Multiple Drones will Operate Infrastructure Inspections Simultaneously

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Unmanned aerial systems can be used effectively for various sorts of critical infrastructure inspection missions, as the networks are spread over vast geographical areas.

Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS UAS situational awareness system was recently integrated into the eSmart Systems Connected Drone solution for powerline inspection in North America and Europe.

Kongsberg Geospatial is an Ottawa-based developer of real-time, mission critical, geospatial visualisation software, and eSmart Systems develops digital intelligence for the energy industry and smart communities.

The Connected Drone solution collects real-time powerline inspection data for analysis in the eSmart cloud, which provides actionable data that helps utility companies to reduce power failures and operational costs.

According to its website, Kongsberg Geospatial has been providing technology for military UAV platforms for over a decade, and is now actively working with industry and regulatory groups in the United States and Canada to develop a simple, portable display for civilian UAV operators that provides them with a unified situational awareness picture combining a wide range of live data feeds into an easy to understand display format.

The IRIS display for eSmart Systems will enable multiple drones to be managed simultaneously by a single operator and provide real-time calculation of communications line-of-sight to enable BVLOS operations. IRIS will provide the operator with real-time 2D and 3D visualization of airborne track and weather data, as well as geo-fencing capabilities.

“The expertise and capability of eSmart Systems is exactly the type of enterprise partnership we are looking for to employ our technology” said Ranald McGillis, President of Kongsberg Geospatial.

“eSmart Systems has five years of expertise and experience in Norway of providing software solutions for energy companies and their service providers using UAS tools. We have identified strong partners like Kongsberg Geospatial to enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights that will accelerate the usability for the utility industry,” said Knut Johansen, CEO of eSmart Systems. “Visualizing this information within the Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS display is a very powerful tool to enhance safety for UAS operations.”