How to Get Started with the ROC: From Briefing to First Mission

Step 1: ROC briefing

Everything starts with a conversation. In the briefing, we’ll ask about:

• Your sites: how many, where they are and what’s on them
• Your goals: inspections, security, mapping, volumes, thermal monitoring or incident response
• Your data needs: what you need to know and how often, whether hourly, daily, weekly or on demand
• Your current approach: manual inspections, guards, contractors or an existing drone program
• Your systems: alarms, cameras, SCADA, GIS or asset management systems that the ROC could work with
• Your stakeholders: who’ll use the data, who approves the program and who needs alerts

What to bring: a list of sites, a rough idea of your priorities and any site maps you have. That’s all.

Step 2: Program design

Based on the briefing, we design a program around your operation:

• Mission types: scheduled inspections, patrols, mapping, thermal surveys and alarm response
• Schedules: how often each mission runs at each site
• Deliverables: inspection photos, thermal images, maps, 3D models, volumes, alerts and reports
• Alert routing: who gets notified, and how
• Service level: from best-effort to guaranteed dispatch, depending on how critical each site is
• Rollout plan: which sites go first, and how the program grows

Start small: most clients begin with one site and one or two high-value missions, then expand once they’ve seen the results.

Step 3: Site assessment

We survey each site to make sure the equipment is placed for safe, reliable operations.

What we assess

What you’ll receive

A recommended location for the equipment, a list of site preparation requirements, and any approvals that will be needed.

Step 4: Approvals

Drone operations in Canada are regulated by Transport Canada. The ROC team handles the regulatory side, including:

• Flight authorizations for your sites and mission types
• Airspace coordination where it’s required
• Operational procedures and risk assessments for each site
• Documentation for your records and audits

The time this takes depends on your sites’ location, airspace and mission types. We’ll give you a clear timeline during the site assessment.

Step 5: Site preparation

Every site needs a few basics. We provide a detailed checklist for each site.

Typical site requirements

Who does what

• Your team or contractor: usually provides power, network access and the pad, using our specifications
• ROC team: supplies and installs the equipment, and handles everything from there

Remote sites: if a site has limited power or connectivity, we’ll work with you to find a solution.

Step 6: Installation and commissioning

Once the site is ready, the equipment is installed and brought online.

1. 01Installation: the equipment is installed and secured by trained, authorized installers.
2. 02Network commissioning: the connection to the ROC is set up and tested.
3. 03Calibration: positioning and systems are calibrated for accurate, repeatable flights.
4. 04Safety configuration: geofences, return paths and weather limits are set for your site.
5. 05Test flights: we fly test missions to confirm everything works as expected.
6. 06Handover: we confirm the site is ready for live operations.

Your involvement: a site contact for access and coordination on installation day.

Step 7: Mission setup

With the equipment live, we build the missions designed in Step 2.

• Routes: planned around your actual assets, using your site maps and GIS data where available
• Inspection points: saved positions, angles and zoom levels for repeatable data
• Schedules: missions set to run when you need them
• Alarm triggers: response flights linked to your alarm systems, where that’s part of the program
• AI detection and thresholds: people and vehicle detection, temperature alerts and detection zones
• Data delivery: where and how your team receives imagery, reports and alerts
• User access: who can view live video, data and records

You review and approve the mission plan before it goes live.

Step 8: First missions

Your first missions are a chance to confirm everything works the way you need it to.

• First flights: missions run on schedule, overseen by licensed ROC pilots.
• Data review: we walk through the first results with your team.
• Fine-tuning: we adjust routes, angles, schedules, thresholds and deliverables based on your feedback.
• Alert testing: we confirm notifications reach the right people.
• Baseline: the first missions set the baseline for future comparisons and change detection.

Step 9: Ongoing operations

Once the program is running, the ROC takes care of it day to day.

• 24/7/365 oversight by licensed pilots
• Automatic weather holds and missed-mission escalation
• Maintenance: preventive maintenance, repairs, updates and replacement hardware
• Data delivery: imagery, thermal reports, maps, volumes and alerts after every mission
• Compliance records: flight logs and chain-of-custody documentation
• Regular reviews: check-ins to review results and adjust the program

Growing the program

When you’re ready, adding missions or sites follows the same process, with the same standards and the same reporting. There’s no need to start over.