Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The latest drone news
Specialized drone services company sees.ai has obtained what it describes as unprecedented authorization to conduct routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) inspections of live overhead electricity infrastructure in the UK.
Sussex-based sees.ai says its Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) permission clears the way for regular, open-ended BVLOS drone inspections of live powerlines and supporting infrastructure across two specific sites for client National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). The startup foresees that authorization being broadened to the rest of NGET’s UK assets after demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of its work at the initial locations.
Read: Skydio earns ‘unprecedented’ BVLOS authorization across Japan
Though sees.ai – which has been working closely with the CAA in its Regulatory Sandbox project since 2019 – earned initial BVLOS inspection approval of industrial sites two years ago, it says the new authorization breaks new ground by permitting up-close drone imaging of high voltage electrical transmission networks while still transmitting power, thereby eliminating disruption from temporary cuts.
“Securing permission to carry out BVLOS drone inspections of the live electricity grid is a major step forward towards our goal of enabling safe operation of drone fleets at national scale,” said sees.ai CEO John McKenna of the site-defined authorization. “We’re immensely proud that National Grid and the CAA trust us to deploy safely on critical infrastructure and we believe that this permission will pave the way for future advancements in the use of drones for survey and inspection of critical national infrastructure, and beyond into aerial logistics and mobility.”
Its new BVLOS drone approval is a critical element for sees.ai – a recruit of Boeing’s Aerospace Xelerated UK-based startup accelerator – for its project with NGET and data analysis specialist Keen AI. That collaboration aims to develop a fully automated, end-to-end, up-close UAV-based electricity infrastructure inspection process for routine deployment.
The method relies on BVLOS drone flights taking sees.ai core data capturing technology to within meters of electricity lines and supporting steelwork. Collected information is then used to create internally georeferenced sets of 2D images and 3D models optimized for automated analysis by artificial intelligence solutions.
Read: InDro earns FAA BVLOS waiver for US drone inspections – ‘a Canadian first’
Its new CAA authorization will now allow sees.ai BVLOS drones to provide NGET to perform those close automated aerial inspection of overhead lines, then rely on Keen AI’s software for condition assessment, defect resolution, and reporting. The objective is to permit NGET – and ultimately other electricity grid operators – to determine the condition of transmission assets, and plan the least disruptive and most efficient remedial maintenance work more effectively.
“This is a fantastic achievement for sees.ai and an important step in enabling National Grid to fully exploit the potential of drone technology for network inspections,” said NGET condition monitoring manager Mark Simmons. “As we work towards our net zero goals, embracing technologies like these will enable us to deliver an energy future that is clean, fair, and affordable for all.”
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
