New Fixed-Wing VTOL for Electric and Gas Utilities Inspection
A new commercial-grade VTOL fixed-wing UAV was specifically designed to meet the inspection needs of electric and gas utilities. Here is a video of last week’s demo flight:
The new UAV was custom developed by ULC Robotics’ UAV and engineering teams and has a flight time of up to 5 hours and a 10-pound payload capacity for integrating sensors and imaging systems including radiometric thermal camera, LiDAR and in the future, gas leak detection sensors.
Details on the UAV specifications
- Vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing aircraft custom developed by ULC Robotics
- Centimeter accurate position control
- Will accommodate BVLOS inspections in the future
- 10-pound payload capacity for integration of sensors
- Forward flight-enables endurance of up to five hours
Benefits
- Data Efficiency – 10-pound payload capacity means the VTOL UAV can be integrated with the sensor systems most valuable to utilities including LiDAR, thermal, multispectral, gas spectrometers and corona discharge.
- Improved Reliability – The VTOL will improve the utilities ability to identify and prevent “outages waiting to happen.” Will also, increase the frequency of utility infrastructure without burdening resources. Reduced the need for utility workers to navigate through difficult to access areas or challenging terrain.
- Increased Safety – Ability to increase the range and frequency of utility transmission lines and right-of-ways without burdening the utility or its customers.
