Drone Inspection

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Nov 10

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Skyways V2 hybrid VTOL drone flying over the sea toward a low sun, with clouds behind it

Drone Inspection · FAA

FAA Clears First Coast-to-Gulf BVLOS Flight for Skyways and Shell

The FAA cleared Skyways to fly its V2 drone from Shell's Gibson, Louisiana facility to a Gulf platform under a Section 927 waiver, not Part 108.

Haye KestelooNov 104 min read

SkyeBrowse Roof Damage Analysis panel beside a 3D model of a commercial building, its roof outlined in purple facets with pitch and area labels

Drone Software

SkyeBrowse Measures a Roof and Flags Hail Hits From One Drone Flight

SkyeBrowse's Roof Damage Analysis outlines every facet, reports squares and pitch, pins hail hits with AI and pulls NOAA storm data from one drone flight.

Haye KestelooNov 5

Brown ceramic insulator on a wooden utility pole, outlined by a blue box labeled Flashed Insulator, with a power line wrapped across its top

Percepto

Percepto Opens Its Inspection AI to Rival Drones Under a New CEO

Percepto's Axion sells its inspection AI as software for other makers' drones and sensors, under new CEO Julien Bellanger. Its own drones stay.

Haye KestelooOct 27

Skydio

Skydio: Dominion Adds 100 Docked Drones and Turns Linemen Into Pilots

Dominion Energy added 100 Skydio docked drones, says Adam Bry. Dominion says they save 8 to 12 hours per event and open pilot jobs for linemen.

Haye KestelooOct 16

White Airspection VTOL drone with wings and a tail rotor flying over a sandy beach with a row of offshore wind turbines on the horizon

BVLOS

Airspection Drone Skips the Boat on BVLOS Run to UK Wind Farm

Glasgow's Airspection flew a shore-launched drone 8.7 miles round trip to a Liverpool Bay wind farm beyond line of sight in the UK CAA's BVLOS sandbox.

Haye KestelooOct 6

United States

After Lahaina, Hawaiian Electric Bets on Drone Inspections

Two and a half years after a downed power line sparked the fire that killed 102 people and erased most of Lahaina, Hawaiian Electric is flying drones over every island it serves, as Maui News reported. The utility has contracted three separate inspection firms across Maui County, Molokai, the Big Island, and Oahu, all targeting…

Rafael SuárezApr 29

DJI

Donecle’s €10M Inspection Drone Raise Meets America’s Aircraft Mechanic Shortage

Donecle raised €10M for inspection drones two weeks before WSJ reported America's aviation mechanic shortage. The two stories explain each other.

Haye KestelooApr 27

Skydio

SWEPCO Sends Skydio X10 Drones to Scout Power Lines in East Texas

East Texas utility SWEPCO has a new way to find the branches that will kill your power before they actually do it. The drones are already flying. The Problem With Trees and Power Lines Vegetation management is the unglamorous backbone of electric utility reliability. Branches grow. Trees lean. Storms push limbs into conductors and the…

Rafael SuárezMar 17

Drone Inspection

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