With an extensive background in drone technology and digital surveying, Mike Edwards, Building Surveying Partner, brings a groundbreaking capability to Ridge - one that will revolutionise the way we inspect, monitor, and maintain the built environment.
Early career
Mike’s journey into the world of surveying and drone technology began in 2011 with infrared thermography, where he specialised in heat loss quantification. His early work in social housing and commercial portfolios helped prioritise remedial efforts for more energy-efficient buildings. This enthusiasm for harnessing technology to drive efficiency set the stage for his work in drone-based surveys.
Mike’s career took a pivotal turn in 2014 when, following knee surgery, he was unable to climb up and down ladders, so mounted his thermal camera to a drone. This breakthrough transformed the way he conducted condition surveys and led him to establish one of the UK’s longest-running drone service providers. His focus was to use drones to access hard-to-reach places, improving survey accuracy, and reducing the need for surveyors to work at height or in hazardous environments.
Exploring drone technology
Beyond simple aerial inspections, Mike explored photogrammetry – using drone imagery to create 3D models and point clouds for precise measurement and analysis. His ambition to make this technology more scalable led to his adoption of mobile mapping solutions, including body-worn SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping) devices. These innovations streamlined large-scale surveys, significantly reducing time and disruption for residents and businesses alike.
In 2018, he founded a nationwide drone network, integrating drone surveys with internal mobile mapping to create accurate Revit models. This approach enabled large-scale heat loss calculations, informing sustainable solutions like air source heat pumps for housing projects. Managing a network of over 60 freelance drone operators, Mike also played a crucial role in construction monitoring, further refining remote survey capabilities.
“Drone-in-a-Box” technology
Mike’s experience led him to join a drone manufacturing spin off of Cranfield University in 2022, where he worked on the idea of a fully autonomous drone deployment solution. Recognising the limitations of current regulations, he collaborated with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to advance beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations, paving the way for real-time, remote-controlled drone infrastructure.
His concept, Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) – aims to establish a network of drone docking stations across urban and rural environments. Much like a mobile network, these stations enable users to request drone inspections through a booking app called PilotForce, akin to Uber for drones. AI integration further enhances efficiency by automatically analysing data, allowing surveyors to focus on critical findings rather than sifting through thousands of images.
Plans for Ridge
At Ridge, Mike’s ambition is to develop a nationwide automated drone infrastructure that supports diverse built environment applications – from social housing stock condition surveys to flood incident responses.
Mike said, “I’ve worked with Ridge as a contractor since 2012, and the scale of the company now makes it the perfect time to roll out these exciting innovations. Through my team, we’ll bring this tech in-house, empowering surveyors across the company to leverage drone-based insights more effectively.”
Rhys Davies, Building Surveying Partner, added, “This is a game-changer – not just for productivity, but for Ridge’s ability to expand our consultancy services globally, all while ensuring our expert surveyors remain at the heart of what we do.”
