- 1 · The spheres
- 2 · One to look at
- 3 · Operations
A petrochemical plant in the Cai Mep industrial zone in southern Vietnam, beside the container terminal, rebuilt in 3D from nine stock drone clips. Every storage sphere is measured on the 3D: a farm of ten, 22.7 to 23.0 m across and 10.6 m apart shell to shell, and three more of 11.4 to 14.7 m, with their volumes. Two crawler cranes are found in 3D by placing each boom tip where the sight lines from two frames meet: tips at 41 m and 99 m, with each crane's reach drawn on the ground against the nearest sphere. AI reads every sphere's coating, rust streaks and the work round it across six views, and one sphere is flagged for staining and streaks, then checked by eye. All of it is drawn on the real drone footage, fixed to the objects as the drone flies, and every figure says whether it was measured, estimated or read by AI. An operations view adds sample hazard zones, escape routes to muster points, safety equipment, a live gas-detection map and an X-ray of fill levels and buried lines.
What we measured
| Measure | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Footage | 412 frames | Nine stock drone clips, all placed in one 3D |
| 3D rebuild | 23.4 dB | Checked against every 8th frame, which the 3D was not built from |
| Spheres | 13 | Ten of 22.7 to 23.0 m across, 10.6 m apart; three of 11.4 to 14.7 m |
| Crane tips | 41 m, 99 m | Each found in two frames, the sight lines meeting within 0.1 m |
| Scale | ±7% | From truck cabs of known size |
| Time | 1 h 37 min | Footage in to the 3D, on one desktop GPU |
What went wrong
- The large white vessels were first fitted as upright tanks. Looked at again, they are spheres, and were measured as spheres.
- The first patch over the operator's name also caught the back of the sphere. It now covers only the side the drone saw.
What happens next
- Repeat flights, to show what changed between visits.