Commercial drones provider, DELAIR introduced its next-generation professional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for survey-grade photogrammetric mapping at INTERGEO 2017 held on September 26 in Berlin, Germany. The small fixed-wing UAV, UX11, combines a powerful integrated onboard system, industry-grade sensors, limitless communication range and PPK centimeter-level positioning.
The UX11 carries enough onboard computing power to access and process the pictures, and then send them to the operator in real-time. It will run automated quality checks on the images (such as blur detection or overlap checks) to help ensure the operator is acquiring quality data. Its redundant communications system includes a proprietary line of sight radio and 3G/4G connectivity between the ground control station and the UAV using a worldwide machine-to-machine pre-paid plan. Building on DELAIR's experience with beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations since 2012, the UX11 is ready for BVLOS flights with unlimited range and adds a new level of safety with this groundbreaking communication link.
The UX11 is lightweight, ultra-stable, and simple to hand-launch at takeoff and it lands precisely where planned using distance measuring technology. New user-friendly Android mission planning software boasts innovative features such as support for in-flight camera feedback and live data review. Made to help professionals in GIS, survey, and construction optimize area coverage per flight, it flies for 59 minutes with the best coverage and resolution specifications in its class for flights at 122 m (400 ft) altitude above ground level.
The UAV is a product offer for data acquisition which can be complemented by data processing and analytics software programs to address a range of commercial applications. The geospatial market will benefit from the ability to create 2D and 3D models and then generate elevation profiles, contour lines, slope qualifications and volumetric estimates with high accuracy and resolution using Post-Processed Kinematic (PPK) data and ground control points.
