Drone Spot-Repair Validated On-Site: Three Corrosion Patches on Cement Silo Completed in Under One Hour

Swiss drone company Voliro has completed a full end-to-end aerial spot-repair workflow on a steel silo at a cement plant — using the Voliro T drone to treat three active corrosion patches in under one hour, with the facility remaining fully operational throughout.

Performing the same three high-level repairs by conventional means would require scaffolding erection and two to four days of on-site work; a rope-access team would demand several weeks of advance preparation. It is precisely this high cost that causes small areas of corrosion to be deferred, gradually worsening into more serious problems. Controlled from the ground, the Voliro T completed all three patches in under an hour — fundamentally changing the economics of early intervention.

If you have steel assets with active corrosion and would like to arrange an on-site spot-repair demonstration or proof-of-concept, contact Voliro directly.

Site Overview

The validation site was a cement plant featuring large cylindrical steel silos. The outer walls displayed clear active surface corrosion — classic mid-to-early-stage rust that was visible and unambiguous, and exactly the condition that spot-repair technology is designed to address before corrosion becomes a structural concern.

Corrosion patches were distributed at various heights on the silo wall, representing the access challenges typical of conventional spot-repair work. No controlled setup was used and no test surfaces were pre-treated; the Voliro T operated directly on the asset in its real-world condition.

Voliro Product Manager Dennis den Elzen carried out the complete aerial spot-repair workflow on three patches each measuring approximately 30×30 cm, validating the technology's feasibility on the target industrial steel asset.

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Workflow

Step 1: Surface Preparation — Aeroblaster with MontiPower Technology

Surface preparation is the critical step that determines whether a coating will last. Without adequate surface roughness, even correctly specified products can peel and delaminate — which is why the Aeroblaster kit is central to the credibility of drone-based spot repair.

The Aeroblaster was co-developed by Voliro and MontiPower, a global leader in mechanical surface preparation whose Bristle Blaster® and MBX® technologies are internationally recognised for steel surface treatment. Voliro has integrated these field-proven tools directly as an aerial kit for the Voliro T platform.

The Aeroblaster has been independently validated to consistently achieve the SSPC-SP 11 minimum surface roughness standard (≥ 25 µm), confirmed by an independent testing laboratory and reviewed by SGK (Swiss Corrosion Protection Association), a neutral body with over 100 years of corrosion-protection expertise. In this deployment, the kit achieved that standard on real corroded steel — not on coupons or test panels.

Step 2: Coating Application — Voliro Roller Coating Kit

After surface preparation on each patch, the Voliro T was reconfigured with a precision roller-coating kit to apply PPG Sigmashield 880 — an industry-standard two-component (2K) protective coating widely used in manual spot-repair programmes by asset-integrity teams.

Step 3: Work Reporting

Each repair patch was documented with photos and video captured during the operation, uploaded to Voliro Cloud — creating a timestamped, traceable record that clearly shows what was repaired, where, and how.

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Voliro T: A Robotic NDT Inspection and Repair Platform for Asset Integrity

The Voliro T is a modular, open platform. The same aircraft that carries the Aeroblaster for surface preparation and the roller kit for coating can also be equipped with non-destructive testing (NDT) payloads including Ultrasonic Testing (UT), Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC), and Dry Film Thickness (DFT) measurement. This means inspection and repair can be integrated into a single workflow, carried out by the same team in the same visit.

For drone service providers and inspection companies already operating the Voliro T, spot repair is a natural extension of the service offering. For asset owners, it means the gap between detecting corrosion and taking action can be compressed to near zero.

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Conclusion

For asset owners and integrity teams managing corrosion on tanks, silos, chimneys, pipe bridges, or any elevated steel structure, waiting for scaffolding mobilisation is no longer the only option. The Voliro T can perform a complete spot-repair sequence in the air — corrosion removal, surface profiling, coating application, and ground-level traceable reporting — with the asset continuously operational.

If your facility has elevated steel assets with active corrosion, contact Voliro to arrange an on-site demonstration or proof-of-concept.

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