Heat loss detection using thermal imaging by a small UAV prototype

There is an increasing interest in detecting heat loss through buildings using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and thermal sensors. The present study constitutes an attempt to develop a system that can detect heat loss in different inaccessible portions of building structures, such as roofs and high-rise facades. Traditionally, inspectors have conducted surveys to investigate insulation performance and detect heat loss through various portions of buildings. However, these kinds of surveys tend to be time-consuming, costly, and risky. To mitigate risks, a small, low-cost Adafruit thermal infrared sensor and a small, onboard Raspberry Pi microcontroller were mounted on a UAV to detect heat loss through buildings. The lightweight Raspberry Pi microcontroller and Adafruit thermal sensor were powered by additional batteries. A lightweight battery was selected based on the maximum payload and power demand of the microcontroller and thermal sensor. The Raspberry Pi was controlled remotely by a portable computer. The UAV flight plan was controlled remotely by FreeFlight Pro software. Several experimental tests were conducted in both indoor and outdoor environments. Both video and image data were obtained remotely from the thermal sensor and microcontroller. A standard FLIR thermal camera with a very high resolution was also used to ensure the accuracy of the results obtained from the UAV-based thermal sensor. All the images captured by the Adafruit thermal sensor were compared with the standard thermal camera images. The results showed that the presently developed system can detect heat loss through inaccessible locations in buildings with modifications only in sensor resolution.