In this month’s episode of Chat NDT with ASNT, host Debbie Segor, CAE, discusses confined space aerial inspections with Christian Smith. Christian is one of the founding members of Interactive Aerial, a manufacturing and service company based in Traverse City, Michigan, that focuses on building robotic solutions to better address internal infrastructure inspections—specifically GPS-denied, confined space environments. Christian is the company’s president overseeing the sales team and global distribution partners and managing day-to-day company operations. He studied business at the University of North Dakota and became a commercial pilot and Certified Flight Instructor during his time at the university.
Christian is one of 20 elected committee members on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Special Working Group for unmanned aerial systems standards. The goal of the Special Working Group is to develop, review and maintain guidelines, standards for requirements, and methods for industrial plant inspection using safe and reliably operated unmanned aerial systems/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAS/UAVs).
Christian’s company began as a drone manufacturer that got into the NDT industry when a client asked his company to help build a drone that they could utilize in indoor inspections. In the episode, Christian and Debbie delve into the gap in the drone industry surrounding use in indoor, confined-space markets. Christian highlights the industries where drone inspection in these spaces is utilized, including in the power and chemical industries and on assets such as boilers, flue gas stacks, tanks and pressure vessels, municipal water/sewer infrastructures, and cargo ships.
Christian also discusses the new inspection camera technology developed by his company that further enables robotic inspection in these indoor, confined-space assets. The episode covers the benefits of utilizing robotic systems in these industries to be able to quickly and cost-efficiently determine if an asset can remain in service or if it needs repairs. In addition to these benefits, Christian highlights how robotic inspection systems keep personnel safe by keeping them out of confined spaces and away from hazardous materials.
Christian and Debbie also explore the training that goes into operating these systems and the variety of educational paths that can lead to work in this industry, noting that experience is more crucial than a particular educational background. They also discuss the future of the industry and the research and development being undertaken by Interactive Aerial. He notes that one trend he sees emerging is expanding drone technology beyond visual testing and into other methods, as well as furthering the capabilities of remote viewing for inspectors.
Listen to the full conversation below or search for Chat NDT with ASNT in your favorite podcast platform.
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Haley Cowans is Educational Materials Editor at ASNT, hcowans@asnt.org.
Debbie Segor is Marketing and Communications Manager at ASNT, and the host of Chat NDT with ASNT. To be a guest on the podcast, contact desgor@asnt.org.
Christian Smith is President of Interactive Aerial.
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For additional information on aerial/robotic inspections, check out these papers from the ASNT NDT Library.
Dahlstrom, R., 2021, “Aerial Robots for Contact-Based Ultrasonic Thickness Measurements for Field Inspections,” Materials Evaluation, Volume 79, Issue 7, pgs. 687 – 694. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32548/2021.me-04213
Burleson , J., 2019, “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Use in Nondestructive Testing: An Overview,” Materials Evaluation, Volume 77, Issue 4, pgs. 472 – 478.
Branch , J.L., 2018, “Advancing Drone Use Beyond Visual Inspection: Nondestructive Testing Utilizing Aerial Robotic Systems,” ASNT Annual Conference, Houston, TX, US.
Photo by RedKnap, Canva.