March 2018, Vol. 245, No. 3
TechNotes
SkyX Drone Completes 62-Mile Data-Collection Flight
SkyX Systems Corporation, the Canadian long-range unmanned aerial monitoring and data collection company, completed an unmanned data collection flight of 62 miles (100 km), one of the longest journeys in its class.
Taking place in Mexico, the firm flew its SkyOne Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) on an autonomous data mission over a gas pipeline in Mexico. The robotic flight was programmed and monitored remotely from the company’s Greater Toronto Area SkyCenter mission control, with a support crew of engineers on the ground in Mexico.
Using high-resolution imagery, the longest of multiple flights identified more than 200 potentially significant anomalies along the remote pipeline, ranging from unauthorized buildings and cultivation, through to a fissure possibly caused by seismic activity.
“This mission was groundbreaking,” says SkyX founder and CEO Didi Horn. “We have proven our solution in a rugged environment which presented network communications challenges. Our Mexican partner was stunned not only by our results, but by the speed and accuracy with which we delivered them.”
The SkyX System consists of an aircraft that takes off like a helicopter but flies like a plane, the SkyCenter control room and the company’s proprietary SkyBoxes, which allow SkyOne to recharge and continue long-range missions.
Comments