9 minute read
Innovation
1Spatial has extended the capability of its survey application 1Edit, increasing support for photos and 2.5D data.
1Edit 3.1 allows users to attach feature photos, including automated geotagging, which enables surveyors to visualize assets and fine-tune their observations. The latest version now includes new validation functions and improved handling for heights (2.5D data), typically useful for detailed asset and land-management surveys.
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Enhanced styling, including bitmap fills and dashed lines, make it easier to identify and classify different asset types during surveys. Additional control of editable layers and fields provide protection for non-editable data and protects the quality of data. Significant improvements to rendering of thematic mapping further enhances the speed and fluidity of the intuitive user interface.
1Edit also now supports the storage of photographs as an attribute on a feature. The photos can be captured from the front or rear camera and are stored as a Label object. “1Edit’s new survey capabilities further expands our customers’ ability to collect trusted, validated data that is right first time,” said Robert Chell, chief product officer. “By increasing the number of validation options available during a survey, we improve both the quality and accuracy of data, and the effectiveness of survey processes.”
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in intelligent, multi-domain robotic systems, has introduced the Switchblade® 300 Sensor to Shooter Kit, a capability that enables operators to instantly transfer target coordinates from AeroVironment’s small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) – Puma™ 3 AE, Puma™ LE, Raven® B or Wasp® AE – to Switchblade 300 loitering missile systems.
“Sensor to Shooter maximizes the operator’s ability to see first, strike first, combining the superior intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities of AeroVironment’s SUAS with the precision strike capabilities of the Switchblade loitering missile system,” said Charles Dean, AeroVironment vice president for global business development and sales of UAS.
The Switchblade 300 Sensor to Shooter Kit includes everything needed to quickly update FalconView®, a multi-platform mapping and mission planning application, with the Sensor to Shooter (S2S) software on a ruggedized Windows® 10 laptop and connect to the included Pocket Digital Data Link (pDDL™). Using the software’s intuitive tap-to-target user interface, target coordinates are instantly transferred via machine-to-machine communication from the SUAS to the Switchblade 300 to create an automated mission plan and launch sequence with no chance of data entry error. assessment from the SUAS overwatch to reassess targets for follow-on or immediate re-attack strikes.
Upon launch, the Switchblade 300 can autonomously navigate to the designated coordinate position, allowing operators to scene match full-motion video downlink from both assets to ensure positive identification of the target. Once confirmed, operators can then engage the target with lethal effects and immediately capture the resulting battle damage “The Switchblade 300 Sensor to Shooter Kit builds on AeroVironment’s commitment to deliver innovative, streamlined interoperable solutions that elevate the warfighter’s situational awareness, reduce engagement timelines and cognitive load, and increase mission success and operational safety,” Dean added.
Top defence technology and contracting company EDGE unveiled swarming drones, its latest application for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), on the first day of the Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Conference (UMEX 2022), in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The swarming drones are based on the Hunter 2 series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) developed by HALCON. Designed to ensure a decisive edge in combat, the ground-launched drones fly in formation to perform a coordinated mission that can overwhelm an adversary.
Leveraging advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the tactical drones share information with one another to track and maintain their relative positions, and to effectively engage targets. Featuring a maximum take-off weight of 8kg, the swarm of drones are agile and responsive while being directed to their target, which may include enemy fighter jets on the tarmac at a military base, or an incoming convoy of enemy armoured vehicles, for example.
The winged UAVs can be deployed in a matter of seconds, featuring a wingspan of 1.44m and a length of 1.25m. Commenting on the addition of swarming drones to HALCON’s array of UAVs, CEO Saeed Al Mansoori said: “We see AI playing a critical role in the advancement of the defence sector and beyond, and EDGE and HALCON are determined to remain at the cuttingedge of these developments that are shaping our sector and the wider world, from our base in the UAE. The level of autonomy afforded by these swarming drones is a significant achievement for us, and we are committed to fast-tracking R&D investments in these domains to bring related products to market with speed in the areas of autonomous systems and smart munitions.”
UMEX is the only event in the Middle East dedicated to drones, robots, unmanned systems, and their components, and offers EDGE the opportunity to feature its state-of-the-art capabilities and solutions.
Esri Site Scan now supports DJI M300 drone, P1 mapping camera
Esri Site Scan Flight for ArcGIS, a popular cloudbased drone mapping software, has added support for the DJI Matrice 300 (M300) RTK drone with the Zenmuse P1 photogrammetry camera.
Calling DJI’s flagship enterprise aircraft “one of the most requested drones to add to the Flight app’s supported drones lineup,” spatial technology giant Esri confirms the development and testing for the products is now complete and that M300 RTK users can start using their drones in Site Scan Flight. DJI M300 RTK and Zenmuse P1 bundle The M300 RTK is DJI’s most rugged and reliable commercial drone platform. It comes packed with a ton of safety features that facilitate operations in the most challenging of weather conditions. Offering a flight time of up to 55 minutes, the drone is ideal for large, complex job sites that require greater transmission distance (up to 15 km or ~9 miles), speed (23 m/s or 51.5 mph), and advanced collision avoidance and obstacle detection systems.
The P1 payload, meanwhile, is designed specifically for photogrammetry missions. The full-frame camera gimbal captures high-resolution images at 45 MP, allowing users to fly higher and capture large areas faster, while still creating the same resolution outputs as before with lower resolution sensors.
Because of this faster drone flight speed, rapid shutter speed, and high-resolution camera, the M300 and P1 bundle can capture 250 acres in a single flight, delivering pinpoint survey accuracy.
Esri Site Scan for ArcGIS The Esri Site Scan solution encompasses flight planning, data capture, data processing, analysis, data sharing, and drone fleet management. It is offered as “Software as a Service” (SaaS) with unlimited storage and computing. With this solution, organizations involved in construction, engineering, utilities, natural resources, and government agencies can:
Plan and execute drone flights and manage flight data and metadata to support project requirements Manage their drone fleet to run safe and efficient drone operations Generate 2D and 3D mapping and analytics products from drone imagery Publish drone mapping products to ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, and Autodesk BIM 360 In addition to the newly added M300 RTK, Site Scan also supports several other DJI drones including the Matrice 200 series, Inspire 2, Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro, and the Phantom 4 Pro series.
Marinus Link, the company behind the proposed 1.5GW transmission link to the Australian mainland, has begun an underwater engineering survey of Bass Strait to determine the most suitable corridor for laying the project’s undersea cables.
The 87-metre long TEK Ocean Spirit departed the Port of Burnie over the weekend to begin the largest underwater engineering survey of Bass Strait, which will help to refine the final design and installation method for the proposed interconnector cable.
MMA Offshore won the $5.5 million contract to carry out critical engineering surveys last year, its TEK Ocean Spirit will take between four to six weeks to survey the 255-kilometres stretching between Heybridge in North West Tasmania and Waratah Bay in South Gippsland, Victoria.
The survey will take place over approximately 110 sites across Bass Straight in sea depths up to 80-metres.
“This survey builds on the results and analysis of previous surveys we have conducted,” said Sean Van Steel, offshore lead for Marinus Link. “The locations chosen to take samples have been selected to minimise the impact on the seabed floor, reefs and marine life.”
This is the third major marine survey for the $3.5 billion 1.5GW Marinus Link, and is designed to determine the most suitable corridor for the interconnector to take between Tasmania and Victoria, and is further proof of the company’s commitment to sensitively designing and building the connection.
“Marinus Link is key to Australia’s clean energy future – increasing reliability, placing downward pressure on electricity prices and cutting emissions by making the most of our high quality renewable energy resources,” said Bess Clark, CEO of Marinus Link.
The Marinus Link has passed a Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission (RIT-T) overseen by the independent Australian Energy Regulator (AER), and is included as an important part of the the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Integrated System Plan.
However, it does not have universal support. Many critics have been calling for the money to be redirected to building battery storage systems instead.
Currently, Tasmania’s aim to be the “battery of the nation” by connecting its huge renewable energy resources to the mainland, has the approval of the Morrison federal government. But a number of people have been calling for distributed battery storage to be developed across Victoria. There has also been opposition to a further build-out of massive wind projects and transmission lines in Tasmania from former Greens leaders Bob Brown and Christine Milne.
In November 2021, a new analysis suggested that Tasmania’s goal of becoming the ‘battery of the nation’ could be rendered obsolete, as the cost of big battery projects continues to plummet.
Meanwhile, the existing interconnector between Tasmania and the mainland National Electricity Market, Basslink, remains in troubled waters, after its commercial contract with the Tasmanian government and state-owned utility Hydro Tasmania was terminated, last week.
Tasmania energy minister Guy Barnett said on Thursday that the state government and Hydro Tas had taken “another step” towards protecting their legal rights, by cancelling the Basslink Services Agreement (BSA).
The move is the latest in a years-long dispute between the two parties, that started when the Tasmanian state government sued Basslink for damages over the long interconnector outage that hit the island in 2015.
Barnett said that the termination of the commercial contract would not affect the state’s energy security, which remained on “firm footing” thanks to strong hydro storage levels and the Cattle Hill and Granville Harbour wind farms.
The undersea cable, meanwhile, would remain in service while negotiations continued with Basslink’s administrators “on alternative commercial arrangements, suitable for the receivership period,” Barnett said.
