. has been selected to fly an extensive series of Beyond-Visual- Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) RPAS missions in support of Canadian Oil Sands operations. These missions will be undertaken within a safe flight regime approved and monitored by Transport Canada (TC) as part of the TC BVLOS Pilot Project in the summer of 2018.
“ING Robotic Aviation is excited to finally be able to demonstrate the power of the critical information that our Canadian designed, built, and operated RPAS can deliver to the Oil and Gas Sector through safe BVLOS flights – in Canada!”
said Ian Glenn, CEO/CTO ING Robotic Aviation Inc..
Range and endurance limited Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) have proven to be useful tools for very short-range missions. This pilot project will illustrate the utility and cost benefits of flying BVLOS-capable RPAS missions. These missions will be closely coordinated with the manned aviation community. ING has the experience and processes to conduct these operations safely. ING has accumulated over 36,000 hours of safely flying RPAS/UAVs across the globe – equivalent to having flown around the earth over 81 times. In June 2017, ING was the first drone company globally to conduct routine BVLOS operations from a major international airport in the Caribbean. ING will also soon be conducting BVLOS fish stock locating missions up to 100km offshore for a major Chilean fishing company.
Missions. ING Robotic Aviation has both rotary and fixed-wing proven BVLOS systems that they will employ. Each can carry a wide range of sensors (HD video, Infrared, Hyperspectral, Multispectral, LIDAR, RF Measurement, Methane Sensing, etc.) and will be configured to conduct the following operations:
- Leak detection of methane/Greenhouse Gases (GHG) with state-of-the-art sensors
- Inspections of tailings ponds including dyke integrity in visible and thermal spectra
- Inspection of the power grid including transmission lines, transformers, towers, etc.
- Environmental monitoring including wildlife monitoring
- Volumetric measurement of mining activity
- Examination of flare stacks and plant infrastructure in visible and thermal spectra
- Safety and security – including search and rescue
- Communications: LTE IoT data, remote tower inspection, RF propagation mapping
Location.
Canadian Oil Sands, Northern Alberta, Canada
BVLOS Technologies. ING Robotic Aviation will use this pilot project to test the latest in extended range BVLOS technology with its key sense and avoid capability partners; uAvionix, Fortem Technologies, Iris Automation, and Kongsberg Geospatial.
Source: Press Release