Make sure you have the following information at hand:
KML file containing the site boundaries
The capacity (peak power) of the site in MWp
A design file (DWG or DXF) containing the components you want to track, including the used coordinate system (EPSG code)
A schedule that defines when different works / activities are planned
(optional) A site layout that indicates the boundaries of zones/regions
We'll cover these requirements in more detail below, but this already gives you a handy checklist.
1️⃣ Create your site
Enter the name of the site, upload the KML or draw the site boundaries manually and fill in the peak power of the site in MWp. Check out this guide for details on how to create a site.
2️⃣ Import components from your design file
Components digitalize hardware components. They're automatically used for target setting and deviation detection if you create them, while enabling you to keep a well-organized digital track record of everything you do on site.
To be able to compare the drone flights with the components, we need to know the exact location of each component. These locations are extracted from the design file.
Since all design files are different, your support manager will make sure the file is converted into the right format and imported into the platform. Just make sure the file contains piles, tables and panels in the right spots.
3️⃣ Set-up your project schedule / targets
Components allow us to track progress (e.g. 50% of piles in region A has been placed), but they don't tell us when you expect them to be placed. That's where the schedule comes in.
There are two ways to set up the schedule:
If you already have a schedule (in Microsoft Project, Primavera or Excel), just send it to your support manager and he'll make sure it's imported correctly.
If you don't have a schedule file to share, you can create your schedule directly in the Sitemark platform as well.
Create an activity for each component you would like to track, with the start and end date
Link each activity to the relevant component to enable automatic progress updates and displaying planned progress in the reports.
4️⃣ Set up regions for your site (optional)
The setup above ensures proper site-wide reporting. If you want to get more fine-grained reporting, you can define geographical regions on your site. Make sure to define region-level activities as well, as the schedule defines the targets for reporting.
🚀 Create operations and start tracking
That's it. Your site setup is complete. You can now create operations to schedule the drone inspections and see results come in.