Dutch unmanned aerial system manufacturer unveils commercial grade UAS with collision avoidance capabilities
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Aerialtronics has developed a sense and avoid solution for the Altura Zenith unmanned aircraft which will fundamentally change how companies inspect telecommunication towers, energy pylons, bridges and buildings.
This advanced sense and avoid solution is designed to help the Zenith UAS stay clear of objects during inspections as it relays images, video and data to the user or a third party. One of the first on the market, it is expected to save customers thousands in costs, particularly during lengthy engineering maintenance projects, or regular inspections of bridges or wind turbines.
“This will change the way we inspect telecommunication towers, utility poles, oil rigs and even chimney stacks forever,” explained Jan Wouter Kruyt, Head of Research and Development at Aerialtronics. “The Zenith can be flown at an adjustable safe distance with a minimum of two metres from the object while recording or relaying photographs, video or data from the field. This enables even inexperienced users to safely fly a camera next to a utility pole or chimney.”
The sense and avoid solution can detect obstacles up to seven metres away at a 360-degree angle, whether they are static or moving. There are also bounce back and distance keeping functions.
Kruyt said: “The solution we’ve developed is distance sensing and distance keeping. Our drones can be programmed to ‘stop moving forward’ or ‘bounce back’ when they get within a critical distance from any object, be that a wall, a pole or a flying object. It is particularly important in windy conditions where the drone stability is crucial.
