Flying Robots Survey Tops of Somerville Buildings

Image: WBZ

Recent sightings of flying robots may cause some Somerville residents to worry, especially if they’ve seen one-too-many sci-fi films.

However, these drones have no malicious, conquest-oriented agenda that we know of. In fact, the city enlisted the ‘bots to gather aerial footage of its many snow and ice-covered roofs.

Needing to see if rooftop snow accumulation has put any municipal buildings at risk for a collapse, Somerville officials figured using drone technology would be safer and quicker than exclusively sending humans to check, reports WBZ. So they tapped Above Summit - a multimedia company specializing in bird’s-eye-view photography and video.

“They hover the drones right above the city building roofs, and then send us video that they capture as it comes in, almost on a real-time basis,” Daniel Hadley, chief of staff to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, told the Boston Globe.

Snow that’s piled up throughout the last few weeks’ repeated storms has prompted major concerns about the integrity of flat roofs in Somerville. During the second week of February, school was called off entirely to allow time to ensure the buildings’ safety.

Curtatone told WBZ that more direct inspection from civil engineers remains a necessity. Nonetheless, he had nothing but positive things to say about the flying robots.

“I think it’s incredible, helpful information to either assess what we need to do, affirm what we have done, or identify opportunities for further intervention,” he said, according to the source.

Let’s hope the drones stay friendly. With more snow predicted for this weekend, humanity in Boston likely needs all the assistance it can get, whether it’s organic, or robotic.