German drone maker Wingcopter is shaking things up! Known for its cargo drones, the company is now stepping into the world of long-range LiDAR surveying. The Wingcopter 198, their flagship drone, is getting a serious tech boost — high-end laser scanning and camera systems — to make mapping and infrastructure inspections faster and more precise than ever.
This new application will let surveyors scan up to 37 miles (60 km) in one flight. The Wingcopter 198 can carry a 10-pound (4.5 kg) sensor system and collect ultra-detailed LiDAR data — 570 points per square meter with millimeter-level accuracy. That’s huge for industries needing to inspect power lines, pipelines, roads, railways, and even remote forests.
The drone’s BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) capability means it can cover over 2,500 acres (10.3 square kilometers) in just 42 minutes. Compared to traditional methods, this is faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective.
Wingcopter has spent years perfecting the Wingcopter 198, and it’s already in the FAA type certification process in the US. With more than 1,000 flight hours under its belt, this drone is said to be one of the most reliable long-range electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft out there.
Moreover, the new surveying tech is already catching international attention. Synerjet, Wingcopter’s local partner in Brazil, plans to deploy fleets of Wingcopter 198 drones for infrastructure and environmental mapping.
“Together with Wingcopter, we are developing custom applications, adding more functionality to the aircraft and meeting requirements from other industries, such as asset inspections, vegetation monitoring and mapping,” says Augustinho Simoes, Synerjet’s director of drone operations and development.
“The first version will be equipped with a high-end LiDAR sensor that offers a wide 100-degree field of view and an extremely high pulse repetition rate of up to 2.4 MHz. The measuring beam is emitted consecutively in three different directions: it alternates from strictly nadir to +10 degrees forward, and to -10 degrees backward. This allows data acquisition with unparalleled completeness in data capture, especially in challenging environments with vertical surfaces, narrow canyons, transmission lines, railways, highways, forest plantations, and many other applications.”
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