Leica Geosystems has entered into a cooperation and distribution agreement with Aibotix, a manufacturer of multicopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to create end-to-end solutions for the professional inspection and mapping market. The Swiss manufacturer of airborne mapping solutions has licensed the Aibotix X6 for worldwide distribution.
Lightweight unmanned aerial multicopter systems such as the Aibotix X6 provide distinct advantages for inspection tasks on infrastructure such as powerlines, bridges, dams and power plants. In addition, due to their vertical take-off-and-landing capability as well as their payload capacity, they represent a reliable platform for vertical and locally focused mapping tasks such as buildings and other vertical structures such as rock faces.
The Aibotix X6 multicopter was designed specifically for inspection applications in difficult areas with no piloting expertise required, explained Jörg Lamprecht, managing director at Aibotix. It features simple operation, plug-and-play payload integration, fully autonomous flight planning and execution as well as a number of monitoring features to ensure safe operation. Leica Geosystems is an ideal partner for Aibotix as the leading manufacturer of surveying, mapping and geospatial solutions with a global distribution network, he added. Under this arrangement, Aibotix remains an independent company with direct sales and additional distribution channels in other markets.
For Leica this means the next step in their UAV strategy. UAV-based mapping solutions are on the increase and the company has been carefully expanding their exposure to this market by focusing on select applications. Together with Aibotix, the manufacturer of airborne mapping solutions can create more solutions for more applications that fit their customers’ needs.
Source: GIM International