Event 38 Unmanned Systems, a leading manufacturer of American-made mapping drones, announces that a successful BVLOS pipeline patrol demo has been completed using the E455, Event 38’s largest fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone.
The E455 flew 320 miles in just under 7.6 flight hours. The demo was executed by Phoenix Air Unmanned (PAU), a drone service provider that specializes in aerial inspection and surveillance for utilities.
The demo was a proof-of-concept exercise to determine whether PAU could achieve the goal of patrolling 300 miles of pipeline, owned by Shell Pipeline Corporation, with a drone in just one day.
“We woke up to a two-hour delay with fog, so we crossed the 300-mile mark at noon on the second day,” said Will Wheeler, Director of Operations, Phoenix Air Unmanned. “But our goal was achieved within a day of flying time, so it was a success.”
Event 38 trained a team of six PAU pilots in just three days and integrated the E455 into PAU’s existing command control stations in less than a week. The demo was completed the following week.
Wheeler credits much of the demo’s success to the user-friendly design of the E455. “Ease of use and reliability is a big deal for us. We have the foundational knowledge of how to execute BVLOS flights at scale, however we had never flown the E455 before,” he said. “We received training, the E455 was integrated, and then we were out there doing 300 miles. What will we be capable of once our whole crew has experience with this platform and it’s truly integrated into our workflow? It’s repeatable and scalable.
For the purposes of the demo, the E455 was outfitted with an Iris Casia 3-camera system, which is critical for BVLOS missions, two redundant radio links, and an ADS-B in, in addition to a standard live gimbaled camera. Drone communications were handed off between three ground control vans to increase efficiency, and ground control received a constant live video feed from the E455’s on-board cameras. Thanks to the E455’s bonded radio solution, the drone never lost signal with PAU.
Even with the abundance of equipment required for a BVLOS mission, the E455 flew for up to sixty minutes on a single charge. With a standard payload, the E455 can fly for over two hours on a single charge. In optimal conditions, the E455 can travel at 50 miles per hour. speed is 50 miles per hour in optimal conditions.
“We are incredibly proud of what PAU accomplished with the E455,” said Mathew Wright, VP of Engineering and Operations, Event 38. “This demo was an excellent opportunity for us to learn more about how the E455 operates in real-world scenarios and make some other modifications that will translate to a better user experience going forward.”
For more information, please visit www.event38.com.
Source: Event38
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