Tag Archive for: Surveying

Event 38 Unmanned Systems Teams Up with AviSight in Selecting Elsight’s BVLOS Connectivity Solution

Elsight’s BVLOS Connectivity Solution: Achieving Precise Data Collection

Event 38 Unmanned Systems Teams Up with AviSight in Selecting Elsight’s BVLOS Connectivity Solution to Achieve Precise Data Collection in its Oil and Gas Pipeline Inspections over Difficult Terrain

June 13, 2024 – Leading manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles Event 38 and AviSight, a provider of critical infrastructure inspections, announced the use of Elsight’s Halo, an AI- based UAV connectivity solution, to enable beyond the visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) inspections with precise data collection in extensive oil and gas pipeline inspections over difficult terrain.

At the heart of this collaboration is Elsight’s Halo, a lightweight, highly reliable communications system. Halo’s AI-based software aggregates multiple IP links to a secure bond using public and private cellular, satellite, and RF technologies ensuring uninterrupted drone communications even in the most challenging environments. Whether it’s disaster response, surveillance, deliveries or lengthy remote inspections, UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) flights powered by the Elsight Halo complete the mission with continuous transmission of high-bandwidth video and data to the command-and-control center (C2).

When facing the operational and economic challenges of data collection from major pipelines, AviSight’s CEO, Suzanne Herring, was quite rigorous in her selection of the optimal VTOL drone and the BVLOS connectivity solution for these missions and required connectivity with the highest bandwidth, lowest latency, highest redundancy, and of course, the most reliable link.

“AviSight’s reputation is dependent on our ability to provide accurate, timely and consistently critical infrastructure inspections through the use of unmanned ariel systems in a cost-effective manner. In a technology market that is rapidly developing, it is essential to remain innovative in our systems methodology while also embodying the challenges of an efficient execution of the mission. With C2 linkage being a primary priority for our BVLOS missions, it was essential to find a partner with the capabilities to maintain communications throughout our volatile terrains. Elsight has provided us with the ability to maintain C2 through vast wetlands, mountainous regions, and remote areas. While Event 38’s E455 has given us the ability to fly extensive linear inspections efficiently and more cost effectively,” said CEO of AviSight, Suzanne Herring

“We sought the right combination to maintain command and control over more than 2,000 miles of pipeline inspections in a variety of terrains. Event 38 and Elsight enabled us to overcome terrain and distance challenges and provide precise data to our customers ensuring their regulatory compliance,” added Herring

Event 38 Unmanned Systems latest VTOL, the E455 is a premier fixed wing, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone. At just under 55lbs, the E455 offers a 2 hour flight endurance on battery power alone. The E455 is designed to carry a diverse range of payloads, including mapping sensors, LiDAR, and EO/IR surveillance sensors, meeting the strict demands of various applications such as lengthy pipeline inspections.

“The high bandwidth and low power usage of the Elsight Halo paired with the E455 open endless possibilities of inspections over long distances and rugged terrain that were not possible previously,” said Jeff Taylor, CEO of Event 38 Unmanned Systems. “Our E455 VTOL was able to get closer to the pipelines with the help of Elsight.

“Working with Event 38 and AviSight has been very fulfilling from both technological and business perspectives. Our Halo was designed for mission-critical goals, particularly, in difficult situations,” said Yoav Amitai, CEO of Elsight. “Elsight optimizes the use of drones in many industries with reliable BVLOS connectivity for operational effectiveness. At the same time, we enable industry growth by using only one operator to control a drone fleet from remote locations anywhere. This is how we see our Halo as a market catalyst for drones in pipelines, and inspections in many industries, in which removing the human element delivers better and safer results.

About AviSight

AviSight provides industrial inspections of critical infrastructure and advanced data solutions for regulatory compliance, asset management, and predictive maintenance. We work with fortune one hundred partners in all verticals of critical infrastructure including Power, Gas, Oil, Telecom, and Transportation. Our mission is to create a generational paradigm shift in data collection and actionability that increases safety exponentially while achieving significant cost savings for our clients. We have been working with our partners and customers on legislative activity and regulatory expansion to ensure the ability to create BVLOS programs that will help take inspections into the 21st century.

About Event 38 Unmanned Systems

Established in 2011 and with customers all over the world, Event 38 Unmanned Systems is a leading provider of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Our customers use their drones in diverse fields including Security, Surveying, and Environmental Conservation. Our hybrid fixed wing VTOL aircraft offer an extended endurance capability for covering dozens of miles or hundreds of acres. With a variety of payload options and customizable solutions available, our aircraft collect thermal, multispectral and high-resolution imagery and with centimeter-level geotagging accuracy.

About Elsight

Elsight (ASX:ELS) Elsight delivers Connection Confidence with proprietary bonding connectivity that incorporates both software and hardware elements to deliver reliable, secure, high bandwidth communications – even in the most challenging areas for stationary, portable, or actively mobile situational requirements. Elsight provides robust, secured connectivity to unmanned aerial and ground systems manufacturers, operators, and integrators globally.

Intellishoot L1L2 PPK Geotagging System Now Available

The Intellishoot L1L2 PPK Geotagging System is now available as a stand-alone module for integration with Event 38, Pixhawk and DJI powered unmanned aircraft. This PPK GPS system is built in-house by Event 38 and is powered by the Piksi Multi core. Currently, it supports GPS L1/L2C, Glonass G1/G2 and SBAS. It is hardware ready for Galileo E1/E5b, BeiDou B1/B2, and QZSS L1/L2 via firmware update in the future. The primary advantages of working with a dual frequency setup are a faster time to fix, more reliable fix holding, and single solution post-processing. By using two frequencies from each satellite, dual frequency receivers are able to more quickly determine ionospheric conditions and calculate a high accuracy fix faster. This also allows them to recover from a loss of fix and pick up new satellites as they come into view more quickly. With single frequency PPK, there can be multiple solutions produced when post-processing the GPS data. This means that the solution can be affected by, for example, where in the GPS string you clip the data to start and stop processing. L1L2 produces only a single solution, making post-processing easier and more consistent.

The accuracy produced by an L1L2 system in good conditions is typically not higher than with an L1-only system. However, in marginal conditions where a Q1 solution may be intermittently lost, L1L2 is better at maintaining Q1 solutions for longer and re-acquiring them more quickly when lost. In our case study, we produced results with horizontal and vertical RMSE of 2.82cm and 3.62cm respectively from 100m AGL flying height. To learn more, see the full case study.

The Intellishoot System from Event 38 consists of an enclosed module with external GPS antenna and precision geotagging softare which extracts event markers from the RINEX file and performs additional adjustments to the geotags to improve accuracy depending on the parameters of your sensor and setup. Systems are available for purchase both individually and for integration with Event 38 aircraft. Please contact us for further information.

PPK GPS Now Available

PPK GPS receivers are now available for integration with the E384/6 family of aircraft. See how the accuracy stacks up in our comprehensive case study.

Learn more about upgrading or adding PPK to a new aircraft.