Unmanned Aerial - Drone News

Utilities – Page 3

General Electric Has a New Drone in the Works: the Raven

Posted by Betsy Lillian on October 05, 2016

GE has unveiled a prototype drone designed to help reduce environmental impact and improve operational efficiency in the oil and gas industry.

Texas Utility Brings in UAVs, Image-Pattern Software for Inspections

Posted by Betsy Lillian on October 05, 2016

Austin Energy – a publicly owned electric utility and a department of the City of Austin, Texas – is using drones in a research project to test image-pattern recognition software to detect worn and damaged equipment. The unmanned aerial vehicles [Read More]

Hawaii Utilities Say Aloha to Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Posted by Betsy Lillian on October 03, 2016

The Hawaiian Electric Cos. have begun to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for a variety of inspections, including for storm response. The Hawaiian Electric Cos. – Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light – provide electricity for 95% of [Read More]

Artificial Intelligence-Powered Drone Could Bring Autonomy to ‘Next Level’

Posted by Betsy Lillian on September 29, 2016

An automated inspection by an intelligent drone with deep-learning capabilities was demonstrated today by Aerialtronics, a Dutch unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) manufacturer; Neurala, a creator of deep-learning software; and NVIDIA, a creator of GPU-accelerated computing. Taking place at the GPU [Read More]

Sacramento Municipal Utility District Goes With UAVs

Posted by Betsy Lillian on September 28, 2016

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in California is partnering with PrecisionHawk to acquire aerial imagery for routine maintenance in monitoring and analyzing electric overhead transmission facilities and vegetation along rights-of-way in Sacramento and El Dorado counties. At yesterday’s demonstration, [Read More]

Lufthansa Forms UAS Partnership with Wind Power Company

Posted by Betsy Lillian on September 23, 2016

The Nordex Group, a German wind turbine manufacturer, has formed a partnership with Lufthansa Aerial Services (LAS) for unmanned aircraft system (UAS)-supported inspections of wind turbines. According to Nordex, an important part of the technology is being able to conduct [Read More]

SkySpecs Holding Drone Inspection Demo at Wind Energy Event

Posted by Betsy Lillian on September 06, 2016

Want to see drones in action for wind turbine inspections? SkySpecs will be demonstrating its automated drone technology at the upcoming Wind Energy Expo/WindEurope Summit in Hamburg, Germany. Taking place on Sept. 28 at 2 p.m., the invitation-only demo will [Read More]

Kentucky UAS Services Company Cleared for Night Flying

Posted by Betsy Lillian on September 02, 2016

Lexington, Ky.-based Unmanned Services Inc. (USI) has inked a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration for nighttime drone flights. By being able to operate at night, USI says it can provide enhanced services to clients and communities: e.g., infrared search-and-rescue [Read More]

3DR Drones Being Brought in for Queensland’s Storm Season

Posted by Betsy Lillian on August 30, 2016

Australian telecommunications company Telstra will be using drones to help restore mobile services in disaster-hit communities in northern Queensland this coming storm season. Telstra’s CEO, Andrew Penn, and group managing director of networks, Mike Wright, witnessed the drones’ capabilities in [Read More]

Ann Arbor Drone Company Inks Federal Grant for Turbine Inspection Research

Posted by Betsy Lillian on August 24, 2016

SkySpecs, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based provider of autonomous drones for the inspection of wind turbines, has received a small-business voucher (SBV) from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) office of energy efficiency and renewable energy, according to an announcement from [Read More]