GRAND FORKS — Grand Forks-based iSight Drone Services has been off and flying for several years. Now it has a local company doing ground
support for it. In April, iSight joined forces with Grand Forks’ Thread to offer a local solution to unlocking efficiency through collecting data and imagery with unmanned aerial vehicles.

iSight flies power lines, solar farms, cell towers, oil lines, wind blades and agriculture land to inspect and receive images that might show damage, weak spots, a maintenance problem or other information. Thread breaks down the data and processes it into a format customers request. iSight has used a company out of Michigan for wind blades. It also uses a company out of Ohio for some power lines. But using a company located in Grand Forks to help crunch data from information provided for power lines and solar panels, in particular, has been a big boost for iSight. 

The partnership combines Thread’s software solutions for electric utilities and power generation with iSight’s seasoned expertise in drone operations. “We’re flying in 46 states, but our biggest news is we are flying with Thread,” said Tommy Kenville, CEO and co-founder of iSight. “We employ, between employees and contractors, about 30 pilots. Thread is our integrator to make the data look good so people like it. “I’m pumped because I’ve known (Thread founder and CEO) Josh Riedy for years. We were out at Microsoft for a special invite thing and we started talking. I was already flying for another integrator. 

We have a small rule that I have to check with the other integrator on wind blades. But everything else ‘power’ we can do together.” iSight has offices in Grand Forks, Fargo, Minneapolis and Oklahoma City. Grand Forks has been the key spot, since it’s home to the University of North Dakota. Many of the employees at both iSight and Thread have come from UND, whether it be pilots, engineers or software personnel. Kenville said the period of growth at his company is the culmination of years of effort in cultivating what’s called the state’s unmanned aerial systems ecosystem. 

The best part of that growth is to offer jobs to local young people, he said. “I hire 99 percent of the pilots from UND when they are 21 or 22 and they stay here,” Kenville said. “I’m proud of that. If UND didn’t have a drone program, I wouldn’t have a company. “They come out and understand the air space, which is critical for an owner and for safety.” When he started the company, Kenville said he thought agriculture would be iSight’s largest customers. 

Today, wind is providing the most work. “Power lines are coming on fast,” he said. “We’re going to do 750 miles of them at the end of this summer and the fall in North Dakota.” iSight’s Grand Forks office is located west of I-29 at the end of University Avenue. iSight often joins the Thread staff in the downtown HIVE building. While it’s been a productive year for iSight, the company has more big news coming in August.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, will join Isight for a news conference on Aug. 8 at the Olive Ann Hotel in Grand Forks. The conference begins at 3
p.m., followed by a social. “I can’t reveal it yet, but it’s big,” Kenville said. In the meantime, iSight continues to fly the skies with Thread and other
integrators. “They are using our software to assist customers in giving them a digital representation of their physical assets so they can make decisions,” Riedy said. “Think of engineers making decisions; even if they are hundreds or thousands of miles away, they can quickly reference imagery and information known about those assets to make decisions for things like an outage or a storm or just good maintenance decisions.” 

Author: Kevin Fee, Grand Forks Herald

Source: https://www.grandforksherald.com/business/thread-joins-isight-for-grand-forks-based-uav-solution