Commercial + Industrial Drones
The range of use cases for drones in industry is growing all the time. We supply highly resilient aircraft for both conventional and unusual payloads and applications.
- Lidar Mapping
- Thermal imaging
- Tree Planting
- Surveying
- Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
We’ll get you flying sooner and more cost effectively
Our aircraft are used all over the world to undertake almost all conventional drone applications….and many you have not even thought of!
Reliability
Our aircraft are highly resilient and can operate in very difficult conditions. If you have a commercial drone application it is critical that your systems are reliable and allow you to continue to operate even when conditions are less than ideal. Reduce costly down time by using an aircraft that continues to perform even in wind, rain, at high altitude or in extreme temperature ranges.
Flexibility
From high-resolution cameras to specialised sensors like LiDAR, GPR, RF spectrum monitors, communications and many more payload packages, our drones are equipped for detailed data capture across all industries. We are also one of the very few companies in the world able to adapt systems to fly unusual payloads in unconventional ways.
Regulatory Compliance
We ensure all drones comply with the required aviation regulations, keeping you within legal guidelines for safe and efficient operation, and we know how to operate them safely for you if you should require it.
A few examples of our commercial projects….
D15 for 30Kg payloads
This aircraft was developed to carry and deliver payloads of up to 30Kgs at range of up to 10 km. It was originally developed for the military but has equal value in the commercial world. The aircraft carries it’s load on a line around 5m below the aircraft and is able to precisely place that payload, release it and return fully autonomously and without landing. The aircraft is large, but easily and quickly folds down for ease of transportation and quick deployment.
Commercial Lidar
We have been building aircraft to fly Lidar for a long time, and have built aircraft to carry a number of different Lidar systems up to and including the Riegl VUX1 weighing in at over 8 Kgs.
The aircraft shown here is fitted with the RouteScene LidarPod, one of the lightest and most accurate systems available and one of the most common we supply aircraft to carry. At a very reasonable 3 Kgs, this Lidar system allows us to deliver flight times of 45 mins or more with full payload and without compromise to the robustness of the system.
Passenger Drone
This unusual looking aircraft is a quarter scale tester for a proposed person carrying drone. It had a number of interesting safety features most obviously the redundancy and thrust offered by a 16 motor configuration. The passenger would sit in the capsule under the aircraft and would have no part in operating or piloting, the aircraft was aimed purely at single person passenger transport, although clearly with the weight lift capability it also had good transport potential.
D8 Delivery Drone
The variant on our D8 aircraft was developed for a specific package delivery role. Capable of lifting up to 10 kgs, the drone was designed for a very quick turnaround. The package is simply placed on top of the aircraft by an operator (or an automatic loading system), and it’s ready to go on it’s mission within seconds. On landing the package is unloaded and the aircraft is either sent home or reloaded for it’s next run. Due to the top positioning of the payload, this process can be easily automated. Batteries are quickly and easily swapped in a few seconds as required.
D8 High Altitude Sprayer
This aircraft was developed for a very specific spraying application. After an inspection of thousands of 250 foot power poles in the US, it was found that the UTH testing gel had been left in place preventing further visual inspection. With extreme difficulty of access and very tall poles, a custom drone solution was developed to allow precision spray cleaning of the covered areas. Precise aircraft control, excellent visuals for the operators, a custom robotic spray lance and extreme heavy lift were all required to enable accurate and quick removal of the offending gel. The aircraft flew with onboard batteries but had to drag more than 200 feet of high pressure water filled hose (driven by a ground based compressor) to get enough of the special cleaning agent up where it was needed at high enough pressure to blast the area clean!
Rio Olympics 2016
Drone filming was banned at the Rio 2016 Olympics… unless certain technical criteria were met! The authorities specified that any drone operating there would have to have 12 motor redundancy, a parachute, and a number of other safety measures, something not generally available at the time. We had 8 weeks to build and test three fully bespoke 12 motor aircraft fitted with highest quality camera systems for live broadcast, and get them shipped out to Rio. We met the brief and the time line, and our aircraft were the only ones allowed to be used at the Rio Olympics.
These aircraft were used to cover maritime events out over the sea, and during the two weeks over 350 successful flights were undertaken, and some great live coverage achieved. These were the first ever drones to be used at any summer olympics.
How long does it take to build a custom drone?
This will vary considerably depending on the nature of the project. We are able to produce anything from a custom sensor suite on a standard drone, to a fully bespoke aircraft designed from the ground up. Most custom projects start from a relatively standard frame, in which case around 6 – 8 weeks is normal, although this will vary depending on the work we are currently undertaking. We are happy to give a good indication of this when we start to discuss your project, and we are often able to expedite production if required.
What types of sensors and payloads can be integrated?
There are a wide range of sensors and communications that can improve the functionality of your aircraft, and we will suggest the best options once we start to understand your project.
For payloads, given certain weight and size limits, we can normally carry just about anything! We have integrated almost all commercially available payload sensor packages, including Lidar, GPR, magnetometers, camera systems, lights, gas sensors, ranging equipment, water sampling, and more. We have also worked with customers to lift all sorts of experimental payloads, even sometimes flying equipment that was never designed to be used in the air. We can supply power from the aircraft, independent communications, shielding from magnetic and RF interference, extreme weather proofing, payload control, release mechanism, stabilisation and anti vibration systems, and much more.
Are custom drones more expensive than off-the-shelf?
Not necessarily! As all our aircraft are specified for each application and then built to order, additional cost is often limited only to the cost of any specific additional equipment that needs to be included in the system. Inevitably, higher levels of customisation can incur higher costs, but this is not necessarily nearly as expensive as you might expect. We are happy to give cost estimates once we understand the requirements, and always supply detailed quotes once the details are agreed.
What do we consider when building a custom drone?
All aspects of the system are considered from project feasibility to the legality of the operations. We start by looking at what the aircraft needs to achieve and work backwards, considering the nature and function of the payload, specific operational requirements of the application, circumstances and conditions of use, performance requirements, weather and altitude resilience, transportability, deployment time, maintenance, ease of use and much more.
Need an ‘outside the box’ solution? We’re the company to talk to.
