Drone services in Brazil: dam inspection and digital twins

Second mission at the Juquiá complex: faces of Serraria

Serraria, São Paulo

From 5 to 8 October 2026: upstream face of Serraria on the 6th in the rain, with nine flight plans, downstream face on the 7th with seventeen flight plans; on the 8th the automatic spillway gates were open and the downstream face under water, so the upstream face was flown again and the mission stopped. The rest of the campaign is postponed to the 2027 dry season; the three Salto do Iporanga orthophotos have been produced.

First mission on the seven dams of the Juquiá complex

Salto do Iporanga, Juquiá, São Paulo

From 17 to 21 August 2026: general aerial views of the seven plants, França, Fumaça, Barra and Porto Raso on the 17th, Salto do Iporanga on the 18th, Serraria on the 19th, Alecrim on the 20th, and detailed acquisition of Salto do Iporanga, upstream face on the 19th and downstream face on the 21st, GNSS base on the operator’s crest benchmarks; reconnaissance report delivered on 1 September.

• 7 dams visited

Two-year contract for the seven dams of the Juquiá complex

Juquiá, São Paulo

Technical proposal validated in April, contract signed in July 2026: detailed survey of the faces and crests of seven dams with crests of 140 to 265 m, six on the Juquiá-Guaçu river and Salto do Iporanga on the Assungui river, anomaly mapping, 3D models and web tool, then a follow-up survey.

Fourth campaign on the Peti dam

Peti, São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, Minas Gerais · Cemig

From 22 to 24 September 2025: 2,037 photos in 21 flights and 12.7 km flown, 7 orthophotos totalling 3.9 gigapixels, 71 plates including 68 comparison plates; six new or longer cracks since 2024, downstream-face stability confirmed since the 2022 baseline.

• 2 037 photos
• 6 new cracks

First web interface delivered for a dam inspection

Rio São Francisco, Bahia

On 18 February 2025, with the plant report: the 9 orthophotos with their anomalies positioned, 4 3D models (powerhouse, spillway, two trunnion beams) and the virtual tour, available online for one year; a video tutorial was added after the technical meeting on 21 February.

• 9 orthophotos online
• 4 3D models

Drone inspection of a hydroelectric plant on the São Francisco river

Rio São Francisco, Bahia

From 21 to 24 January 2025, after the site safety induction: 11,809 photos in 33 flights and 66.5 km flown, including close-range flights less than 4 m from the faces; 9 orthophotos (46 gigapixels), two 3D models, a virtual tour and 2,492 mapped anomalies, delivered with a web interface.

• 11 809 photos
• 2 492 anomalies mapped

Third campaign on the Peti dam

Peti, São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, Minas Gerais · Cemig

From 26 to 28 August 2024: 1,610 photos of the downstream face and 832 of the upstream face from 5 m away, 2023 and 2024 campaigns registered on the 2022 reference; four new cracks, cumulative length almost unchanged.

• 4 new cracks

Wind-turbine blade inspection at Serra do Mel

Serra do Mel, Rio Grande do Norte · SupAirVision

Familiarisation with SupAirVision’s blade-inspection protocols in Rio Grande do Norte, then a first mission on the Serra do Mel wind farm for an energy producer.

Second annual campaign on the Peti dam

Peti, São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, Minas Gerais · Cemig

From 12 to 15 September 2023: 1,649 photos of the faces from 6.5 m away, face orthophotos registered on the 2022 baseline (4,052 cracks); 22 new or longer cracks and 54 more visible ones recorded.

• 22 new cracks
• 0,8 mm per pixel

Second crack-monitoring campaign on 14 concrete test blocks

Aparecida de Goiânia, Goiás · Furnas

From 18 to 20 September 2023, at Furnas’ concrete ageing station: 4,200 photos 40 cm from the faces, 68 orthomosaics at 0.15 mm per pixel and 1,184 crack measurements, compared with the 2022 campaign.

• 0,15 mm per pixel
• 1 184 measurements