Vol 19 - Drone delivery shows signs of recovery, $26m DoD contract win & major UAV acquisition
We're back with a bang in 2024 with the 19th edition of #DroneZone, presented by Airbotics Talent, the newsletter dedicated to all things drones!
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We’ll bring you the latest developments, trends, and insights in the world of drones and UAS. We cover a multitude of applications including:
📨 Delivery & Logistics 💊 Medical 🚑 Disaster Relief and Search & Rescue 🌱Agriculture 🗾 Surveying & Mapping 🔬 Inspection 📷 Photography & Videography 🚀 Defense
Company of the Week
Zurich based UAV inspection business Voliro are Volume 19’s Company of the Week.
The use of drones and robotics for data collection and inspection is a rapidly growing market, and one we have covered several times on previous volumes of DroneZone. However, in most instances drones are use to "fly and see" only. Voliro are one of the few companies globally have developed "fly, see and touch" via their highly innovative Voliro T flying robot. Highly versatile, it can be equipped with multiple payloads, including a Needle Probe and various NDT iterations such as EMAT (Electromagnetic acoustic transducer), UT (Ultrasonic Transducer), DFT (Dry Film Thickness), as well as third-part payload capability such as PEC (Pulsed Eddy Current). This makes the Voliro T the "Swiss Army Knife" of drones.
If you're active on LinkedIn you are likely to have seen one of a number of high production quality videos of the Voliro T, or if you're really lucky you may have seen it in action in the Demo Zone at the likes of SPRINT Robotics or the Commercial UAV Expo. And payloads aside, it's the agility, control and omnidirectional capabilities that make it really stand out, enabling inspections on flat, curved and sloped surfaces.
Want to see their drone in action? Check out the video below!
With strong use cases across a number of sectors including petrochemical, renewables, wind turbines, offshore and industrial, Voliro have built a strong customer base of asset owners globally.
Not only this, their drones are strongly sought after by inspection service providers, with no greater example of this than the announcement in December of collaborations with some of the biggest names in the US including Acuren , MISTRAS Group and TEAM, Inc. . Congratulations to Voliro CEO Florian Gutzwiller , VP Customer Experience Laurent Zimmerli and the rest of the team! If you'd like to read more about this, see the Business Wire link below:
The Voliro T allows customers to collect data in hard to access locations in a quicker way that traditional inspection methods, whilst capturing high quality data in volume whilst removing the human risk element of traditional NDT inspections.
To see the impact Voliro has had in evolving inspection services, take a look at this recent post in collaboration with MISTRAS Group
The Latest in Drones News
🚁 Manifold Robotics , in partnership with the New York Power Authority , has successfully completed a product development project focused on increasing the safety and efficiency of UAS-based electric transmission infrastructure inspections. Initiated in 2020 with NYSERDA funding, the project developed EMF sensing for UAS navigation along power lines, with over 100 successful test flights. CEO Jeffrey Laut commented
“This technology does not rely on GPS waypoints for flying along transmission lines, but instead directly estimates its distance from the line. This approach is expected to provide a compelling advantage for beyond visual line of sight flight along transmission lines for inspection purposes as it enables UASs to safely fly in close proximity to the lines where the risk of encountering other aircraft is insignificant — a concept known as obstruction shielding.”
🚁 Airbus Helicopters - Flexrotor , the manufacturer of the Flexrotor UAS, announced on Monday its acquisition by Airbus Helicopters . The move, pending regulatory approvals, will futher expand Airbus' UAS capabilities as stated by CEO Bruno Even
"Aerovel’s expertise in autonomous flight technology will undoubtedly complement our UAS development with the VSR700, as well as the work that we have been doing to develop interoperability.”
and enable Airbus Helicopters - Flexrotor to fast track and scale their innovation and production capabilities as commented by CEO Ali Dian
“Joining forces with Airbus will allow us to scale innovation, accelerate our mission to advance unmanned aviation, and maintain our unwavering support for the US military and its allies. We are proud to become part of an organisation with a rich legacy of aerospace excellence and we look forward to leveraging our combined strengths to define the future of autonomous systems."
🚁 The last 12 month has seen it's fair share of downscaling when it comes to drone delivery, with the likes of DroneUp and Amazon Prime Air both scaling back operations. However last week we were treated to DJI 's launch of the impressive FlyCart 30. And this week came the news that Wing 's collaboration with Walmart in Dallas-Fort Worth back in August has seen increasingly positive feedback and uptake, with services set to scale significantly in 2024. Congratulations to Wing CEO Adam Woodworth and the team!
🚁 Cambridge (MA) headquartered Draper have been won a $26m contract from the DoD to expand their UAS CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological & nuclear) detection capabilities through flight software and algorithm integration. This will form part of the command and control user interface for the NBCRV Stryker platform, currently under development from Teledyne FLIR .
🚁 Skyports Drone Services , in collaboration with Derby (UK) based data analytics business Makutu , completed their first successful test flights aimed at delivering drone inspection services to the water market. The pilot study with NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) utilised Speedbird Aero drones to automate BVLOS water quality surveys. With over Northumbrian Water alone covering 9,400km2, this is a positive step in what could be a hugely impactful project from Makutu CEO James Sumsion , Skyports Drone Services Director Alex Brown and the respective teams.
🚁 Drone inspection platform and solutions business Nearthlab unveiled their AIDrone at the Consumer Electronics Show. Founded in 2015 and with a deep-rooted expertise in the wind turbine blade inspection market, this marks the South Korean headquartered firms first foray into the hardware manufacturing space. Jay Choi , Co-founder & CEO of Nearthlab stated
"AIDrone is the culmination of our extensive experience collaborating with leading equipment manufacturers and clients in leveraging drones for asset inspections. We’re confident that AIDrone will usher in new possibilities, propelling the drone industry forward by addressing the longstanding need for high-quality hardware that can keep pace with the rapid advancements in software.”
🚁 Percepto , featured previously on DroneZone for their FAA waiver to operate BVLOS, have received a further approval which permits the business to operate up to 30 drones remotely through a single operator across the entirety of the US. With their DIAB solution, Percepto are utilised across a number of industries for autonomous inspection and monitoring purposed. Geva Telem , Percepto ' Director of Marketing was quick to point out the opportunities this latest approval presented
“Imagine shifting from one pilot visiting one site, conducting one inspection and producing one report to a turnkey service that can be remotely managed from anywhere, utilizing drone fleets that can conduct hundreds of daily inspections to produce countless reports. Instead of a fragmented workforce and process, you can now have everything done by one RPIC from a remote-control centre.”
🚁 Matternet confirmed it had received approval from Germany's Aviation Office (the LBA) to operate their M2 drone delivery platform BVLOS in Berlin, the first of it's kind in the German capital. The project will focus on connecting Labor Berlin, the EU's biggest hospital laboratory, with hospital networks across the capital to allow for delivery of medical samples in a quicker and more effective way than traditional methods whilst also helping Berlin to meet it's CO2 reduction targets. Andreas Raptopoulos , Matternet 's Founder & CEO commented
“Healthcare systems need a fast, reliable and cost-effective solution to transport lab samples and pharmacy items to ensure patients receive best-in-class care. We are extremely excited to partner with Labor Berlin, Europe’s largest hospital laboratory, to create the first city-wide healthcare network in the capital of Germany and bring the benefits of drone delivery to the citizens of Berlin.”
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Good work 👍
Excellent, Richard! Just a thought...when you're producing any audio, video, training or marketing content consider adding a professional voiceover narration to enhance the engagement with your audience. Cheers!
Exciting developments in the drone industry 💫 ! The omnidirectional Swiss Army Knife drone and the revival of the drone logistics market are intriguing. What key trends or innovations do you think will shape the future of drone technology?