The UAS1 GNSS receiver module has been designed for UAV/UAS applications requiring centimeter accuracy in a small package. (Photo: Trimble)
Trimble has introduced a compact, high-precision GNSS board specifically designed for unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
The Trimble UAS1 has a simple connectivity and configuration to allow UAS system integrators to easily add satellite-based positioning — with the ability to upgrade its capabilities — using rugged connectors and Trimble’s easy-to-use software interface.
The new UAS1 incorporates the latest Trimble Maxwell technology with advances in high-precision GNSS positioning. Its GNSS engine with 336 channels is capable of tracking L1/L2 frequencies from the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou constellations for robust centimeter-level, real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning.
The compact board includes a broad range of receiver capabilities — from high-accuracy GPS-only to full GNSS features for positioning. Firmware options and features are password upgradeable, allowing functionality to be added as requirements change.
The receiver also supports fault detection and exclusion (FDE) and receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM). System integrators also have the ability to detect interference with the RF Spectrum Monitoring and Analysis tool embedded in the receiver.
“UAS manufacturers demand high performance, reliability and high-quality customized support for their positioning solutions,” said Thomas Utzmeier, general manager of Trimble’s Integrated Technologies Division. “The new UAS1 board delivers the latest GNSS technology in an easy-to-integrate form factor for UAV/UAS applications.”
Designed for easy integration and rugged dependability, the Trimble UAS1 has a Remote Network Driver Interface Specification (RNDIS) that enables manufacturers to access the web UI with the USB connector. As with similar Trimble embedded boards and modules, easy-to-use software commands can simplify integration and reduce development times.
Features also include integrated Trimble RTX technology, an industry-standard camera hot-shoe interface to geo-position photographs, and LED indicators for status checks. The Trimble UAS1 can also output to RINEX, a common postprocessing format.
The Trimble UAS1 supports Trimble CenterPoint RTX GNSS corrections, which enable precise and robust positioning without the use of a base station via a subscription service. CenterPoint RTX allows users to achieve better than 2-centimeter horizontal and 5-centimeter vertical accuracy.
Trimble’s UAS1 is suitable for UAS applications requiring centimeter accuracy in a small package. Manufactured and tested to Trimble’s highest quality standards, the compact design allows for easy setup, configuration and installation in a customers’
system.
Using a full metal shield (the form factor is 71 x 46 x 13 millimeters), the board’s design enables high-precision GNSS signal protection from electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the host UAS platform. In addition, the receiver is FCC- and CE-certified, which speeds compliance for the customer’s overall system and can reduce time to market.
The ultra-robust M9 technology platform will suit demanding automotive and high-end telematics.
U-blox, a global provider of positioning and wireless communication technologies, has launched its new ultra-robust meter-level M9 global positioning technology platform, designed for demanding automotive, telematics and UAV applications.
Because of the high-performance GNSS UBX-M9140 chip, the M9 technology platform and the NEO-M9N (the first module based on the platform) can receive signals from up to four GNSS constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Beidou and Galileo) concurrently. It can achieve high positional accuracy even in difficult conditions such as deep urban canyons, u-blox said in a press release.
The u-blox M9 offers a position update rate of up to 25 Hz, enabling dynamic applications like UAVs to receive position information with low latency. It also features special filtering against RF interference and jamming, spoofing detection and advanced detection algorithms that enable it to report fraudulent attacks quickly so that users’ systems can react to them in a timely fashion.
A SAW (surface acoustic wave) filter combined with an LNA (low noise amplifier) in the RF path is integrated in the NEO-M9N module. This setup guarantees normal operations even under strong RF interferences, such as when a cellular modem is co-located with the NEO-M9N.
“We’ve developed the u-blox M9 as a follow-on from our very successful u-blox M8 GNSS platform, offering even more robust meter-level positioning technology and security features to protect the integrity of applications in the automotive, telematics, and UAV markets,” said Bernd Heidtmann, product manager, Product Strategy GNSS, Product Center Positioning, at u-blox.
Users of the u-blox M9 will benefit from it being part of the wider u-blox product family, which means that developers will be able to design a single PCB and then migrate to a different positioning technology — such as dead-reckoning augmenting GNSS technology — with little change to the board design.
Explorer kit released
U-blox has also released the Explorer Kit M9 (XPLR-M9), a development board for designers who want to assess the technology. The miniature plug-and-play device is supplied with user-friendly u-start software, which includes preset scenarios to enable users to explore the performance of the new device.
The u-blox M9 technology platform complies with the ISO/TS 16949, ISO 16750, AEC-Q100 standards. Engineering samples of the NEO-M9N, the first module based on the M9 platform, the UBX-M9140 high-performance chip, and the Explorer Kit are available now.
To learn more about M9, visit the u-blox booth, Hall South, S.2702, at Mobile World Congress 2019 in Los Angeles, Oct. 22-24.
UAVOS has added the R22-UV unmanned helicopter to its agriculture unmanned aircraft portfolio for spraying for diseases, weed and pest control, and vegetation control.
The R22-UV is a manned Robinson-22 helicopter converted by UAVOS to an unmanned aircraft. (Photo: UAVOS)
The Agro-Drone R22-UV is equipped with a specially developed utility to deliver liquid chemicals — the spray system Simplex model 222.
The R22-UV drone is provided with a 100-liter tank for chemicals and can stay airborne for two hours. Weight of the system is 42 kilograms, boom span is 7 meters, and swath width is 14 to 16 meters.
UAVOS listed several advantages that could maximize the value of such a heavy UAV for farmers:
The R22-UV can be operated in the regions without airfields, under severe weather conditions and during night-time, in conditions with a high probability of risk for the pilot.
UAVs are excellent for operations in conditions of high humidity, where the use of ground equipment is impossible or difficult. Unlike heavy machinery, which cannot go into a field immediately after a heavy rain, UAV has no impact on the ground. Drone sprayers don’t touch the ground so there will be less soil compaction. This is when heavy machinery like tractors roll over the soil, pressing it down and damaging it. Farmers can fix this with plowing, but it can be harmful to the soil over a long period of time.
UAV implementation eliminates manual spraying with backpack sprayers, so workers don’t come into contact with hazardous chemicals.
UAVs also enable growers to spray their crops precisely and at will, which is critical for fighting herbicide-resistant weeds. Spraying is better. The rotor of an agricultural drone produces a huge downward rotation force, which promotes the pesticide droplets to penetrate the crop from top to bottom, which is conducive to the pesticide droplets evenly scattered in all parts of the plant, so that the spraying is accurate.
Unmanned aircraft can be used for spot spraying weeds with herbicides and are useful for spraying crops with pesticides. A spot-oriented approach based on preliminary analysis of digital images from robot cameras minimizes the cost of agrochemicals, reducing the chemical impact on soil, water, culture and, ultimately, on the consumer’s body, while achieving higher results of crop cultivation than with traditional approaches. The aircraft can be set on a predetermined GPS-defined route to fly over a field, dropping doses of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides as it flies.
“Precision agriculture is based on the use of valuable metrics to make farmers’ crop management efficient and optimized,” said Aliaksei Stratsilatau, CEO of UAVOS. “Validating-of-damage reports used to be on paper. So, unmanned aircraft help our customers to validate the veracity of reports so that we could come up with a comprehensive solution. Generally, agriculture is very complex and there are a lot of problems, but there are solutions available through the new technology.”
The Altum is a 3-in-1 sensor that combines thermal, high-resolution and multispectral imaging capabilities. (Photo: MicaSense)
The Altum sensor, offered by MicaSense, is designed for professional-grade agricultural drone mapping by enterprise and academic researchers. The Altum captures synchronized multispectral and thermal imagery, enabling aligned outputs for advanced analytics.
Altum’s multispectral imagers are the highest resolution integrated multispectral solution available for drones, allowing for detailed RGB outputs and advanced crop classifications.
Whereas before they had to fly multiple flights with multiple sensors, researchers, growers and service providers can now capture data for plant health, water stress mapping, phenotyping and more in one flight, with one sensor.
“The Altum design resulted from experience developing advanced analytics and understanding needs for advanced research,” said Justin McAllister, CTO and co-founder of MicaSense. “We realized the market is limited by time and cost constraints of owning multiple sensors and flying multiple passes over the same field. The goal of Altum is to simplify the workflow, and with synchronized capture, to provide results that can be correlated and quantified more easily.”
Altum includes MicaSense’s standard five-band configuration of multispectral bands (red, green, blue, near-infrared and red-edge) and an integrated Lepton radiometric thermal longwave infrared sensor from FLIR Systems, providing temperature measurement for every pixel of the scene for additional crop data and optimization.
https://youtu.be/Kdim4uol7S4
Expandable high-capacity USB 3.0 storage allows users to fly longer and cover more area without landing to swap storage. In addition, advancements in image capture rate enables faster flight speeds.
Users can process Altum data with industry standard software like Agisoft and Pix4Dmapper to generate an aligned, radiometrically calibrated six band (R, G, B, RE, NIR, T) geotiff, or access the raw data from Altum to process data themselves.
Included with Altum is DLS 2, the patent-pending next generation of the MicaSense Downwelling Light Sensor (DLS). DLS 2 allows for a more streamlined integration as it combines both the DLS and GPS into one product. In addition, through proprietary MicaSense technology, the DLS 2 will offer significantly better calibration for changing light conditions and better measurements over time.
Integrated solutions
Altum’s multiple interface options and open API gives users the ability to utilize Altum on a variety of platforms. In addition to the DJI SkyPort integration, Altum is integrated with drone offerings from the following companies (with more to come):
North America: Drone Nerds (U.S.), BirdsEyeView Aerobotics (U.S)., OmniView Tech (Canada), Sky Flight Robotics (U.S.), Blue Skies Drone Rental (U.S.)
Europe: 3D Target (IT), Globe Flight (DE), C-Astral (SI), Droneparts.de (DE), Ecobotix (DK), NaviGate (PL), Quantum Systems (DE)
DJI Payload SDK Program: Altum and RedEdge-MX for DJI M200 Series
Through DJI SkyPort, MicaSense is able to provide seamless integration of its specialized sensors with DJI’s powerful line of enterprise drones, resulting in the MicaSense Altum and RedEdge-MX solutions. This provides users a high-quality drone and sensor combination they can rely on to capture quality data every time – with virtually no set-up time.
The DJI SkyPort integration for Altum and RedEdge-MX features plug-and-play integration for Altum and RedEdge-MX right out of the box, including power and quick connect/disconnect, and enhanced light calibration with MicaSense DLS 2.
“Solutions like the MicaSense Altum and RedEdge-MX demonstrate the value of integrating specialized industrial payloads to DJI’s powerful drone platforms,” said Jan Gasparic, head of Enterprise Partnerships at DJI. “By collaborating with solution providers, we are expanding the benefits of drone technology to more and more industries. In the case of agriculture, a specialized suite of sensors and more advanced level of analytics can truly bring tangible value to business workflows and decision making today.”
The Altum and SkyPort enabled RedEdge-MX and Altum are available today through the MicaSense website.
From growing crops to making movies, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are changing the way we work. UAVs — managed by unmanned aerial systems, or UAS — range from small indoor inspection units to giant Predator drones. They are streamlining how we manage mines and plants, deliver packages, and keep people safe. Read on to find out the latest in this skyrocketing market.
The unmanned aerial system (UAS) industry is in great shape! In the United States., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) appears to be helping commercial operations get off the ground, at least for those wishing to fly small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Things are certainly hopping for unmanned aircraft in agriculture, mining and construction, facility inspection, newsgathering, movies and promotion. Package delivery is on the way, and, of course, defense is cooking with new innovations. Everywhere you look, a specialized drone or new application seems to appear that has good prospects for success.
One helpful aspect of today’s landscape for UAS operators in the U.S. is the FAA’s supportive approach to small UAS (sUAS) for commercial activities. After providing a regulatory framework with Part 107 rules, albeit with quite a few caveats that require a written waiver application, qualified drone operators are now able to fly their drones in many places — as long as they are below 400 feet, well away from airports, and nowhere near any restricted airspace.
Pilot qualification courses and proficiency testing are both readily available — at 676 commercial facilities across the U.S. according to the FAA website — and a successful online application process should result in a remote pilot’s certificate.
With a drone registered with the FAA, you can use the FAA’s B4UFLY mobile app to check if it’s safe to operate where you intend to. If it is, you can get approval in real time using the FAA’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system. The FAA qualified LAANC to clear commercial drone operations, and the service is now provided by a large number of independent UAS service providers.
With the regulatory and approval path in place, it’s now possible for companies and individuals to earn a living with turn-key drone operations, providing services for many applications that have blossomed. There’s work to do beforehand, but it’s less arduous than for manned flight operations.
Let’s look at a few of the applications benefiting from the automation, enhancement and remote operations provided by UAVs as well as their on-board sensor suites and after-flight processing:
agriculture
mining and construction
facility inspection
newsgathering, movies and promotion
package delivery
defense
Crop health analysis: Precisionhawk’s software PrecisionAnalytics—Agriculture automatically generates georeferenced orthomosaics from data collected with drone sensors. (Map: PrecisionHawk)
Agriculture
Agriculture has readily adopted UAVs to monitor, control and improve overall crop growth rates — a part of what is known as precision agriculture. Drones carrying optical, thermal and laser scanning payloads gather stacks of information about the condition and rates of growth in fields. The information is then fed into various analysis tools. A picture emerges over time that indicates the health of crops. This enables farmers to generate a formulas for the nutrient and weed-reduction chemicals used for spraying at various times of the year. It’s a customized “prescription” for each growing area.
Continuing UAV overflights during the growing cycle monitor the effects of growing conditions and the effectiveness of treatments, providing more feedback that lead to even further improvements.
Smaller tech-savvy farms might run their own programs, supported by local agrochemical suppliers that may provide analysis services or sell analysis tools.
However, there has been a real growth in the number of companies that supply an entire turn-key package — supplying and flying drones, gathering data, running analyses and providing written and graphic output to support the farming operation.
Unmanned aircraft are truly an integral part of this approach, which might only have been possible because of semi-autonomous UAS and the evolution of compact sensors: UAV-mounted infrared, high-precision optical and lidar.
A sample prescription map. (Map: PrecisionHawk)
Mining and Construction
Any mine site is a busy — even chaotic — place to conduct a commercial business.
Drones provide a way for mining operations to:
quickly collect information to enable volume calculations;
provide relatively inexpensive site surveys; and
manage traffic and set up daily road layouts.
In effect, drones enable more rapid control of a complex and dynamic undertaking. Additionally, they improve safety. Ground surveyors no longer need to dodge huge operating machines and tumbling ore, or scramble around difficult terrain.
An autonomous drone can gather timely, georeferenced imagery that can be turned into a precise 3D model of the site. Site managers can have immediate access to details of the UAV survey. They can see the extent of existing deposits and know where to support further mineral exploration, receive estimates of stockpiles and tailing volumes, ensure that personnel and equipment are in the correct locations, and compare aerial video and photography day by day to check progress and for record-keeping. Drones can carry a wide variety of imaging and sensor packages including visual, infrared, hyperspectral, lidar, sonar and radar.
It’s also quicker. For instance, using the senseFly eBee fixed-wing drone, a full aerial survey of an 88-hectare site took four to five hours, with about half of that time spent placing control points. To achieve the same level of detail, terrestrial surveying would take a single surveyor two to three weeks.
Construction Operations. The construction sector uses the same drone data-capture techniques for site details, off-line analysis and results tabulation to manage operations of complex work sites. Compared to mining, change can be more intensive during a construction project, so drone surveys might be repeated more often.
Surveying and GIS. Using drones is an industry unto itself, with high-precision RTK GNSS in the air and on the ground, and specialized analysis tools for high-accuracy applications. The speed of data gathering is the principal benefit to an industry that continues to be essential in many sectors. Lower precision GIS for asset tracking and the like could become a subset of the applications and tools already discussed.
Facility inspection. Outdoor and indoor facility inspection is definitely benefiting from the automation that suitably equipped drones and customized analysis tools can bring to both regular and infrequent inspection tasks. The number of regular complex refinery inspections can be significantly reduced. Inspections will no longer interfere with production and will improve safety for inspection staff. For instance, flame stacks that burn off excess gases can be prone to failure, so regular inspection is essential. Using a drone for the task is clearly much safer than using personnel.
An offshore oil and gas construction platform vents gases to relieve pressure. Flame stacks such as these require regular inspection. (Photo: Oil and Gas Photographer/Shutterstock.com)
BVLOS for Pipelines and Rail
Automated pipeline and railway track inspection have both become possible as drones are used over much greater distances, thanks to beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operational approvals by the FAA.
For BVLOS, users first need a validated sense-and-avoid technology on the drone. Also required is proven radio telemetry with uninterrupted command-and-control of the vehicle during flight, and an independent ground-monitoring system that confirms how the drone maneuvers throughout the flight.
In the case of a BVLOS flight this summer along the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, a Perimeter UAV manufactured by Skyfront flew about 4 miles, maintaining a constant above-ground altitude of 400 feet with multiple ascents and descents of 1,000 feet on 45-degree slopes. The long-range hybrid multicopter drone was equipped with Iris Automation’s computer vision collision-avoidance system and was monitored by
Launching a UAV for a BVLOS flight are (at left) Travis Balthazor, UAS flight operations manager, and Mike Kuni, UAS flight instructor/pilot, both of Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus. (Photo: KDOT, Division of Aviation)
Echodyne radars along the pipeline path, providing airspace situational awareness.
Another BVLOS operation built on the achievements of the Trans-Alaska pipeline trial has been authorized to fly a nine-mile linear inspection of power lines in rural Kansas.
Once again, the Iris Automation system will provide collision avoidance, but this drone also has an independent automated avoidance capability. This gives the drone the self-contained ability to fly around obstacles, so no ground radar or visual tracking is required.
Relieving the requirement for radar tracking or visual observers makes many new operations affordable. Previously, FAA Part 107 BVLOS waivers have all required visual observers or ground-based radar tracking — requirements that are not only expensive, but also restrict where flights are possible.
BVLOS operations like these demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of the technical solution, making long-duration, long-distance inspection using drones feasible.
Indoor inspection is becoming possible with specialized drones that circumvent the need to expose inspection staff to especially difficult facility environments, which in the past also required production shut-down to protect them. Thermal and visual sensors on swivel mounts enable protected inspection drones to fly into tight spaces — or even back out of tricky situations — and make visual records that may otherwise be virtually impossible.
Searching and recording inside containment vessels at the failed Fukushima nuclear facility may have been significantly advanced by using inspection drones.
Newsgathering, Movies and Promotion
All those panoramic, overhead, moving shots you see on the news, in movies and in ads used to be taken from a manned helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft. Now they are mostly taken by multi-copter drones with high-resolution cameras. This makes cinematography and newsgathering much more affordable, making these fields accessible by smaller operations. In the past, only large media groups could afford to rent a helicopter. And, of course, it’s much quicker to bring a UAV onto an incident site, operated by a crew on the ground.
You’ll need FAA approval to use a drone for commercial newsgathering purposes, or find a suitable qualified UAV and operator. After gaining FAA qualifications, news people are also taking on the job, buying and flying the equipment and managing the video-processing software themselves.
Others using drones for similar purposes are movie makers, producers of TV commercials and real estate agents, to name a few.
Delivery by Drone
The ultimate objective of many internet suppliers is to deliver goods that were just ordered within minutes of the order being placed. This is a pretty big objective. It requires a whole network of “fulfillment centers” in and around many cities, a massive purchasing and goods movement capability to keep these centers stocked, and a system that delivers to the end-customer. Currently, we mostly have manned panel trucks of various flavors handling that last step of the delivery process, with real people reading the notes we put on the porch about where to leave our package if we’re out.
Order and Receive. The next wave of delivery changes are expected to include drones carrying your package from the fulfillment center to your backyard. Amazon is looking for approval to begin trials with its larger 88-pound MK-27 Prime Air delivery drone, initially in sparsely populated areas. The MK-27 is equipped with intelligent sense-and-avoid capability, flying around any obstacles it encounters in flight and even during delivery.
UPS is also hoping to get to qualification of its own UAS delivery system by the end of this year, to the same standards that manned aircraft delivery systems are certificated.
Medical Deliveries. Many other trials are underway, especially involving medical deliveries and support. In Africa, trials are underway in Ghana, Malawi and Rwanda. UPS recently proposed a medical supplies delivery service using drones in North Carolina. Many companies that claim expertise in medical deliveries are operating drones.
Food on the Fly. Restaurant food delivery services have seen an upsurge in popularity. It seems likely that soon you’ll be able to order and receive lunch really quickly by drone food delivery services. Ground robot food deliveries at George Mason University are already a huge hit! Uber-Eats is experimenting with drone food deliveries, and 17 drone delivery routes have already been approved in an industrial park in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, Bell has flown its autonomous pod transport (APT) 70 near its base in Fort Worth, Texas, for the first time. The APT 70 can carry a 70-pound package load at over 100 mph, far faster and farther than existing drone delivery systems.
Bell is aiming for package delivery and critical medical transport for disaster relief for APT type drones. It is also participating in the NASA SOI program along with General Atomics’ SkyGuardian.
Drones are a new tool. The UAS industry will continue to change and adapt these products and this technology in as-yet-unthought-of ways. It’s an exciting time, and right now, there seems to be no end in sight.
For a look at drones in the defense industry, see Murfin’s article “Defense in front of UAV development,” published in September’s Professional OEM + UAV newsletter.
A committee of the U.K.’s House of Commons issued a report calling for greater drone regulations, including registration, drone ID transmission and geofencing around sensitive locations.
In its summary, it recalls drone sightings at Gatwick Airport in December 2018, which caused “significant disruption and highlighted the need for further recognition of the substantial rise in the purchase and use of commercial and civilian drones more widely.”
Restricted Airspace
The report calls for more studies, such as on airport/drone collisions. It recommends that the government complete an assessment of the risks that drones pose to manned commercial aircraft and publish the findings by the end of 2020.
“The committee is concerned that there is no agreed position on the likely consequences of a drone-airplane impact,” the report says.
The committee also recommends temporary drone flight restriction zones around helicopter landing zones and said the government should consider geo-fencing as a compulsory measure around prisons and high security areas.
“We recognise the importance of extending Flight Restriction Zones to five kilometres. However, these restriction zones are not clearly or consistently enforced,” the report states. “The lack of a standardised process results in inconsistent denials and permissions being granted to those applying. This is unacceptable.”
“The government should commission the production of a standardised and unified system through which drone operators can request access to Flight Restriction Zones. This could be achieved by working with National Air Traffic Services on its development of an Airspace User’s Portal. This should be completed no later than summer 2020.”
Drone Registration
The report recommends that the government begin a UAV registration system, enabling identification of lawful drone operators. Those registering would also have to pass a knowledge test. It also recommends that drones be “electronically conspicuous” with some form of electronic ID within two years. Both ID and geofencing should be standard in drones, the report said, with penalties for disabling these features.
If a drone user doesn’t register, “We recommend a sliding scale of penalties for failure to register, starting with a warning, and culminating in a fine and a prison sentence,” the report states.
BVLOS and UTM tech testing
A beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) testing facility should be established so that unmanned traffic management (UTM) systems and related technologies can be tested, the report recommends.”Clear plans should be set out for this as soon as possible and further testing should begin no later than Summer 2020.”
The report concludes, “The government should produce a white paper by summer 2020 that outlines the vision for how drones will be integrated into UK communities over the coming years.”
The miniVUX-2UAV airborne laser scanner. (Photo: Riegl)
The Riegl miniVUX-2UAV is a lightweight airborne laser scanner designed specifically for integration with unmanned aerial vehicles and systems.
Riegl added the new miniaturized UAV sensor to its portfolio of professional solutions for UAV-based surveying.
The sister type of the miniVUX-1UAV sensor, the miniVUX-2UAV offers 100 kHz and 200 kHz PRR. With the 200-kHz PRR, the sensor provides up to 200,000 measurements per second, and thus a dense point pattern on the ground for UAV-based applications that require the acquisition of small objects.
The Riegl miniVUX-2UAV makes use of Riegl waveform lidar technology, allowing echo digitization and online waveform processing. Multi-target resolution is the basis for penetrating dense foliage, and the wavelength is optimized for the measurement of snowy and icy terrain.
In addition to the stand-alone version of the miniVUX-2UAV, Riegl also offers fully-integrated solutions.
Terra Drone Corporation has launched a new UAV and artificial-intelligence (AI)-based solution designed for maintenance of power transmission and distribution equipment.
The solution was developed based on market gaps identified after inspecting more than 90,000 kilometers of power lines beyond visual line of site (BVLOS) throughout the world.
Acquired data is automatically processed and analyzed by artificial intelligence algorithms trained to detect crossovers at the bottom of transmission lines, buildings and construction machinery.
The system identifies rust on bolts, loosening and missing tower parts, bird’s nests and more. It then generates a smart report highlighting areas that require action. The error (identified anomaly) detection system is accurate up to 92.5%.
The algorithm for an area is developed through a process identifying anomalies in a training data set of 1,500 images. This allows for a custom solution to be created for the end client where all pertinent anomalies are identified and reported.
The development and training of the algorithm only need to be completed once for a particular type of asset and can be implemented easily at different locations on similar assets.
With such a high-precision algorithm, the productivity of AI processing allows for fast actionable results to be provided to clientele. Clients also have the ability to identify the appropriate security protocols for data storage in either a cloud-based or on-premises storage environment. These protocols can then be implemented in a custom client-specific solution.
Loosening and missing tower parts identified by high-accuracy detection system (Photo: Terra Drone)
Power transmission and distribution companies must conduct periodic inspections of power line infrastructure to ensure reliable electric power distribution, although the conventional methods of deploying ground staff or low-flying helicopters to complete the inspections, they are typically cost-prohibitive. Conventional helicopter and boots-on-the-ground service also pose HSE concerns with low flying helicopters and people working in the field. UAV service and AI inspection can aid in minimizing HSE concerns by reducing the number of workers in the field and eliminate low level manned helicopter missions.
This solution has been built from ground up with the aim to simplify and streamline the maintenance work for transmission and distribution facilities.
The drone operations management platform provides information on 3D vertical structures and obstacles, and access to digital airspace, to improve drone flight safety.
Skyward’s drone airspace maps provide airspace data combined with essential ground intelligence including 3D views of key structures, transmission lines, and more than a million vertical obstacles.
The platform also provides access to LAANC, the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability program provided by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Drone pilots in the field need to know how the surrounding area, including infrastructure, could affect flight, and Skyward offers this critical safety data to all users.
“Showing airspace is important, but it’s only part of the picture. The more intelligence that is available to understand how an area will affect the flight, the less risk a pilot has in the field,” said Mariah Scott, president of Skyward. “Skyward Airspace Intelligence is the only solution that provides easy-to-understand data for things like transmission lines, runways, over a million vertical obstacles, and a 3D view of key structures. It’s the next best thing to physically being in the field.”
In addition to comprehensive airspace information, the following data is now available for situational awareness:
Vertical structure obstacles (over one million structures identified from the FAA and FCC databases)
Major power transmission lines
Airports
Runways
Heliports
U.S. and Canadian National Parks
Stadiums
Hospitals
Schools
Pedestrian walking paths
Skyward Airspace Intelligence is part of a complete workflow that enables pilots mitigate weather, environment and business-specific risks.
Lidar USA has become the Titanium sponsor for the first UAS Rodeo, hosted by GEOHuntsville out of Hunstville, Alabama.
Operating since 1999, Lidar USA offers unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and mobile mapping systems for scanning, imaging and navigation.
Its products will be on display at the UAS Rodeo, which is designed to give Part 107 UAS pilots involved in public safety activities a full-scale training, skill-building and competitive environment to share knowledge in UAS operations.
The company said that integrating its mobile mapping solutions with the rapidly growing UAV industry has been pivotal to its success to adapt to a customer’s needs. UAS Rodeo will provide Lidar USA an avenue to show the UAS community its cutting-edge technology.
The UAS Rodeo takes place Oct. 9-10 in Huntsville at the Public Safety Training Academy, 6001 Cecil Fain Drive NW.
The MQ-9B SkyGuardian will participate in NASA-sponsored flight tests in 2020. (Photo: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)
The defense segment is going from strength to strength — despite a phase not too long ago when defense spending appeared to be dropping. Widespread drone use received a boost with specialized equipment developed for defense forces applications.
The Predator Advances
The General Atomics Predator has gone from a long-distance loiter-and-observe UAV to frontline precision-strike capability, and has been adopted by many military forces around the world.
From first flights in 1994 to initial production in 1997, the Predator has now evolved into many configurations equipped with piston engine, turboprop and jet; line-of-sight radio and satellite command and control; synthetic aperture radar and multi-spectral targeting system; video, TV and thermographic cameras; and laser designators and other payloads.
From pure reconnaissance to various strike and attack configurations, the names have also changed. Predator, Reaper, Gray Eagle, Avenger, Protector, Guardian and SkyGuardian have a host of RQ/MQ designations. For instance, In the RQ-4 Global Hawk name, the “R” means reconnaissance, the “Q” means unmanned aircraft, and the “4” is the series.
The SkyGuardian version of the Predator is a certifiable variant anticipated to ultimately become fully authorized for controlled airspace. It will take part in the NASA Systems Integration and Operationalization (SOI) demonstration program in mid-2020, which will highlight commercial UAS missions using larger drones in the national airspace.
The Predator family has now been evolving for more than 25 years. Unfortunately, the popularity of the Predator family of military unmanned aircraft has led to recent headline news about Predators shot down in the Gulf of Hormuz, or crashed in Afghanistan — such is the price of success!
Global Hawk Gathers Intel
The Northrop Grumman Global Hawk has become a U.S. mainline, high-altitude intelligence gathering asset, deployed by both the U.S. Air Force (RQ-4 Global Hawk) and Navy (MQ-4C Triton). Other friendly nations have also shown various levels of interest in acquiring variants, including Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea.
Northrop Grumman has reintroduced the Firebird as a contender in the airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) field. The Firebird can be configured as unmanned (ground control), autonomous or piloted, and has payload flexibility through open architecture, plug-and-play integration.
The North Dakota UAS test range facility at Grand Sky has initiated procurement of two Firebird UAVs, which they intend to supply to their customers for mapping, inspection and monitoring applications using their extensive, long-range BVLOS capabilities.
Skyborg Equipped with AI
And then there’s this U.S. Air Force Skyborg program, which aims to drag the most possible out of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in an airborne fighter support roll. Kratos has flown the drone hardware a couple of times – the XQ-58A Valkyrie is a “low-cost” unmanned aircraft designed to fly alongside front-line attack aircraft like the F-35 and F-18.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is researching the technology, new sensors, payloads and networking capability these drones will be outfitted with to fly alongside manned fighter jets.
A whole slew of other extremely capable drones are already being operated by the U.S. Army and Navy in a variety of support roles.
Anti-Drone Detection and Prevention
On the flip side, an entirely new related industry segment has come about in the last several years, usually adapting existing radar, sound, infrared or other ground detection systems.
This segment is aimed at circumventing unwelcome drone encroachment over sensitive facilities. Airports, governments, prisons, and energy and water utilities are among the facilities who want to prevent unwanted drones penetrating their airspace.
Solutions may be portable and short range, or ground-based and longer range, with the capability to take down an invading drone or detect where it came from and provide significant warning time.
One solution uses an attack drone that ensnares an intruder-drone in a net and brings it the defender’s location to support second-level investigations. Whatever the solution, drone defense is a growing field.
The u-blox ZED-F9P, a high-precision GNSS module that delivers centimeter-level accuracy within seconds, has been incorporated into the latest electric Tron F90+ fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Quantum-Systems, a German company that specializes in electric VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft for civilian use, manufactures the Tron F90+, which is employed in mission-critical logistical activities such transporting emergency blood reserves to remote locations. Other uses include mining and agriculture-related tasks.
Quantum-Systems and u-blox are both exhibiting at Intergeo in Stuttgart, Germany, Sept. 17-20. Quantum-Systems is at booth K1.074, and u-blox at booth L1.025.
The Tron F90+ has a 3.5-meter wingspan and can travel at speeds of up to 160 km/hour with a 100-km flight range. It is the latest addition to the Quantum-Systems eVTOL UAV platform designed for cargo, inspection, survey and mapping, and reconnaissance in adverse conditions. Other models include the Trinity F9, Scorpion and Vector UAVs, all of which feature u-blox F9 high-precision GNSS technology.
In developing the Tron F90+ UAV, the Quantum-Systems engineering team needed accurate enough position data to ensure that VTOL operations would always go smoothly, and the valuable payloads were protected from damage.
Through the multi-band real-time kinematic (RTK) and raw code and carrier-phase data available to the ZED-F9P, the necessary positioning correction is assured and the pilot can complete even difficult maneuvers. Absolute position accuracy can be brought down to 3-5 centimeters.
