A specialised tactical unit for thermal, mapping, LiDAR, multispectral, tethered and automated aerial work, mobilised across Melbourne, regional Victoria and interstate. You bring the problem. I build the brief, assemble the certified team and run the project through to data you can act on.
Industrial drone work is rarely one pilot and one aircraft. A solar audit, a quarry reconciliation or a corridor scan can call for a specific sensor, a certified operator, a data specialist and site approvals, each with its own lead time and its own risk.
Think of it as a specialised tactical unit rather than a pilot for hire. The team, aircraft and approvals are assembled around the mission, then mobilised wherever the site is, from the Melbourne CBD to regional Victoria, the outback and interstate.
I scope the outcome you actually need, match it to the right aircraft, payload and operator, coordinate the approvals and site requirements, and stay accountable for the deliverable from the first call to the final dataset. Where the data also needs to persuade a board, a council or a market, the same project can produce imagery and film to the standard the rest of this site is known for.
Each of these is scoped to the site, the asset and the decision the data has to support. If what you need is not listed, ask. Most industrial briefs are a combination of two or three.
Radiometric thermal cameras read temperature, not just colour. Failing solar cells, hot electrical joints, moisture beneath membrane roofs and heat loss through a building envelope show up long before they show up on a bill or a fault report.
Hundreds of overlapping frames stitched into one measurable, top down map, corrected for lens and perspective so distances and areas hold true. Tied to ground control or RTK positioning when accuracy matters, with a licensed surveyor brought in where sign off is required.
Laser scanning measures the ground through vegetation and captures structures as dense point clouds. Paired with photogrammetry, it becomes a navigable 3D model of a site, building or corridor that design, planning and asset teams can measure from their desks.
Every pile on site measured in a single flight, with volumes calculated from the surface model rather than estimated from the loader. Repeated monthly, it becomes a stock reconciliation the accounts team can rely on.
A drone powered and connected through a ground cable can hold position for hours rather than minutes. Used for persistent overwatch at events and compounds, temporary communications relay, live broadcast and incident lighting.
Multispectral sensors read plant health in light the eye cannot see. Mapped across a vineyard, orchard or plantation, they reveal stress, disease and irrigation faults early, and build the season on season record that yield forecasting depends on.
Towers, transmission lines, bridges, stacks and turbines inspected at close range with high zoom optics, reducing the need for scaffolding, rope access or a shutdown wherever the asset allows. Each defect is located, photographed and logged for the maintenance team.
Scheduled flights record progress against programme, verify earthworks and quantities, and create an as built record before services disappear under slab and cladding. Proof that a milestone was reached, for the people who need to see it.
Catchments, bushland, coastlines and rehabilitation sites monitored for erosion, weed spread, canopy health and bushfire fuel load. Repeat flights over the same ground give measured change rather than anecdote.
Machine learning models find and count what matters in aerial imagery: trees in a plantation, livestock in a paddock, vehicles in a yard, panels with defects. Large areas reduced to a number, a map and an exception list, checked by a person before it reaches you.
Docked drones launch, fly a programmed route, return and recharge on their own, giving large sites routine perimeter patrols and on demand response to an alarm. Remote and automated operations carry their own approvals, scoped from the first conversation.
Collision tolerant drones inside a protective cage fly into tanks, tunnels, boilers, roof spaces and culverts, so inspectors can see the inside of an asset before anyone is sent into a confined space.
Every brief starts from the core capture. These are the specialist extras that can be added per job, each scoped into the proposal and each subject to the operator’s approvals and CASA conditions. Tick what applies and send it with your brief.
Industrial work rewards preparation. Most of the effort sits before the aircraft leaves the ground, which is exactly why it is quoted from a scope rather than a rate card.
A conversation about the site, the asset and the decision the data has to support. The outcome comes first, the aircraft second.
Airspace, access, people, live plant and security reviewed against the method. Where a site visit is needed, it happens here.
The certified operator, payload and any specialist are matched to the job, and approvals beyond standard conditions are lodged early.
Flights run to the agreed plan, inductions and permits in place, with ground control and quality checks before the team leaves site.
Raw capture becomes the dataset, model or report you asked for, in the formats and coordinate system your team already uses.
Where value comes from repetition, the same method is repeated on a schedule so change can be measured, not estimated.
Industrial aircraft, specialist payloads and anything outside standard operating conditions sit under a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operator’s Certificate, a ReOC, issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. On these projects the flying is carried out by the engaged CASA certified operator, under their ReOC, their operations manual and their insurances. I manage the project around them, so you deal with one accountable contact and the flight sits with the people certified to carry it.
Night operations, beyond visual line of sight, controlled airspace and operations near people each carry their own approvals and lead times. They are identified in the first conversation, not the week before.
Inductions, safe work method statements, permits to work and the operator’s certificates of currency are lined up before anyone mobilises.
Critical infrastructure, utilities and private sites can specify confidentiality terms, data storage, access and retention as part of the scope.
Who flies, who processes, who signs off and who holds which insurance is written into the proposal, so everyone knows where they stand before work begins.
Jordy Scott Media provides project scoping and project management for industrial drone services. Unless agreed otherwise in writing, flight operations are performed by independent CASA certified operators under their own Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operator’s Certificate, who hold responsibility for the conduct of each flight. Capabilities and add ons described on this page indicate what can be scoped and are subject to location, approvals, operator availability and site conditions. Imagery on this page is illustrative.
There is no price list for this work, because no two briefs need the same aircraft, sensor, crew or approvals. The more of this you can send, the faster and tighter the scope. A site address and the question you need answered is enough to start.
Because the cost is driven by capability, not flying time. The sensor, aircraft class, operator certification, approvals, crew, processing and how often the site is captured all move the number, and two jobs that sound alike can be priced very differently.
Every industrial project is quoted from a written scope, so the number you receive reflects the work your site actually needs.
A site address, the question you need answered and when you need the answer is enough to start. The checklist above covers everything that sharpens a scope: the asset, the outcome, the formats your team uses, timing, frequency and site constraints.
Plans, previous survey data, photos and any existing reports help too.
A single site capture with a clear outcome can often be scoped after one conversation. Larger or recurring programs usually need a site visit, an operator availability check and an approvals review first, and the proposal waits for that work rather than guessing past it.
A CASA certified operator matched to the job, flying under their own ReOC. I hold a CASA Remote Pilot Licence, but on industrial work the operator is chosen for the aircraft, payload and approvals the brief needs.
You will know who is flying, and under which certificate, before anything is signed.
The flight operation sits with the certified operator, under their certificate, operations manual and insurances, and their certificates of currency are supplied before mobilisation.
The proposal sets out in writing who is responsible for each part of the project, so there are no assumptions on site.
Yes, as add ons to the core job. Flights above 120 metres, beyond visual line of sight, at night, in controlled airspace or near people each need specific approvals held by the operator or applied for through CASA, and some carry real lead time.
Tick what applies in the add ons above, and it is built into the scope and timeline from day one. These are scoped, never promised.
Often, with preparation. Utilities, critical infrastructure and private industrial sites can require inductions, clearances, confidentiality agreements and specific data handling. Share those requirements early and the team and data workflow are built around them.
Either. Many of these services earn their value through repetition, with the same site captured on a schedule so change can be measured. Ongoing programs are scoped and priced as a program rather than a string of single jobs.
Data in the formats your team already uses, plus a plain English summary of what it shows. That might be an orthomosaic and a volume report, a point cloud and a mesh, or an annotated defect register.
Where the results also need to be presented to a board, council, investors or the market, imagery and film can be produced alongside the data.
Ownership, licensing, storage location, access and retention are agreed in writing as part of the proposal, so sensitive sites can set the terms they need before capture begins.
Yes. This is a Melbourne wide service built to travel. Larger projects regularly need the team to mobilise to regional Victoria, the outback or interstate, and travel, freight and accommodation are scoped into the proposal as a mobilisation add on.
Where it suits the job, operators local to the site are brought into the team to keep mobilisation lean.
Send the site, the asset and the decision the data needs to support. I will come back with questions, a proposed method and the team to deliver it, then a written proposal once the scope is clear.
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