VOTIX helps AviSight earn FAA automated BVLOS inspection waiver

Specialized drone software company VOTIX says it has joined forces with UAV inspection firm AviSight to obtain a long-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights to monitor petroleum giant Shell USA’s infrastructure.

Miami-based VOTIX says the FAA waiver permits AviSight to fly BVLOS inspection missions for Shell through May of 2026. The company says those routine and recurring services will provide airborne audits of Shell’s pipeline rights-of-ways in the US using Harris Aerial drones. VOTIX software permits AviSight assets to automate, orchestrate, and monitor remote operation of UAV flights.

To do that, the VOTIX gateway system has been installed on AviSight drones, which rely on cellular connectivity to pilot the craft safely and securely over the internet – a key element in earning the BVLOS waiver. The hardware agnostic VOTIX solution provides ultra-low latency data flows between positions near and remote, with full command and control and high-definition video streaming.

Read: Soaring Eagle gets FAA drone BVLOS waiver for unlimited distance inspections 

Will O’Donnell, AviSight chief operating officer says the integration of VOTIX capabilities, along with its FAA BVLOS waiver, will allow the company to expand its drone work in ways it would not have otherwise.

“With VOTIX we have full control of the drone in real time over long distances and in difficult geographical conditions,” says O’Donnell. “With this capability, we can scale out our operations more efficiently than ever before, providing long range BVLOS support to customers all over the country, while live streaming data to key decisions makers anywhere on the planet; a gamechanger in UAS operations.”

Read: FAA OKs BVLOS drone flights across entire NUAIR UAV corridor 

Its role in facilitating AviSight’s BVLOS drone work with a big client like Shell bodes well for VOTIX’s own efforts to recruit new customers.

Its automation, management, and streaming capacities are adaptable to a full range of drones and services, across sectors including inspection, monitoring, mapping, surveying, spraying, seeding, filming, photography, transport, delivery, security, and search and rescue.

“VOTIX is disrupting drone operations, allowing any drone to be operated remotely through the cloud using cellular connectivity on the drone and in compliance with FAA regulations,” says Ed Boucas, VOTIX CEO. “VOTIX converts any drone into an automated platform capable of deploying drone programs at scale. VOTIX unlocks the full potential of drones.”

The VOTIX solution its a complete cloud platform, composed of a trio of independent but fully integrated products called MANAGE, STREAM, and FLY.