NDOT UAS Drone Program Development
Technical development and deployment of Nebraska DOT's UAS Drone program
I led the technical development and deployment of Nebraska DOT's UAS Drone program, building a web application for flight planning and data processing. I also served as lead pilot, personally conducting aerial surveys.
The Problem
Nebraska Department of Transportation needed to establish a drone program for aerial surveys and infrastructure inspection. Traditional surveying methods were expensive and time-consuming. The department had no internal drone expertise and needed a complete solution—from flight planning to data processing—that could operate within Azure cloud environments.
What I Did
I led a 4-member team in both technical development and operational execution.
I built the planning and data processing web application using Next.js for frontend, .NET Core API for backend services, and SQL Server for data persistence.
I designed the system to operate within Azure for integration with existing DOT infrastructure.
I served as lead pilot and data processing engineer, personally orchestrating aerial surveys.
Key Decisions & Tradeoffs
This project required wearing multiple hats—developer and pilot. The advantage was that I understood both sides of the problem. I built features into the software that I knew pilots would actually need because I was using it myself. The disadvantage was context switching, which I managed by batching flight operations and development work rather than interleaving them.
Outcome
- Saved the state of Nebraska over $650,000 compared to traditional surveying methods
- Established fully operational drone program with supporting technology infrastructure
- Enhanced data accuracy and storage through cloud data management tools
- Program continues delivering value for infrastructure inspection, emergency response, and planning