VDI 2879:2018-09

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are workload carrying, remote-controllable components for remote sensing used on land, in water or in the air. For the purpose of this standard, UAVs are flying drones, i.e. multicopters and remote airplanes of various designs, sizes and utilisation, which are used for remote sensing of technical objects with help of different attached sensors. The acronym UAV - for unmanned aerial vehicle - means the unmanned aircraft itself. A drone is a flying component of an UAS (unmanned aerial system) or RPAS (remotely piloted aerial system). A UAV system, in addition of the drone, also includes the predictor for controlling the drone, the sensors, systems for data transmission (ground/air or other recipients of exploration results) as well as components for operation, maintenance and transportation. These systems are now increasingly used in the maintenance, specifically for visual inspection of facilities or buildings, which usually can only be done poorly or only with great efforts (e.g. process engineering systems, power plants, PV systems, cooling towers, chimneys, transmission lines). UAVs are even used in buildings for inspection and measurement tasks. The standard describes the areas of application and the conditions surrounding the use of UAVs, for example flight permits (including the legal aspects related to air traffic law, insurance, pilot licence, etc.), the drones (weight, equipment variations, etc.) and their sensors (camera, scanner and measuring systems, etc.). The target audience for the standard are both operators of technical plants which either use UAVs themselves or with the help of a service provider for their plants and buildings, as well as service providers.