Drone Inspections

Already accustomed to using drones to inspect its enormous 1,400 circuit miles of transmission infrastructure, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) says it’s now turning to artificial intelligence (AI) analytics to both speed up and improve detection of weak points requiring repair, and take action to prevent costly outages.

Specialist public safety and first responder drone consultancy Skyfire says it successfully assisted wildfire-plagued utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to obtain a Federal Aviation Administration waiver to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) infrastructure flights throughout the entire state of California.

With drones making powerline inspections safer, more efficient, and cost-effective, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a new Part 107 Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver that would allow Valmont Industries to fly its drones across the United States at a moment’s notice.

Looks like EagleView and Skydio’s partnership is entering its next phase with the geospatial technology company announcing the imminent availability of Assess autonomous roof inspection drone.

Southern California Edison says it plans to spend an estimated $50 million in drone inspection services over the next three years to ensure that nearly 160,000 of its electricity poles are adequately maintained. The news comes a day after the utility was sued by a second group of families alleging that a “negligent reckless, and willful failure” to maintain electrical equipment led to the outbreak of the destructive Fairview Fire last month.

Drone data collection, surveying, and infrastructure inspection company Soaring Eagle Technologies has added another Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) waiver to its collection – this one permitting virtually unlimited geographic range of mission operation.

The US House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill today that aims to earmark up to $200 million in spending for drones use in wide-ranging inspections of the nation’s aging infrastructure. 

Drone maker Skydio is joining forces with Toronto-based software company Qii.AI to make automated infrastructure inspections more efficient and effective for customers in North America.

Diversified drone services company Phoenix Air Unmanned (PAU) surpassed the 13,000 mark for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights during another phase in its long-running aerial inspections of Xcel Energy transmission infrastructure.

A $13,000 DJI M300 RTK drone was fired upon multiples time by a vacationer last week while the aircraft was inspecting critical infrastructure in the Netherlands. UAS service provider Zero Gravity Drone, which was conducting the inspection, says it has filed a complaint with the local police.

Australia’s iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge is now being maintained with the help of Skydio inspection drones equipped with artificial intelligence.

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), an electric utility that serves more than 12 million people in Florida, says its $1.2 million FPLAir One drone is ready for primetime. The launch of the FPLAir One, the utility adds, is a milestone in itself because no other uncrewed aircraft of its size has ever been used before for commercial purposes outside of an FAA test site.

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the Senate that seeks to create the mechanisms and allot $100 million in funding for the deployment of drones in infrastructure inspections overseen by local, state, and US government entities.

Leading autonomous drone services provider American Robotics says it has begun equipping its Scout System UAVs with new artificial intelligence (AI) anomaly detection capabilities designed to help clients – particularly those in oil and gas – avoid unexpected developments or accidents that could lead to costly consequences.

California drone data collection and analytics startup DroneBase has acquired Inspection², a UK-based company that specializes in automating industrial inspections through AI technology. DroneBase plans to utilize the incoming tech stack across telecom and transmission & distribution (T&D) sectors.

Armor Group, a major European manufacturer of industrial inks, says it has started using a drone-in-a-box solution for daily surveillance and preventive inspection at a French manufacturing site whose atmosphere has been classified as “potentially explosive.” The company’s La Chevrolière site is now benefiting from Hoverseen automatic docking system for Parrot ANAFI thermal drones. 

Leading US power utility Dominion Energy has obtained a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver to operate open-ended beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) inspections at over 40 plants using drones from Skydio, whose regulatory team helped secure the approval.

Red Cat Holdings subsidiary Skypersonic says it has successfully completed the world’s first transcontinental drone inspection relying only on an internet connection from a normal mobile phone. A fully operational utility plant in Turin was inspected using an indoor drone controlled from Orlando, some 4,800 miles away.

Researchers in Denmark have developed tech that may well prove revolutionary in power grid surveys – and for UAV flight capacity generally: a drone that can tap into the same power lines it is inspecting to recharge its batteries, then continue on with its mission.

Though the Paris Métro may be over 120 years old, the famous underground subway system strives to stay young through modernization, and is now preparing to roll out new tech innovations that include robots and drones.

UK’s National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) is launching trials to fully automate the corrosion inspection of electricity transmission pylons with the help of autonomous drones.