CATEC develops aerial contact technology for inspection drones
A drone designed by the Center for Advanced Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) performs very accurate movements and includes a completely new contact device that allows decouple and dampen external perturbations that may suffer during the work done in the air.
– This new aerial contact technology, called AEROX, is a further step in the use of drones and airborne robots in different industrial tasks, such as inspections in factories or aqueducts. Now is not only possible to see and collect data from the air but also performing industrial contact, not only minimizing time and resources, but also decreasing human risks working at height.
– This new aerial contact technology, called AEROX, is a further step in the use of drones and airborne robots in different industrial tasks, such as inspections in factories or aqueducts. Now is not only possible to see and collect data from the air but also performing industrial contact, not only minimizing time and resources, but also decreasing human risks working at height.
– This new technological development has been selected as one of the 10 candidates for the Innovation Radar Prize 2017 launched by the European Commission in order to identify Europe’s top future innovators and their innovations to be applied in the market.
5 October 2017- The Center for Advanced Aerospace Technologies (CATEC), located in Seville (Spain), has developed a new worldwide pioneering technology that allows the use of airborne robots and small unmanned aircraft, popularly known as drones, for industrial contact inspections.
Specifically, CATEC has designed a new drone that is able of performing inspections that require contact, for example, with ultrasonic sensors, which “represents a great step further for the use of this type of aerial robots in different tasks, as they not only could see from the air but also touch and feel”, explains Antidio Viguria, Head of Avionics & Systems Division in CATEC.
Since 2011 CATEC has been a world leader in aerial robotics manipulation having developed the first drone in the world with advanced aerial manipulation capabilities. But now it has focused on developing a new technology that is able to maintain contact in a safe and reliable way. The drone designed performs very precise movements and includes a completely new contact device that allows decouple and dampen external perturbations that may suffer during the work done in the air. An aspect that is critical in order to keep stability while the drone is performing contact operations. The initiative is part of the AEROARMS project, led by the University of Seville and funded by the European Commission program Horizon 2020 for Research and Development.
Today drones are creating a major expectation with respect to their potential impact to people lives in the next 20 years. However, current drone technology only allows applying it in tasks that require “see” from air, while there are major opportunities for drones if they could also “touch and feel”. This aerial contact technology developed by CATEC is a major step into this vision that already allows today performing industrial contact inspections using a drone not only minimizing time and resources but also decreasing human risks working at height.
AEROX has been selected as one of the 10 candidates for the Innovation Radar Prize 2017, and competes in the ‘Industrial Enabling Tech’ category. This prize category aims to recognise new technologies and components, developed with EU-funding, that have industrial relevance and/or potential to enable the emergence of new applications.
CATEC’s technology has focused on solving real industrial problems and has been advised by leading international industrial inspection companies to create a technology with a high maturity level that attracts industry interest. “The Innovation Radar Prize can be a great opportunity for us to increase our knowledge of this technology and to arouse the industry’s interest in exploiting it,” adds Mr. Viguria.
Demonstrative video of AEROX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQdMlfK8VjY
About FADA-CATEC
CATEC is an advanced technology center that contributes to the improving the competitiveness of aerospace companies in the aerospace sector, through scientific research, technology transfer and advanced services. It is also supported by the Andalusian Foundation for Aerospace Development (FADA), and it is a unique private center in Spain for its wide technological capabilities and highly skilled workforce of more than 60 specialists and technicians.
CATEC has become one of the most active technology centers in national and European R&D projects, standing out specifically in fields like Unmanned Aero
Systems (UAS/RPAS), Robotics and in the development of solutions for Industry 4.0 or Factory of the Future. It counts on a team of over 20 engineers and technicians working in this area, and has participated or participates in over 30 projects related to UAS, including European programs like the VII Programme Framework and Horizon 2020 Programmes of the European Commission and the SESAR initiative.
For more information
FADA-CATEC Press Coordinators
Celia Ruiz / Jesús Herrera
(+34) 954 62 27 27
