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AI-powered drone system reduces inspection time from 2 hours to 17 minutes, offering a safer, faster solution for subterranean infrastructure projects

Sinclair Broadcasting became the first media group to meet an FAA-approved means of compliance for drone operations over people with the help of Virginia Tech researchers.

The energy industry continues to push the boundaries of efficiency, safety, and sustainability—and drones and robotics are at the heart of this transformation. From performing autonomous inspections to feeding data to digital twins, companies are finding new ways to deploy these technologies for real-world impact.

As drone technology, payloads, and AI capabilities continue to advance, more companies are finding new and innovative use cases for drones in infrastructure maintenance and monitoring.

This report explores how companies and organizations are using uncrewed systems in their work, highlights recent innovations, examines the regulatory environment, and more.

The burglars demonstrated an unsettling level of preparation, using drones to identify security vulnerabilities before executing rapid, efficient break-ins. In one incident, thieves managed to locate and steal a second-floor safe within just 20 minutes, showing intimate knowledge of the property's security setup.

Scientists are using meteorological drones to study how black volcanic dust affects climate change and weather patterns in Iceland. This groundbreaking research, reported by Euronews, is helping researchers better understand the impact of high-latitude dust (HLD) on cloud formation and glacier melting.

The offshore energy industry has long grappled with unique challenges, from high-risk maintenance tasks to substantial operational costs and environmental impacts.The integration of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful solution to these issues, enabling unprecedented efficiency, safety, and sustainability in offshore operations.

At the core of the LiDAR revolution lies its ability to emit laser pulses that can penetrate through vegetation, thus capturing ground levels with pinpoint accuracy. In contrast, photogrammetry relies on capturing images from aerial platforms, often leading to inaccuracies due to the obstruction posed by vegetation canopies.

The session offered a detailed look into how ExxonMobil is leveraging advanced robotics and digital solutions to tackle one of the most challenging aspects of industrial inspections—refractory inspections in confined spaces.

The U.S. Air Force is experimenting with new ways to improve maintenance and repair practices on the B-52 Stratofortress bomber by using drones, advanced scanning, augmented reality, and data processing algorithms that reduce the time and effort.

It is also important to remember that he market we are talking about, multirotors for inspection and survey is only a small part of the overall RPAS world. Fixed wing SLT platforms are coming to do bigger jobs.

This report shows the results of a test survey aimed at comparing four different UAV-based (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) magnetometers and their capabilities to detect various infrastructure utilities.

From enhancing safety to optimizing operational efficiency, drones and robotics are reshaping traditional practices in the energy industry and opening up new horizons for exploration and production. 

With the arrival of Drone in a Box (DiaB) solutions, routine inspections have become faster, more accurate, and cost-effective.

Drones have become increasingly impactful in the construction industry, offering a range of benefits that improve efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness.

As the demand for skilled drone pilots continues to soar, opportunities for success continue to expand, and, in this article, we'll explore five key opportunities to build drone pilot success. However, before we dive into those opportunities, there are a few topics that need discussion.

Farming operations are turning to uncrewed systems because of their ability to produce "remarkable improvements in production, efficiency, and revenue within the agricultural cycle.

A drone capable of collecting data on rainforest biodiversity. Such a design requires special features, such as a claw-like mechanism, wings and a sense of touch. Physical additions cannot be done without AI, says Associate Professor Salua Hamaza.

In 2022, it was reported that the use of drones in the construction industry was growing at an annual rate of 239%. Others have mentioned that construction is one of the industries that is in desperate need of new technology, highlighting how and why drones have become such an important tool all across the entire sector.
What does it mean for these tools to actually be utilized though?

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Satoshi Suzuki from Chiba University recently announced that they had developed an innovative new low-cost UAV designed for powerline inspection.

Skydio and Trimble Collaborate on New Integration for Utilities, Construction and State Transportation Agencies

The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has exploded in recent years as State and local agencies continue to find new and innovative applications for this versatile technology.

Monitoring for forest fires now relies heavily on technology in California, where more than a thousand IoT cameras have been deployed.
A major limitation of these devices is that they can only detect fires that have already progressed beyond the initial ignition stage.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed by the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), can analyse air quality to detect imminent fires before they generate any visible smoke.

Innovation is soaring to new heights in aerial mobility, and recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are challenging the ways traditional methods of flight path monitoring.

Researchers from Japan have developed a methodology for using two drones to inspect wind turbines without shutdown: significantly impacting the cost of maintenance.

The FAA authorized two more companies to operate drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). UPS Flight Forward with its Matternet M2 can conduct small package delivery and uAvionix with its Rapace can use the Vantis Network to test its detect and avoid technology.

uAvionix, operating at the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) Emerging Aviation Technology Center, has completed the first true Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight in non-segregated airspace using aviation protected C-Band in the United States.

In a recent study by smart home security firm Vivint, homeowners were asked for their perceptions and opinions about AI-enhanced security features.

The growing market for autonomous drones presents a plethora of investment opportunities and trends that are poised to revolutionize various industries.

Powerline management solutions provider Sharper Shape has announced a contract with drone solutions leader Volatus Aerospace, officially launching Sharper Shape's new drone service providers (DSP) management.

The White House isn't letting Congress have all the AI-regulating fun—last week it announced a slew of initiatives, including a discussion with workers and other stakeholders about how employers use automation to monitor them and seeking public comment on how to use AI for the greater good.

Every day, the drone industry comes up with new and different uses for unmanned aircraft. Now, here comes hyper-local weather forecasting – which, in turn, will also prove useful for other drone operators conducting their own operations. 

Predictive maintenance solutions (PdM) provider ONYX Insight has announced a partnership with autonomous drone solution company Nearthlab to provide wind farm operators with a whole turbine predictive maintenance solution.

One of the largest electrical utilities in the US, Southern Company has been incorporating drone technology in its work since 2015. The company uses uncrewed systems to perform a wide variety of tasks, including support for transmission, distribution, security, storm response, damage assessment, and power generation.

UAVOS, a developer and manufacturer of security and commercial solutions based on advanced Unmanned Systems, has recently completed a drone-based inspection in the agriculture sector to measure water content in the soil.

Sniffer Robotics, a leading environmental technology-enabled services company, announced the US EPA has broadly approved its SnifferDRONE method to monitor landfill methane emissions as an alternative to existing federal regulations.

Today, leading autonomous inspection and monitoring solution provider Percepto announced that its drone-in-a-box solution has been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct highly automated Beyond Visual Line of Sight (HA BVLOS) inspection and monitoring operations at a solar power plant in Texas.

BATT and INVOLI are pleased to announce a collaboration to optimize HEMS operations and improve pilots' safety. The collaboration combines BATT expertise in system integration and heliport design with INVOLI's air traffic surveillance system to provide air risk mitigation and operation automation services to HEMS operators around the world.

American Robotics Announces Partnership with Infrared Cameras Inc.

Red Cat Holdings Subsidiary Teal Drones Awarded $1M+ Contract from U.S. Border Patrol

Soaring Eagle Technologies, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone data collection company servicing critical infrastructure owners across the continental U.S., has obtained one of the first BVLOS Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waivers to fly small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) commercial inspection missions under operational guidelines versus specific operations in restrained geographical areas.

The rapidly growing use of drones in industries and governments worldwide means that users are demanding more in terms of performance and productivity.

Creating digital twins with aerial inspections, PIX4Dscan and PIX4Dinspect are streamlining operations for major telecom operators.

Skydio pilots are leveraging Skydio 3D Scan for a vast number of applications. From close inspections of utility assets to digital twin capture of bridges to accident scene reconstruction, operators equipped with autonomous drones are capturing better data faster than they ever realized they could.

Air6, Consortiq, Wonder Robotics win "Pitch the Press" at Commercial UAV Expo 2022

Phoenix Air Unmanned, LLC (PAU) crossed the 13,000-mile mark of utility transmission line inspection flights for Xcel Energy last week. The mileage total is another milestone for a program designed to build upon traditional inspection methods in the utility industry and advance beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations in the National Airspace System. Flights began in 2019 and have been flown annually during spring and summer months with 2021 accounting for 5,300 miles alone.

ANRA Technologies to Provide New York Power Authority with MissionManager Drone Operation Software: Drones for Power Line Inspections

Military tactical teams' ability to quickly produce accurate maps of areas targeted for military operations can mean the difference between mission success or failure. Meeting this need, Reveal Technology has teamed with Teal Drones – a division of Red Cat Holdings (NASDAQ: RCAT) – to enhance Reveal's "Farsight" mapping software by automatically combining imagery from multiple unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to produce high-fidelity 3D maps. By dramatically increasing the speed of collection, users receive Farsight maps and analytics faster than ever. The groundbreaking technology was recently successfully demonstrated to U.S. Army Special Operations Command near Fort Bragg.

Rebounding off its participation in the August 3 White House summit on advanced air mobility (AAM), sector lobbying organization Commercial Drone Alliance has gone on the offensive with praise of the Biden administration's initiative in support of next-generation aerial activities, but with criticism of regulatory constrictions it says stifles increased UAV services in the US.