Talamone drone platform

From the flight to the report. One chain.

How do drone photos become decisions on your network? Fly to a plan, send us the photos, we process them on our own servers, and the result comes back as a map, tables and marked photos. LiDAR point clouds run in the same chain.

Self-service · Fully free · upload your own drone photos or LiDAR point cloud
FREEFree system test · self-service

Test the whole chain on your own data.

Upload with your upload code, we run the analysis on our side, and the processed result comes back to your browser. No installation, no fee.

Fully freeYour own dataResult in your browserOriginals deleted · logged
1 Upload → 2 We process on our side → 3 Result in your browser
Capture guide · how to fly for machine vision

Fly it right, once.

The photos decide what the AI can see. The guide shows the automated flight plan in 3D, step by step: three orbits and the detail shots, per drone camera, for medium and high voltage, with the flight time and every photo the drone takes.

  • Camera settings per drone
  • The flight plan in 3D · medium and high voltage
  • Delivery and the on-site checklist

This is our recommendation. Every network and every drone fleet is different: contact us, and we tailor the flight plan to your lines, poles and cameras.

The capture guide: the automated orbit around a medium-voltage pole, with the drone camera view▶ 3D flight plan
Chapter 01

Flight & capture

Bring the drone you already fly. The flight plan and the camera settings adapt to it.

1.1

The drone

Supported cameras
Zenmuse H20 / H20TZenmuse H30 / H30TMatrice 30 / 30TMatrice 4TMatrice 4E Matrice 5TDMavic 3 EnterpriseZenmuse P1Zenmuse L2Zenmuse Z30
  • Photos: JPEG straight from the drone, with GPS. No renaming, no resizing.
  • Zoom cameras: orbits at a fixed zoom, details zoomed in.
  • Fixed lenses (P1, L2): the three orbits only.
  • LiDAR (L2 or any airborne scanner): the point cloud runs in the same chain. See 3.2
1.2

The flight plan

Hovering in one spot and zooming is not enough: machine vision needs every part from many sides, at the same scale. So the drone flies three orbits at a fixed zoom, then the details.

One pole, one drone, three orbits

Pick your camera; the flight and the settings follow it.

▶ Start the 3D flight plan
  • Orbit 1: at head level, one photo every 15°.
  • Orbit 2: from above: fittings, bird guard, top insulator.
  • Orbit 3: at the base: pole number, switch handle.
  • Why so many photos? Up to 75 per pole for the full 3D capture — the most accurate 3D model from images; full defect detection needs 16 (8 around the top, 8 around the base). They are only for processing. From all those angles the pole is reconstructed in 3D and every part is seen from several sides. We do not keep them: after processing the originals are deleted, apart from a few evidence images that show what the network found. The same for the free test.
  • Details: every insulator, the pole switch and the branch, from two sides.
Full capture guide

Camera settings per drone, the flight table, delivery and the on-site checklist.

Open the capture guide
Chapter 02

Data: how you upload, how we take it in

Photos and point clouds go in through the same kind of secure upload, with one upload code. Your photos are processed on our own servers.

2.1

The upload

Watch one real photo package go through: real drone photos, the real grouping into poles, the real detections.

01
Upload code

You get a personal code. With it, upload JPEG photos or a whole folder; they are packed in your browser.

02
Secure transfer

Sent in parts over an encrypted relay. An interrupted upload resumes where it stopped.

03
Checks

Only real JPEGs pass. Duplicates are dropped; a photo set already processed is not processed again.

04
Approval

An operator approves every job before processing starts.

05
Processing

On our servers. Progress shows live in your browser.

06
Result

Opens with your job number. AI results are marked as AI.

2.2

Every photo gets a passport

Where it was taken, with what, how sharp it is, and which inspection points it shows.

Rendered drone photo of a pole head
Photo passport
  • Fingerprinted: the same photo never enters twice.
  • Read on arrival: EXIF, GPS, height, gimbal angle, camera.
  • Quality checked: sharpness and exposure on every photo.
  • Append-only log: every change on a photo is kept.
2.3

Your network, if you have it

Network context
Your file

Send the network of the area with the photos. The principle: each photographed pole is matched to its line and its asset ID.

Public map

No file? We use OpenStreetMap: line km by voltage, poles and branch points along your route.

No map

No network here at all? The photographed poles are connected as an inferred route, marked as such.

Network file formats
KMLKMZGeoJSONShapefileGeoPackageDXFCSV

Lines and poles with their IDs. Coordinates in WGS84 or your national grid; a file without a coordinate system is placed from the photo positions.

Your photosDeleted right after processing, and the deletion is logged.
Only if you allow itKept to improve the models. You decide at upload.
Your resultAvailable for 7 days under your job number.
€1per pole≈$1approx. per pole
Self-service · from the free test to production

One euro per pole. About one dollar per pole.

Self-service, from the first free test to the production system: you upload, the analysis runs, the result is in your browser.

  • Minimum order applies.
  • The per-pole price is calculated over the full contracted network length, not a handful of poles.
  • It includes the use of the whole platform.

Pay per pole

Distribution poles€1 per pole
1001,00010,000100,0001,000,000

How it works

You pay per pole, not per photo. Upload as many photo packages per pole as you need: repeat flights, new seasons, detail shots. Only the number of poles in your network counts.

Total price
€10,000
10,000 poles × €1
  • Any number of photo packages per pole
  • The whole platform, no feature limits
  • Price over the full contracted network length
  • Minimum order applies
The system behind it

Not just insulators and cross-arms: a model of the whole pole

A box on a photo is only the visible end. The principle: every point on the structure has its parts, what they are made of, the defects that can occur there, how each defect is seen and what it is confused with. This is what is taught, checked and reported, for distribution and transmission alike. Click a point.

Medium-voltage pole head with insulators, cross-arm and conductors
1
Point on the structure

2
What it is
3
What a defect is

4
What it becomes

Photo→Point on the structure→Parts & attributes→Defect dictionary→Training→Your report
Illustration · photo: GPS 56 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Chapter 03

Processing

From pixels to assets, in principle: detection on the photos, LiDAR for the corridor, a 3D model of the structure, matching to poles and the network, and a defect dictionary behind the findings.

3.1

Detection on the photos

The principle: detection runs on the photos and marks components such as insulators, cross-arms, switches and the pole itself. Drag the line.

Medium-voltage pole with insulators, cross-arm and the pole boxed The same medium-voltage pole, unprocessed
PhotoDetected
insulatorcross-armconcrete pole
Illustration · medium-voltage pole, boxes drawn to show what basic detection marks · photo: GPS 56 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

This picture shows the idea. In a project, what is detected and how it is evaluated is agreed with you: components matched across photos and poles, and defects described by the dictionary.

Our approach

We do not start by hunting for defects. We start by building your asset database.

Inventory at component level

The idea: an inventory built from the photos, at component level: what is on each pole, and where.

Defects learned from few examples

Where real cases are rare, defects can be reproduced with today's technology, so a handful of examples is enough to train on.

Every finding has a reference

A defect is a difference from what should be there. The asset database is what the difference is measured against.

Seen on the photos · three basic typesMeasured

∅
Missing
Should be there · is not

A warning sign, the pole number. One or two sharp photos settle it.

+
Foreign
Is there · should not be

A structure or any foreign object that can disturb the network: a nest, debris caught on the line, an attachment that does not belong.

≠
Deviating
Should be there · is there · differs

The part is in place but looks different from the reference: broken, hanging, cracked, burnt.

⟂
Geometry
A simple measurement

Vegetation against the position of the network, conductor sag, a leaning pole. Not recognised from looks, measured.

3.2

LiDAR: the point cloud

An airborne LiDAR scan goes through the same steps: upload with a code, checks, approval, processing. Only the line corridor is processed.

01 · UPLOAD
LAS / LAZ

In a projected coordinate system; read from the file, nothing to enter.

02 · CORRIDOR CUT
20–40 m

Only the points near the line are kept, before anything else runs.

03 · CLASSIFICATION
Ground · trees · wires

Ground, vegetation, buildings, conductors and poles.

04 · ANALYSIS
Clearance & fall-in

Trees with heights, clearance zones and fall-in risk, measured against the line.

05 · RESULT
Map · 3D · report

Risk per span along the line, the point cloud in 3D and a decision report.

3.3

Photos and LiDAR, on one network

The two do different jobs, and meet on the same network: the line, the span, the pole.

Drone photos

  • The components on each pole
  • Their condition and defects
  • Material and function of the pole
One networklines, spans and poles from your network file or OpenStreetMap

LiDAR

  • Pole positions and the conductors
  • Trees, heights and clearance
  • Fall-in risk per span
3.4

The structure in 3D

Every structure type has its inspection points. Each point has its own list of possible defects. Every finding lands on a point of a pole, so it can be compared across photos, poles and years.

3D model of a medium-voltage pole head with its inspection points marked
  • Inspection points: base, pole body, head assembly, each insulator, cross-arm, switch, conductor fittings.
  • A defect list per point, each defect with its severity.
  • Pole position from the camera positions and gimbal angles of the photos.
  • Coverage: which point was seen from how many sides.
  • Rare defects generated in 3D on real photos, so the models learn them before they occur.
3.5

Matching: photo → pole → network → register

The photos are grouped into poles, the components into an object list, and the poles into your network.

PHOTOS
8 photos

Grouped by position: one pole per 30 m.

POLE
Concrete · support

Material and function suggested from the components.

OBJECT LIST
3 insulators · 1 cross-arm

Counted on the photos, per class.

NETWORK
MV 22 kV line

Network pole 6.1 m away, line and branch points checked.

REGISTER
One row per pole

Asset ID, components, grade.

Values of one pole from a real test job
3.6

The defect dictionary

Every finding comes from a dictionary: object → what decides it → defect → severity. Each defect says how it is seen and whether the AI can find it today.

Object
Insulatoron the head assembly
Attributes
Function · materialsupport, strain, pin · porcelain, glass
Defect
Broken or missing shedcounted per insulator
Severity
S1 · Immediateseen from two sides
S1ImmediateS2UrgentS3PlannedS4Monitor Detector readyTo trainMeasuredField only
A real pole base photo, the same photo with a generated crack, and the crack labelled
Real photo · generated crack · label
Rare defects, generated

A crack across a concrete pole is rare in the photos, so we generate it: on real photos, with the width and direction set from the dictionary, and labelled automatically. The models learn it before the first one is reported.

3.7

People validate

The AI pre-labels everything. People accept or correct it, split by class. Until then, every result is marked as an AI result.

Full 3D capture — the most accurate 3D model from images. Full defect detection needs 16 photos per pole: 8 around the top, 8 around the base.

Work package
74 photos · 1 polesplit by class
AI pre-labelling
all classes
Labeller A
insulators only
Labeller B
switch & branch only
Validator
human checkaccept or send back
Training
gatedgoes live only if it beats the current model
Chapter 04

Report: what you see

The result opens in your browser: a grade, a map with layers, the network, pole cards, tables and the marked photos.

4.1

The grade and the numbers

Report header: grade C, not suitable yet, with the main issues
Summary tiles: photos, with GPS, good quality, poles, components found, flagged findings

An honest grade: these test photos were taken by hovering and zooming, so the report says they are not fit for defect assessment yet, and why.

4.2

From photos to decisions

You hand over photos. The aim is not a pile of photos to look through, but poles assessed, the finding behind each, the action it needs, and a work list in priority order.

#PoleComponentFindingSeverityAction
Example data on an abstract map · findings and severities from our defect dictionary · the timing is set by your own maintenance rules
4.3

Pole cards and photos

Pole card: grade, material, function and the component list with photos
Pin and strain insulators close up, boxedPole head with cross-arm and insulators boxed

Each pole: grade, suggested material and function, the components with the number of photos they are on, and the photos themselves, marked.

Illustration · photo: GPS 56 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
4.4

The criteria table

Are these photos fit for machine vision?
Criteria table: measured value, target, status and why it matters
4.5

From the report into the work

Work orders
Crews get the polethe finding and the photos
Repair or replace
Decided per asseton validated evidence
Budget priority
Ranked by severityand outage risk
Regulator & audit
Every finding traceableto its photos
Next survey
Planned where it mattersnot on a fixed cycle

Test the whole chain. Free.

Fully free · upload your own drone photos or LiDAR point cloud.