In October, SkySkopes announced that it was named the top drone service provider (DSP) in the U.S., as well as one of the best globally, by Drone Industry Insights (Dii), the leading source for business intelligence in the field of commercial drones.
Equipped with a highly qualified operations and geospatial team, SkySkopes was ranked according to its size, consistent drone-industry development, global UAS market-share, growth, public awareness and online presence and activity.
“I’m truly delighted by Drone Industry Insights’ stratification of SkySkopes as the top DSP in the U.S.,” SkySkopes CEO Matt Dunlevy said at the time.
Inspection
Inspection
Skyward granted waiver to conduct drone inspections near Big Hollow wildfire in Washington
Skyward, a Verizon company, has been awarded a temporary waiver from the FAA that allows its pilots to fly the Percepto Sparrow drone from their homes to inspect critical communications infrastructure near the Big Hollow wildfire in Washington.
The waiver permits operations 24 hours a day, with less than three miles of visibility, and no pilot or observer on site.
“At a moment when we are facing dangerous consequences of climate change and coping with a global pandemic, maintaining the Verizon Network has never been more important,” says Rima Qureshi, chief strategy officer, Verizon.
Teledyne Optech's CL-360 serves as building block for next gen, best-in-class UAVs
Teledyne Optech’s CL-360 is a survey grade 360-degree laser scanner that enables OEM hardware manufacturers and integrators to develop the next generation of best-in-class UAV, mobile, and terrestrial scanning solutions for various surveying applications.
Being a survey grade lidar scanner means that the resulting 3D points derived from the CL-360 are suitable for applications such as surveying or inspections. More specifically, the accuracy and precision (repeatability) of the points is greater than those obtained by lower performance lidar sensors or other methods such as photogrammetry, according to Mark Treiber, Product Manager, Compact Lidar.
UAS used to remotely inspect runway at Cranfield Airport in England
For the first time, UAS were used to remotely inspect the runway at Cranfield Airport, which is located just outside the village of Cranfield, in Bedfordshire, England.
Utilizing ‘drone-in-a-box’ technology, the flights’ goal was to enable routine inspections using UAS that can be automatically deployed, recovered and recharged without the need for an on-site pilot.
“As a fully-functional research airport located on a university campus, this kind of technology demonstration and development exercise is very much in our DNA,” says Rob Abbott, director of Aviation Operations at Cranfield Airport.
Weekend Roundup: August 7, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Navy have signed a new agreement to jointly expand the development and operations of unmanned maritime systems in the nation’s coastal and world’s ocean waters. Through the agreement, NOAA will accelerate its science, service and stewardship mission by leveraging the Navy’s expertise, infrastructure, best practices and training. (NOAA)
Weekend Roundup: June 26, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
The Royal Navy has launched its first crewless boat for general duties. The autonomous Pacific 24 is ready for testing to see how it and similar vehicles might fit into the ‘fleet of tomorrow.’ (The Royal Navy)
DroneBase to expand services to renewable energy market, open new office in Germany using new funding
Professional drone services company DroneBase has raised $7.5 million in Series C funding.
DroneBase will use this funding to expand its services to the renewable energy market with DroneBase Insights for Wind and Solar, and to open its first international office in Germany.
“DroneBase’s expansion into renewable energy reflects our belief in the growth potential of the wind and solar energy industries,” says Dan Burton, CEO and founder of DroneBase.
“Since many energy companies have both wind and solar assets, we are well positioned to leverage our DroneBase Insights platform to grow our global market share in renewable energy.”
Texas Electric Cooperatives, Exelon Clearsight partner to make UAS a part of utility inspections in Texas
Texas Electric Cooperatives Inc. (TEC) and Exelon Clearsight LLC have partnered to bring advanced UAS, robot, and software enabled inspections to utilities in Texas.
Under the agreement, TEC has exclusive rights to sell Exelon Clearsight's services to Electric Cooperatives, Generation & Transmission Cooperatives, and Municipal Authorities across the state of Texas.
“We are excited about partnering with Clearsight to provide unique value-added services to our members,” says Johnny Andrews, chief operating officer, TEC Manufacturing and Distribution Services.
Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten AirMap to use drones to conduct completion inspections of base stations
Rakuten Mobile Inc. will work with Rakuten Group company Rakuten AirMap Inc. to conduct completion inspections of base stations for its mobile network using drones.
Traditionally, completion inspections would be conducted by an engineer that climbs the antenna tower on which the base station is installed and visually inspects the equipment, but these inspections raise several concerns regarding safety, the time required to conduct the inspections and personnel costs.
Using drones for completion inspections would allow them to be conducted in a shorter amount of time, more efficiently and with a higher degree of safety, as the UAS will be used to take multi-angle photographs of the newly constructed base stations.
Fugro, SEA-KIT to develop new USVs that can deploy ROVs and AUVs for inspections
Geo-data specialist Fugro and SEA-KIT, a provider of hi-tech technologies to maritime and research industries, will collaborate to develop a new range of agile and compact uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) capable of deploying ROVs and AUVs for marine asset inspections.
Fugro says that the USVs are being developed alongside its range of USVs for hydrographic data acquisition. The first USVs are expected to be launched before the end of 2020, and a larger USV model is being designed for delivery in 2021.
