Preparing the published article.
Illustrative Project Brief: Robotic Inspection Pilot
Plan an inspection pilot around an asset question, suitable sensing, access controls and traceable findings. An illustrative editorial brief with no live client, tender or actual project budget.
Define the inspection decision
This illustrative planning brief is an original Zhilianhai editorial checklist, with no live tender, client assignment or actual project budget. Start with the decision the asset owner needs to make: locate visible damage, document a surface, measure thickness or compare a known feature over time. Choose a single inspection question for the first trial.
Identify the asset and the locations that must be observed. Agree who will interpret the findings and which evidence would require further investigation. A robot's ability to reach a location does not by itself establish that the required measurement can be obtained there.
Choose sensing and scope together
Flyability's Elios 3 documentation describes visual inspection and LiDAR mapping. Treat those as defined data types when writing the scope. Specify required viewpoints, coverage and location context instead of requesting a generic inspection video.
For a thickness question, the Elios 3 UT Payload uses a contact probe and couplant and records A-scans. Confirm material, surface preparation, access and probe suitability with the inspection specialist. Do not substitute visual images for a separately specified thickness measurement.
Collect access and asset inputs
Provide drawings, entry dimensions, geometry, surface condition and known environmental hazards. Ask the asset owner to identify operating restrictions, isolation needs and approved access arrangements. Select the platform only after its documented operating limits have been checked against these conditions.
Inspection locations and required data: to be marked on an asset drawing.
Environmental conditions and suitability evidence: to be reviewed.
Launch, landing or recovery locations and responsible personnel: to be assigned.
Data handling, storage and permitted recipients: to be agreed.
Specify what happens if access fails or the machine cannot be recovered through the planned route. Do not assume an industrial inspection product has hazardous-area approval.
Set data-quality acceptance gates
Use a readiness gate for access, equipment configuration and the approved operating procedure. Follow it with a limited demonstration and a witnessed data review before expanding coverage. Agree the sample locations and reference method with the person responsible for the inspection decision.
Coverage: required locations are observed or explicitly recorded as inaccessible.
Usability: data meet the agreed visibility or measurement criteria.
Traceability: findings retain their asset location, capture context and relevant settings.
Flyability Inspector organizes inspection data by asset and supports spatial review. Ask for a sample handover in the proposed software and file formats so that the receiving team can evaluate access and usability.
Separate findings from conclusions
Maintain a record of incomplete views, uncertain measurements and conditions that affected collection. Have qualified personnel interpret the results within the agreed inspection scope. A completed flight or route should not automatically count as an accepted inspection.
Record the limits of comparison with previous surveys, including different sensors, positions and surface conditions. If the evidence is insufficient, define the next inspection method or additional preparation required. Avoid filling missing areas with assumptions.
Deliver a reviewable inspection package
Deliver the mission record, equipment and payload configuration, coverage map, original data, annotated findings and exceptions register. Include the agreed interpretation and any recommended follow-up, with responsibility assigned by the asset owner. Close the pilot with a continue, revise or stop decision based on evidence quality and access feasibility.
Prepare requirements using Write a Robotics Buyer Brief and Robotics RFQ. Return to the Project Center for other planning briefs. Editorial review: 10 September 2026.