Drones Dominated the Geo Week ‘24 Floor
Geo Week distinguishes itself because the leading event fostering improved cooperation amongst specialists within the built environment, advanced airborne/terrestrial technologies and enthusiasts of economic 3D technology. The event originated in response to the evolving needs of pros within the built world and geospatial domains and continues as an instance the evolutionary integration of a wide range of technologies. Across the nearly 200 top firms and organizations within the industry showcased this yr’s expo hall, drones stood on the epicenter. Need to know which drones geospatial professionals use as their go-tos? Take a look at this overview of the drones that dominated on the Geo Week floor.
WISPR Systems – SkyScout
At Geo Week, WISPR introduced its recent revolutionary SkyScout drone. Boasting a powerful flight time of 26-Half-hour with smart and plane-safe hot-swappable batteries that enable uninterrupted operations, the corporate equipped this high resolution mapping drone with a failsafe feature that triggers at 25% battery level for enhanced safety and reliability. Additive to its endurance profile, the SkyScout weighs in at only 4.7 lbs. This compact form factor makes for simple portability and effortless transport to almost any location. This drone combines intelligence into this sleek design. With Here4 and HerePro GNSS antenna options, it offers precise RTK and PPK geotagging capabilities that ensure accurate data collection. The SkyScout drone also provides versatility with multiple payload options that allow for its use across a big selection of aerial missions reminiscent of the WISPR 24MP Mapper, the corporate’s cutting-edge imaging solution.
Microdrones – The EasyOne
Microdrones unveiled its latest offering at Geo Week, the EasyOne, its most advanced LiDAR drone surveying equipment yet. A number of distributors, like Colorado-based Vectors Inc., featured this compact drone crafted for survey-grade tasks, this one is chock stuffed with cutting-edge features and cutting-edge 4th-generation drone technology. For instance, it comes with a “Real Time Terrain Follow” function for heightened precision and seamless integration with Microdrones’ LP360 software for accurate LiDAR data processing. This drone suits diverse applications and simplifies the whole strategy of planning, flying, collecting, processing, and visualizing your geospatial data projects. Users may also benefit from the convenience of acquiring the whole system, consisting of the drone, payload, controller, and battery, all inside a single, compact 35 pound package.
Wingtra – WingtraOne Gen II
The distinctive features of the autonomous eVTOL fixed-wing WingtraOne GEN II mapping drone include its ability to fly at a speed of 16 m/s (36 mph) for as much as 59 minutes per flight, allowing for extensive coverage of enormous areas. The system features easy-to-swap payloads covering the whole range of a typical project workflow, including oblique and a high-efficiency 61 MP camera. With its onboard high-precision PPK GNSS receiver, the WingtraOne enables capture of more accurate location information per picture, across large coverage areas per flight. This drone also boasts data collection hurries up to 11 times faster than multicopter drones and as much as twice as fast as standard fixed-wing drones. At Geo Week, Wingtra announced the launch of its recent Wingtra LiDAR drone payload, which provides users with a complete solution—from site planning right through to management and maintenance. Through the mixing of leading-edge components reminiscent of a top-tier Hesai scanner, Inertial Labs IMU, and NovAtel GNSS, this LIDAR package diminishes the need for labor-intensive post-processing strip alignment and streamlines field operations with one-minute push-button calibration and initialization. With its user-friendly app and automatic features, Wingtra LIDAR echoes a key Wingtra objective of creating data capture easy, even for beginners. In truth, it saves a minimum of 1 hour per survey in comparison with other similar systems.
Quantum Systems – Trinity Pro
Quantum Systems’ globally proven eVTOL mapping solution, the Trinity Pro, provides a dependable, user-friendly and secure platform for aerial data collection. Introduced to the market in 2018, users have logged in greater than 75,000 flight hours with this drone on a worldwide scale. Given the corporate’s work with the U.S. Department of Defense and other militaries, the Trinity Pro includes advanced capabilities reminiscent of a cutting-edge autopilot (the Quantum-Skynode) with an onboard Linux mission computer, expanded internal storage, enhanced connectivity and readiness for downstream AI applications.
On the show, the corporate also introduced its next-gen LiDAR Scanner, the Qube 640. In accordance with Claudia Steinhoff Head of Corporate Communications & Marketing for Quantum Systems (live from the Geo Week floor), “Paired with our Trinity Pro fixed-wing eVTOL, that is essentially the most efficient drone-based LiDAR system out there. Quantum Systems is committed to bring innovative technology to aerial surveyors and enhance decision making in quite a lot of industries, including the U.S. DoD.”
Skyfront – Perimeter 8+
Skyfront’s Perimeter 8+, a big fuel-injected hybrid long endurance drone, boasts impressive capabilities. The corporate showcased its much more enhanced capabilities. Now able to accommodating payloads exceeding 11 kilos (5 kilograms) for 2-3 hours, this drone supports various form aspects, including LiDAR units, visual and thermal cameras, and other equipment. With no payload, the Perimeter 8+ has an overall flight endurance of over 5 hours. Its video and control range spans 60 miles (or 100 kilometers). Optional drone add-ons include: GPS jamming defense and data link anti-jamming capabilities to operate in GNSS/GPS and communication-denied areas; hot weather operation features for extreme environments with temperatures reaching as much as 50°C; command and control (C2) handoff capability; navigational RTK GNSS systems for centimeter-level accuracy; lively terrain following with lively RADAR altimeters to take care of precise altitude above ground level; and battery-only flight time options for prolonged reserve flight times. With a setup time of lower than 5 minutes, this easy-to-use hybrid drone’s combination of heavy-lifting capability and prolonged endurance significantly cuts down field time from days to hours, across quite a lot of tasks and applications.
Harris Aerial – Carrier H6
Harris Aerial featured its Carrier H6 family of drones, a high-capacity hexacopter that is available in multiple configurations all popular for LiDAR surveying, photogrammetry, utility inspections, large corridor mapping, surveillance and more. This adaptable platform supports three power formats: gasoline, hydrogen-electric (Hydrone) and fully electric.The corporate’s Carrier H6 Hybrid Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) configuration is powered by a 2-stroke gasoline H2400EFI generator that may sustain flights of as much as 2.5 hours with a 5kg payload. The Carrier H6 Electric features an revolutionary battery rack system and is powered by advanced lithium polymer smart 12S1P 16,000 mAh Lithium Polymer batteries, enabling it to deliver flight times of as much as 48 minutes. The Carrier H6 Hydrone with Phoenix LiDAR Option, the corporate’s latest hybrid electric drone, includes a hydrogen fuel cell power source: Intelligent Energy’s 2.4kw FCPM. It will probably fly for as much as 2.5 hours with a beneficial 3kg payload or as much as 1.5 hours with a maximum 5kg payload. Harris Aerial’s versatile Carrier platforms will support various payloads, including scientific-grade sensors like multispectral cameras, skilled DSLRs for cinematography, and LiDAR. And all three of those drones can seamlessly adapt with any of the Carrier H6 power formats in only minutes.
FreeFly Systems – AltaX and Astro
Frontier Precision, the pre-eminent reseller – distributor serving survey, mapping, engineering, construction, GIS professionals throughout the western U.S., had several drones (and other robots, and LiDARs and the “Spot” Q-UGV etc.) of their booth at Geo Week. Amongst these, the corporate featured FreeFly Systems’ AltaX and Astro. The AltaXdrone operates using just two batteries that deliver as much as 50 minutes of flight time with no payload and 22 minutes with a 20-pound payload. Its other impressive features include: a max payload capability of 35 kilos; quick-release payload mounting system; adjustable Vibration Isolation options; Long Range Data link; extensive accessory ecosystem; 33-inch vibration-minimizing blades (ActiveBlade technology); quick-folding capability (it folds to half its size with one-finger folding!); and versatile software stack equally (Auterion Enterprise PX4, supporting the MAVSDK).
The Astro is FreeFly’s more compact industrial drone. Featuring flight durations of 37 minutes with no payload and as much as 25 minutes with a 1.5kg payload, this platform is outfitted with RTK capability, a 61-megapixel Sony camera, LTE cloud connectivity, a mission computer and extra advanced features. This drone also folds to 16” x 16” x 6” for ease of transport.
![Skydio x10 Trimble, Skydio Trimble, Skydio Top Drone Manufacturers](https://dronelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Skydio-X10-Payload_v3_black-300x157.jpg)
Enterprise version of Skydio X10
Skydio – X10
Frontier Precision also hosted Skydio’s X10. With superior megapixels and enhanced optics in comparison with drones of comparable dimensions, the Skydio X10 showcases high-resolution visual and radiometric cameras housed inside a modular sensor package. This AI-enabled smart drone uses an revolutionary Spatial AI Engine which intuitively detects and comprehends the objects being scanned to seamlessly generate 2D maps and 3D models directly onboard, in real-time – all while getting smarter over time. Alternatively, surveying and mapping users also can export data to platforms like Pix4D, Bentley iTwin Capture, DroneDeploy, or ESRI SiteScan for further evaluation and visualization. Users also can integrate the X10 with the Skydio 3D Scan™ App to create digital twins, whether indoors or outdoors. Supported by an onboard NVIDIA Jetson Orin GPU, the X10 utilizes unparalleled computational capabilities to make instantaneous decisions. With six specially crafted navigation lenses offering complete 360-degree visibility, the X10 eradicates navigational blind spots in any setting.
Inspired Flight – IF800 Tomcat
Inspired Flight’s IF800 Tomcat medium lift drone comes equipped with impressive capabilities for prolonged mapping and surveying aerial operations. With a maximum flight time of 54 minutes, it may well carry a maximum payload capability of 6.6 kilos while accommodating various payloads for diverse applications. With a top speed of 49 miles per hour and a maximum wind resistance of 23 knots, the IF800 Tomcat delivers swift and stable performance even in difficult conditions. It provides a collection of pre-integrated payloads, including optical, EO/IR and LiDAR, all tailored to individual industries. For LiDAR operators, this platform is thought for its stability, and minimal vibration characteristics ideal for these delicate payloads. For photogrammetry, the Tomcat robotically embeds geotagged metadata onto images and camera SD cards in addition to supports an optional RTK/PPK module for mapping and surveying accuracy all the way down to centimeter-level precision.
To make sure, Geo Week featured other drones and tech not described here. The boundaries of geospatial technologies and their myriad applications extend well beyond drones within the sky. Corporations offer services that use equipment and vehicles that traverse the land and water – including subsurface – all equipped with a wide range of advanced sensors and software. This seamless integration of high-tech tools has simplified critical geospatial data acquisition and utilization like never before. Even so, drones absolutely dominated the show floor this yr…and can undoubtedly proceed to soar in the sector.
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