Transport Canada has approved Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to operate Percepto’s drone-in-a-box solution beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) at McConnell Lake Control Dam without a visual observer on site. A BVLOS Special Flight Operations Certificate was issued for the Percepto Air Max autonomous drone-in-a-box for the remote inspection.
The approval enables remote inspection of the dam as a part of a pilot project, which started in January. Since Canadian power utilities are seeking to ensure their power grid and stations are resilient, the OPG facility will gain actionable insights from the remote inspection.
Percepto’s automated drone-in-a-box has been deployed by other electric utilities to monitor the durability of power grid infrastructure and quickly detect problems, enabling faster response times and restoring power quicker after storms and natural disasters.
uAvionix has received approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) small unmanned aerial flight in North Dakota. The test flight to secure approval took place at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site in North Dakota.
Vantis is North Dakota’s UAS network, which serves many UAS operators across different sectors. By leveraging Vantis, uAvionix demonstrated to the FAA it had established adequate risk mitigations to satisfy required safety standards for BVLOS operation within the national airspace system.
The Northern Plains UAS Test Site partnered with Thales USA to develop and implement Vantis. The UAS system enables UAS pilots to command and control the UAS and remain clear of other aircraft when flying BVLOS. Vantis includes ground-based aviation infrastructure, which lowers the barrier of entry to BVLOS flights for multiple users.
The FAA approval to conduct BVLOS UAS flights is another step in bringing UAS to commercial sectors. UAvionix continues to collaborate with FAA as regulations evolve to ensure Vantis meets all necessary requirements.
Percepto has announced the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of its UAV-in-a-box solution to perform highly automated beyond visual line of sight (HA BVLOS) inspections and monitoring operations at a large solar power plant in Texas.
The HA BVLOS UAV will fly at 200 feet above ground, which is double the altitude of any previously approved operation in the United States. The ability to fly at a higher altitude will enable greater operational flexibility to monitor large areas and tall structures in the future, including mapping and modeling.
Percepto’s HA BVLOS UAV enables an automated detect and avoid cycle, eliminating the need for remote pilot in command interventions if other aircraft are detected. Additionally, this capability negates the need for a pilot or visual observer on site.
The FAA approval for the solar plant deployment serves as a model for other industries including mining and oil and gas, to potentially increase site efficiency through automated remote inspection operation.
In December 2022, uAvionixannounced its updated product line for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) command and control (C2). The SkyLine C2 management platform and muLTElink airborne radio systems (ARS) are designed to integrate, which enables a self-healing C2 network capable of both path and link diversity. This eliminates lost-link possibilities over broad terrain and altitude ranges.
Image: uAvionixImage: uAvionix
MuLTElink ARS consists of two models — muLTElink915 and muLTElink5060, the core of the uAvionix C2 system. The muLTElink915 model combines globally licensed aviation LTE, enhanced with frequency hopping 902–928 MHz industrial, scientific and medical frequencies capability. The muLTElink5060 model combines global LTE with aviation-protected 5,030–5,091 MHz C-band for customers holding C-band licenses for control and non-payload communication (CNPC) operations.
Each muLTElink model allows up to one external CNPC radio to be optionally connected to allow simultaneous use of all three frequency ranges, higher power C-band operation or future radio integrations.
UAvionix updated its previous line of microLink and SkyLink ARS radios and relaunched them under the SkyLink ARS banner. Each SkyLink ARS can operate as a point-to-point radio or integrate with muLTElink and SkyLine for managed C2 operations. SkyLink915micro, formerly named microLink, offers a robust form factor and Lemo connector for UAS requiring hardened installations.
SkyLink5060micro and SkyLink5060 offer 100 mW and 10 W 5,030–5,091 MHz aviation protected C-band CNPC options.
Both platforms meet standards set by RTCA DO-362A and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s draft Technical Standard Orders-C213a and may receive similar validated orders through other global aviation regulators.
The Carbonix Volanti vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone. (Photo: Carbonix)
Fugro is partnering with Australian drone manufacturer Carbonix to establish a new long-range drone capability. It is Fugro’s first partnership working towards long-range beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) missions, bolstering Fugro’s existing geographic information system (GIS) capability.
Carbonix will supply Volanti and Ottano vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones over the next 27 months, to further enhance Fugro’s remote operations.
Fugro is engaged in the transition to remote and autonomous operations with a global network of nine remote operation centres (ROCs). From these centers, Fugro operates boats and other vehicles, and provides survey, inspection and piloting services to the global maritime industry.
Carbonix will support Fugro’s Australian long-range maritime and land projects from the sky, using aerial surveying and data-capture technology, while integrating with Fugro’s ROCs for the joint development of systems technology and capabilities.
This month, we have developments across the globe, with drones inspecting power distribution systems and nuclear waste disposal in the United Kingdom, counter UAS (C-UAS ) systems deployed in Greece, and news of cutbacks in the UAV industry affecting two major suppliers.
UK Turns to Drone Power
The UK has reduced coal power generation significantly since 2013 by increasing use of natural gas, nuclear power and renewable sources. Power is distributed throughout the UK by the National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) via 4,000 miles of overhead high-voltage lines carried on 21,900 steel pylons. With another 330 substations to also look after, the infrastructure for power distribution in UK always has required a huge maintenance effort. This picture is likely reflected in the power distribution networks of most countries around the world.
Helicopters have carried a large portion of the workload to enable inspection of cables and insulators, with additional necessary manual inspections taking significant effort to gain access and analyze data. Helicopter time is expensive, and manual inspection processes and data analysis are tedious and time consuming.
Drones are being used for power-line inspection — flown manually by onsite operators — by many organizations in several countries around the world, including by FPL in Florida. But the real reduction in time and effort comes from automating the whole process, and gathering data that provides the detail necessary to assure defects are detected and operational integrity is maintained. The automation of data analysis and generation of useful reports is another area which could yield major savings, and bring rapid focus to areas needing immediate corrective action.
A pylon inspection automation. (Photo: NGET)
Hence, a 12-month trial is being undertaken involving ultimate approval by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) multiple drone operations. Artificial intelligent (AI) analysis tools are being developed to determine critical changes in collected visual, lidar and positioning inspection data that might herald deterioration in pylon or other infrastructure components.
During an initial test in Nottingham, an autonomous drone was dispatched with minimal instructions. It was able to find its inspection target and complete the programmed inspection in a few minutes. A manual inspection could take up to an hour for the same task. If things go well, it is not impossible to be able to project multiple drones operating with minimal human control, taking on huge swaths of pylons, cabling, insulators and other elements during regular inspections, saving a lot of time and money.
The trials so far have also included remote inspection of the Sellafield nuclear waste decommissioning site, rail infrastructure and a telecommunications network along with investigations towards transport of medical supplies.
Sellafield is where spent fuel ends up from the UK’s 31 nuclear power plants. Also, nuclear waste from reactors in neighboring European countries is reprocessed here. Nuclear waste is processed into 50-ton concrete blocks and spent fuel is “vitrified” into huge chunks of glass, which are encased in an outside metal jacket. Both processes minimize any emitted radiation and allow the contents to safely cool over long term. The staff uses robots inside the facility to remotely dismantle contaminated areas and load material into 55-gallon drums, which might be further processed by robot crushing machines. No one has any real idea how all this nuclear waste could be permanently disposed of, but it’s possible most will ultimately be buried in the ground.
This type of power might seem a “green” boon for humanity, but in a somewhat countrified area on the West Coast of England and in other similar sites around the world, nuclear waste disposal is costly and very, very long-term. The half-life of uranium is between 159,200 years and 4.5 billion years. Monitoring the waste could be a long-term task for drones, such as those now used to detect radiation inside the Fukushima nuclear plant. Certainly, there’s plenty of time to evolve improved drone detection capability for radiation monitoring.
Greece Employs Counter-UAS against Turkish Incursions
On a defense-related note, apparently the long-running rivalry between Turkey and Greece is, unfortunately, continuing. It seems that Turkey has been repeatedly flying its Baykar-TB2 surveillance drone over Greek islands, perhaps to monitor the movements of Greek warships or island defense installations. And Greece is a little bit more than peeved.
Having established a defense-related relationship with Israel in 2021, Greece has brought Israeli drone defense systems to the Greek islands, installing a “veritable umbrella against enemy unmanned aerial vehicles.” The Israeli system has a number of moving parts: detect and identify; generate related alerts; a directional jamming system that can disable drones in flight (presumably by jamming GPS or the control link); and a laser that can lock onto a small target and, if manually fired, can apparently destroy an intruder drone.
DroneDome elements (Photo: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems)
Because of the directional, narrow beamwidth of the jammer, Rafael claims that the system can be activated within crowded civilian airspace without affecting the navigation of other users. Good news for Greece and their popular, attractive Greek island tourist destinations.
UAV Defense Contractors Struggle — with Each Other
Meanwhile, current economic uncertainty is apparently impacting at least a couple of UAV defense contractors: Boeing/Insitu and Orbital UAV. The two made news when Orbital, as an Australian public company (ASX symbol OEC), had to halt trading. The company was then able to reinstate trading largely because of news of cancellation of a development/production agreement with Insitu.
Apparently, Orbital has previously been delivering two-engine versions to Insitu and was contracted to develop and deliver a third derivative engine. However, Insitu had to scale back Orbital’s work in February, given its sales of the popular ScanEagle and other UAVs may have fallen off in recent months.
Orbital UAV Propulsion System (Photo: Orbital)
This has affected Orbital’s revenue forecast for the year. The company now expects to lose AUD $7 million for the year. It has subsequently prepared a claim under the supply agreement for Insitu’s Termination for Convenience of AUD $1.8 million in costs incurred in the development of the third engine program, which Insitu/Boeing disputes. There will obviously be some wrangling, but hopefully both parties will settle things amicably so as not to damage their ongoing relationship for supply of the existing two engine types.
ScanEagle UAV (Photo: U.S. Navy)
To sum up, for this month we have a trial in the UK which will hopefully lead to significant savings in effort and costs for ongoing power infrastructure inspections, along with some background on UK nuclear waste disposal. Greece is bristling and defending against unwanted Turkish drone overflight using Israeli C-UAS systems. Finally, there’s somewhat negative news for the Orbital UAV engine and Insitu ScanEagle relationship — apparently, not everything in the UAV garden is roses.
The 6th Unmanned and Autonomous Systems for Utilities & Energy Conference will take place in Atlanta, GA on June 8-9, 2022.
The event aims to provide a platform for UAS professionals to gain insight from industry peers and regulatory bodies on best practices in pilot training, safety in inspections, data management and security, updates on Part 107, new UAS technologies, and other key issues for utilities.
The conference also includes discussions on alternatives to foreign-made drones, BVLOS waivers and use cases, a closer look at LiDAR and AI, and building and refining drone programs to boost efficiency and reliability. Attendees will learn how they can navigate through industry challenges by leveraging emerging technologies and improving existing strategies to boost operational success.
Join the event to learn how you can navigate through industry challenges by leveraging emerging technologies and improving existing strategies to boost operational success.
Those who are unable to attend in person have the option to attend virtually. The Live+ content platform will give you access to all the presentations and is loaded with features to ensure full participation.
AUVSI members are entitled to a discount on full price conference fees (not valid for solution providers).
For registration information, cost and any discounts that may apply please contact:
Ria Kiayia
Digital Media & PR Marketing Executive [email protected]
Florida Power & Light to deploy 13 autonomous drones, with plans for hundreds more in coming years to monitor statewide power grid
UAV company Percepto will deploy autonomous drones to monitor Florida power substations and distribution grids across the state.
Florida Power & Light (FPL) will deploy drone-in-a-box technology statewide, which Percepto claims is the largest commercial autonomous drone project in the world.
FPL serves the northeast and southern half of Florida. (Image: Florida Public Service Commission)
Serving more than 11 million people in Florida, FPL uses Percepto’s Autonomous Inspection and Monitoring (AIM) solution powered by drones to perform routine infrastructure inspection and monitoring.
In the first phase of the project, 13 drones will take flight in the West Palm Beach area this year, with long-term plans to field hundreds of Percepto over the next five years.
The drone-in-a-box solution was the first to pass Level 5 hurricane testing at a wind speed of up to 155 mph, making it suitable for minimizing incident response times and power outages in Florida.
Percepto has served FPL since 2018, working closely to develop optimized drone monitoring solutions and build consensus and compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. The FAA issued a nationwide waiver for FPL to fly Percepto drones for surveillance and inspection purposes at sites owned and serviced by FPL.
As part of its ongoing work with the FAA, Percepto is a member of the Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) that has provided its regulatory recommendations to fully incorporate highly automated BVLOS operations flights in the national airspace.
The drones in operation across the state will be coordinated on a single platform through Percepto’s AIM solution. With Percepto AIM, drones can be operated remotely to ensure that they work together in sync, providing maximum coverage at the sites they monitor.
Iris Automation has announced the commercial availability of Casia G, a ground-based version of its detect-and-avoid surveillance solution.
Using the same patented artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-vision technology as Iris Automation’s onboard solutions, Casia G provides 360° optical detection with alerts. It enables operators to avoid both cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft for safe beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight.
Casia G creates a perimeter of monitored airspace for UAVs to perform work safely, without additional payload. It’s suitable for operations in fixed or temporary locations, supporting drone-in-the-box operations and augmenting or replacing human visual observers. BVLOS flight for unmanned systems has been challenging due to right of way concerns, specifically the inability for unmanned aircraft to successfully see and avoid other aircraft.
“A human has sufficient visual acuity to see airborne traffic only within a +/-5 degree field of view around our focal point. We have to scan the sky, and are frankly not very good at it,” said Jon Damush, CEO, Iris Automation. “Casia G sees the entire sky, with uniform probability and resolution, 10 times per second — without distractions or breaks. This solution for airspace awareness covers a large majority of small UAS use cases, but at a price point that is economically viable and without complex integration.”
Casia G can be expanded by adding additional units in a mesh to create a network of detection nodes for large-area air risk mitigation. The system then provides a single feed of cooperative and non-cooperative air traffic, available to an operator’s traffic management system. This provides a path to approvals for both larger area and one-to-many operations by enabling a holistic view of the airspace, the company said.
Casia G has already obtained a BVLOS waiver on behalf of the City of Reno. Iris Automation is in the process of proving additional deployment patterns and concepts of operation with the FAA.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced $4.4 million in drone research, education and training grants to seven universities.
Research will focus on three areas:
electromagnetic compatibility
detect-and-avoid classifications
cybersecurity oversight.
“This funding and our ongoing partnerships with these universities will allow the FAA to safely integrate the airspace that has a growing number of diverse aircraft users,” said FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen.
The research initiatives and grant awardees include:
Evaluate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Electromagnetic Compatibility
This research will assess the risks, identify drone design vulnerabilities, identify material and procedural mitigations, and propose guidance for safer electromagnetic compatibility with emitted and static fields.
University of North Dakota, $325,042
University of Kansas, $325,000
Drexel University, $325,830
Investigate Detect-and-Avoid Track Classification and Filtering
This research will provide proposed metrics, guidance and test methods to assess the effects of false or misleading information on detect-and-avoid capabilities. The findings will support beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations.
The Ohio State University, $732,441
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, $371,000
Mississippi State University, $330,000
University of North Dakota, $80,000
Illustrate the Need for UAS Cybersecurity Oversight and Risk Management
This research will address UAS cybersecurity oversight and risk management as it pertains to the National Airspace System and other FAA systems.
The ASSURE Center of Excellence is one of six that the FAA has established to help advance technology and educate the next generation of aviation professionals. Research conducted through ASSURE is focused on helping the drone market safely grow and integrate into the nation’s airspace.
More than 800,000 recreational and commercial drones are in the active drone fleet, and that number is expected to grow.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) will co-host the 2022 FAA Drone Symposium April 28 in Orlando. The event will take place at the Orange County Convention Center.
The 2022 FAA Drone Symposium (formerly the FAA UAS Symposium) will focus on commercial operations, both at home and abroad. According to the show organizers, this collaborative event brings together industry and key FAA personnel to share best practices and lessons learned from operations, discuss challenges, and chart the course for the future of drone integration.
Session topics will include drone supply and demand, Beyond Visual Line of Sight Aviation Rulemaking Committee (BVLOS ARC) insights, drone integration and airspace integration.
ST Engineering, Sumitomo Corp. and Skyports have formed a consortium to provide unmanned aircraft system (UAS) services for heavy-lift shore-to-ship parcel delivery in Singapore, home to one of the biggest ports in the world
Each consortium member will use its respective operational and technological capabilities to expand the use of UAS for deliveries of maritime essentials to anchored vessels. During a nine-month pilot program, the consortium will engage key customers for maritime UAS deliveries, with the goal of establishing a delivery network capable of carrying parcel payloads of 10 kg.
ST Engineering will provide the UAS technology using its end-to-end solution DroNet. Skyports will jointly conduct the beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight operations with ST Engineering. Sumitomo Corporation will provide go-to-market support, including its own fleet of vessels.
As an unmanned systems participant in Singapore, ST Engineering has been testing and developing autonomous solutions to enable BVLOS UAS operations for shore-to-ship delivery in close collaboration with regulators and industry partners.
Through funding support from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), the group completed the initial development of a UAS for shore-to-ship parcel delivery based on the DroNet solution.
Compared to the traditional form of delivery by boats, UAS operations can significantly slash response time and speed up turnaround for shore-to-ship delivery, in addition to reducing logistics costs. Replacing launch-boat delivery with a UAS service also helps reduce carbon emissions and contribute to the maritime industry’s overall efforts to operate sustainably.
