microdrones, a global manufacturer of professional unmanned aerial systems (UAS), is pleased to announce they are partnering with SITECH South, a leading provider of construction equipment and services in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. SITECH South will now offer Microdrones mdMapper solutions – complete UAV packages with everything needed for surveying and mapping.
“We’re excited to provide our customers with such exceptional UAS,” said Brian Holley, SITECH South’s General Manager. “These are survey-grade systems and when you look at them, the engineering and quality are obvious. This technology provides real value and will help our customers perform jobs more safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively.”
Construction companies use drones for many purposes, including volumetric analysis of stockpiles, site overviews, and monitoring progress.
Another key use is to analyze job sites before submitting a proposal. With an initial flyover, companies can check the accuracy of project drawings against the actual specs to estimate costs as closely as possible.
“For our construction customers, we feel a quadcopter offers the highest value and most flexibility,” said Matt Rosenbalm, SITECH South’s UAS / Advanced Technology Specialist. “You need enough control to be able to stop at the boundaries of the project site so your aircraft doesn’t fly over other structures, land, and people. Microdrones systems are great for that – and they also have long flight times, excellent stability, great resilience in bad weather, and they’re very efficient.”
Rosenbalm joined the company in July and is strictly focused on providing unmanned systems products, training, and service. Rosenbalm has his Part 107 license and has undergone extensive UAV training through Trimble and Microdrones.
“I’ve flown many job sites so far with the md4-1000 and each flight has been a great experience,” said Rosenbalm. “Flight planning and implementation are easy. Everyone has been impressed and very pleased with the results.”
But Matt says there are still customer questions. “They know this is the direction the industry is going and there is a lot of interest, but they want to verify the accuracy. As more and more users see how well this technology works, adoption will grow exponentially.”
Trimble is the world leader in geospatial technology distribution – SITECH South is a Trimble dealer. Microdrones partnered with Trimble in November 2016, becoming their preferred provider of quadcopter UAS. Since then, Trimble dealers world-wide have been signing on to sell Microdrones systems.
“When we saw the Trimble announcement in October, we immediately reached out to Microdrones,” explained Holley. “After speaking with them we were so impressed by their mdMapper systems, knowledge, and willingness to help, we put in a purchase order the next day.”
mdMapper packages combine aircraft, sensors, and software – everything needed for aerial mapping. Systems available immediately through SITECH South include:
• mdMapper200
• mdMapper1000
• mdMapper1000DG
Users can also increase the functionality of their systems by purchasing accessory kits. Options include inspection, multispectral, thermal, and soon LiDAR and methane gas detection kits.
SITECH South has already sold an mdMapper1000DG, the most advanced Microdrones mapping system currently available. “The customer liked the idea of mdMapper1000DG because they wouldn’t have to establish so many ground control points,” explained Rosenbalm. “The DG (direct georeferencing) is an amazingly efficient tool.”
Rosenbalm recently completed DG training with the Microdrones mdAcademy team. He is now prepared to teach others to use this advanced system.
“The future of the construction industry undoubtedly includes drones,” said Holley. “One of our main goals is to be a leader in construction technology and a one-stop shop for all our customers’ needs. Microdrones packages are an essential piece of the puzzle for us.”
However, Holley believes that SITECH South’s success is about more than equipment. “Beyond product, we have more than 200 years of combined construction experience and a team of training and service experts that truly cares about their customers. If a client has a problem, a local engineer will be there the next day to assist them. We’re fully committed to helping our customers succeed.”
To learn more about SITECH South, visit www.sitechsouth.com.
