ONE of the many of the solutions that CR Kennedy offers the mining industry are drone and UAV hardware, software and workflow solutions.

The company caters for clients who’re looking for entry-level photogrammetry (the building of auto mosaic images and 3D models from aerial images) right through to the top end users, and everything in between.

Survey-grade is the standard at CR Kennedy, and the company’s focus on accuracy and precision means that it is dedicated to finding the right drone for the right payload for the right job.

The company is also the exclusive dealer of the ground-breaking WingtraOne tail-sitting fixed-wing aerial survey drone.

The WingtraOne is the only fixed-wing Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) drone on the market, offering the nimbleness and versatility of a multi-rotor drone with the long-distance capability of a fixed-wing surveying drone.

CR Kennedy WA UAV sales manager, Graeme Carleton, said that the WingtraOne was able to cover up to eight times the ground of a multi-rotor drone of comparable size.

It also opens up areas that were previously inaccessible for fixed-wing drones because of the VTOL capabilities.

“It enables the user to operate from a small footprint,” Mr Carleton said.

“For a fixed-wing aircraft, you have to launch and land on large, open, cleared areas, but with the WingtraOne its just not necessary.”

Mr Carleton said that to launch a fixed wing aircraft, a pilot would need at least 100m for take-off and landing.

“Even with catapult and hand-launched fixed wings, and a belly land it can be very limiting,” he said.

“In some places your options can be very limited because with a traditional fixed-wing drone you have to take off into the wind, and you have to land into the wind as well.

“When you are flying on site, you might not have enough clearance in the right direction to land the drone.

“The terrain on mine sites is very unforgiving.

“You’re trying to land precision equipment at speed on rocky ground and typically what happens is the airframes get ruined pretty quickly – that’s the hard truth.”

 The technical stuff

Combining the long range of the fixed-wing drone with the VTOL capabilities of a multi-rotor was no small feat.

The WingtraOne uses elevons – a cross between ailerons and elevators – to control the roll and the pitch of the aircraft.

In combination with the thrust from the rotors and a sophisticated flight control program, the WingtraOne is able to transition from vertical to horizontal flight without adding any extra moving parts.

This means the WingtraOne is inherently more robust and reliable.

The complex algorithms that govern the flight controller kick into action after the pilot has completed a flight plan and pre-flight check list.

To launch, the drone is placed perpendicular to the wind and takes off on its tail, once it reaches transition height sensors detect and then face the wing into the wind to generate initial lift, and the elevons push the nose down to start horizontal flight.

The flight mission is completely automated from take-off to landing, meaning near-zero chance of human error.

Pilots can, however, assume control of the drone at any stage if there are safety reasons.

While there are two other options available, the payload that CR Kennedy sells with its WingtraOnes is a Sony 42mpxl camera Sony RX1R II.

The payload comes as a modular kit and can be easily swapped out by changing the payload bay, should the customer require a different solution from the drone.

Mr Carleton said that the outstanding resolution provided by the camera means the drone can fly higher and faster than many of its competitors.

“In the photogrammetry world, we talk about ground-sampling distance and that’s the distance between pixels, the distance between one pixel and another in the final image,” he said.

“The Sony RX1R II has enabled our clients to quote on bigger jobs, and to do more work than before because they are not limited by distance.”

Exclusive distributorship

When Wingtra approached CR Kennedy, Mr Carleton was keen to put the drone through its paces.

He and the sales team from Wingtra took the WingtraOne out to a WA location specially chosen because of its exposure to wind, heat, and another uniquely Australian variable – wedge tailed eagles.

The giant raptors are famous for attacking and destroying drones, especially fixed-wing drones, that can cost many thousands of dollars to repair and replace.

The drone passed the wind and head tests with flying colours, and the eagles showed little to no interest in it.

This has been put down to the bright orange colour.

Mr Carleton was especially impressed with the range that the drone could cover in a single mission – up to 200ha, which is nearly eight times longer than a multi-rotor drone of a similar capacity – this means that about 80 minutes of operator time could be saved on any given 200ha mission.

Shortly after testing the WingtraOne, CR Kennedy signed on to be the exclusive Australian distributor.

Mr Carleton said there were four of the drones in operation in WA.

“I’ve had three occasions in the goldfields where we’ve seen some really big, aggressive eagles and had no issues with them attacking the drone, they just left it alone,” he said.

“One mine in particular adopted it because of the amount of attacks they were getting from angry eagles.

“They had to change their system because of the sheer amount of drones they were losing, they lost about 12 to eagle attacks.

“But what they reported back was a massive increase in flight capabilities and far superior data accuracy and resolution to the system they were using previously.”

The future of drones and UAV

Drone technology is relatively new to the market, and constant innovation is seeing the price and size of high-powered cameras shrink, while the image resolution and quality constantly improves.

This means that the payloads equipped to drones and UAVs is becoming more diverse and advanced with every year.

Mr Carleton said that an area he is particularly excited about is the advances in 3D LiDAR capture capabilities in drones.

Lidar is an airborne laser scanner that builds a point cloud model, rather than collecting photos.

This provides raw data that is simplified and ultra-accurate.

The weight reduction and price drop in lidar tech means that much smaller drone systems will soon be able to carry these payloads, where previously a much larger unit would be required.

The WingtraOne is just one of the many offerings from CR Kennedy, and Mr Carleton said that he and his team would highly advise talking to someone about the nature of the work before purchasing a drone system.

“We encourage people to contact us and to let us know what their application is, so that we can best guide them to the right solution for the job,” he said.

Contact information:
Website: www.crkennedy.com.au
Email: gcarleton@crkennedy.com.au
Phone: 0408 619 740

The post The game-changer appeared first on The Australian Mining Review.

The largest of these divisions is the ‘survey division’ which distributes land surveying, construction, laser scanning, machine control, laser levelling and laser distance measuring equipment throughout the country.

CR Kennedy’s major distribution partnership for the survey division is with Leica-Geosystems, a Swiss organisation with more than 200 years of history.

The Leica Aibot sits quite significant within this UAV product offering.

Drones

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), or perhaps even the remotely piloted vehicle (RPV), are here to stay, and CR Kennedy has a range of multi rotor and fixed wing solutions for mapping, aerial photography, aerial inspections, mine mapping, LIDAR and real-time surveillance.

Combined with the various software packages, these solutions can produce high quality digital terrain models (DTMs), 3D models, point clouds, and orthographic photographs.

Laser scanning, LIDAR, is becoming more and more a viable option in the UAV world and CR Kennedy can offer various options if this level of detail, accuracy and delivery speed are required.

CR Kennedy’s UAV related product basket extends to such significant brands as Geocue PPK and LIDAR systems, Dji drones, Riegl LIDAR, Wingtra VTOL drone, Hovermap (SLAM) LIDAR, Pix4d software, Parazero recovery systems, Blue Vigil tethers and, as mentioned, the Leica Aibot.

It is the case that today, CR Kennedy is by far the largest distributor of drones in Australia. Through the various brands, including DJI, it currently delivers more than 1000 drones throughout Australia on a monthly basis – a number that is quite illuminating in regard to drone usage in Australia today.

UAV options

A Dji Phantom 4 RTK or Matrice 200 package, teamed with software and training, is often the starting place for many entering the UAV industry.

Considering the breadth of the DJI range, many required tasks can be completed by the various options within this family.

Things move very quickly in the UAV world and processes such as PPK (post processing Kinematic) are now commonplace.

These PPK systems are added to the drone in order to boost the accuracy potential and vastly reduce the reliance on multiple ground control points being needed in order to achieve acceptable accuracy.

Another excellent option is the Leica Aibot multi rotor system.

This PPK system utilises a high-end Sony camera and Ronin gimbal, combined with Leica GNSS technology and Leica Infinity software to provide a 100pc Leica work flow.

Moving beyond photogrammetry, Cr Kennedy can also offer various LIDAR solutions.

These include the SLAM-based Hovermap, the Geocue Trueview 410 or the Riegl Vux Mini LIDAR system.

These three options would all pair with the industry leading DJI M600 drone for a formidable solution.

Software

Pix4D software, exclusively distributed by CR Kennedy, generates high-end, survey-grade accurate orthomosaics, DSMs and Point clouds in a few clicks only, and with a fully automatic worfklow.

Quickly becoming the go-to software package, CR Kennedy can package Pix 4d into your UAV purchase or supply licensing as required.

Hexagon Geosystems and Leica also provide Infinity and 3D Reshaper software.

This is becoming more and more relevant with Infinity supporting the entire photogrammetry process through use of the Leica Aibot and, considering the Lidar options provided by CR Kennedy, 3D Reshaper is an excellent option for working with these point clouds.

Training and CASA qualifications

CR Kennedy partners with a variety of training providers around the country who can assist with licensing requirements.

All partners work closely with CASA and do work efficiently through the various processes to get organisations flying in as short a time frame as possible.

As with software, training can also be included in a UAV package.

CR Kennedy is very involved in providing CASA based training through its partnering with such industry leading companies as UAS Pacific and Aviassist.

Call 07 3862 6210 for more information, or visit the website:

https://survey.crkennedy.com.au/categories/_products/uav

The post Detailed drone surveys appeared first on The Australian Mining Review.

The system is the culmination of decades of expertise, and in conjunction with the custom magnetometer, is ideally suited for high-resolution magnetic surveys that are less than 2000 line km in size.

The custom-built hexacopter can fly autonomously at a range of 2km from the ground operator, and solves the significant safety risks associated with operating manned helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft at low altitudes.

The system can help to locate changes in rock types, and fault structures in the ground which provide critical information for mine operations and mine planning, such as dykes and coal operations.

Traditionally, collecting magnetic data over mine sites and exploration tenements involved two methods: a walking survey where the surveyor carries the magnetometer, or airborne surveys in a fixed wing aircraft or helicopter in a grid pattern.

Both of these methods have significant disadvantages associated with them, but these can be improved upon significantly with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Walked surveys are obviously quite slow.

The gear is heavy and cumbersome, and the terrain, temperature, accessibility and weather can all be prohibitively difficult for operators, amplified through the cost imposed by modern work, health and safety regulations which demand two operators working together on any one survey.

Helicopter and fixed wing aircraft do not have these problems; but they are far more expensive, and are limited to 40m above the ground for safety reasons.

This can be a severe impediment to the quality of data, as a magnetometer’s accuracy is dependent on its proximity to the ground.

UAVs provide the cost-effective, accurate, efficient solution to the problems of traditional magnetic surveys.

UAVs don’t have the same WHS operational requirements, and where a walked survey can cover about 15-20km per day, a UAV can cover 150-180km.

Where a helicopter cannot fly below 40m, UAVs can skim the ground at 10-15m with none of the operator hazards associated with manned aircraft.

This proximity to the ground gives the magnetometer a much larger amplitude and better responses than from a helicopter at 40m.

According to UAV Magnetics chief remote pilot Kyle Gardner, from a technical perspective, there are a number of advancements and factors that have led to the availability of high quality UAV surveys.

The first is that the UAV technology has advanced significantly in the past two years, with much of the technology filtering down from the military.

“Today, we operate large hybrid petrol-electric UAVs that have a payload capacity of up to 5kg, and an endurance of 90 minutes,” Mr Gardner said.

“These performance figures, together with advancements in the flight control, flight planning and data link technology, have only recently become available to the UAV industry.

“This means we can cover significant amounts of ground each flight, and our turnaround time is about 20 mins to refuel and upload a new flight plan.

“It’s quick and we’re not continually charging batteries.”

With a 25kg take-off weight and a hybrid petrol-electric setup, Mr Gardner is confident that UAV Magnetics’ custom hexacopter is competitive with, if not better than, most operational systems in the country.

With the petrol motor charging the batteries in-flight, the airborne insurance is extended to 90 minutes – significantly longer than a battery-powered drone.

Mr Gardner said that while it is new technology, it has been proven to be effective, and it is exponentially more efficient than both of the previous methods.

“We are proven against fixed wings and ground surveys,” he said.

“We are much more efficient at small to medium sized surveys, we fit nicely between the two and can provide very accurate data.

“We had only been flying flying for five minutes, and we had a supervisor with us and he said, ‘what you guys have done in five minutes would have taken me two hours’.”

UAV Magnetics chief geophysicist Anton Rada said that the second component in the survey, the magnetometer, had been refined and customised by UAV Magnetics through the data acquisition system (DAS).

The company’s specialised proprietary miniaturised acquisition system and sensor has been specifically designed for use with UAV’s.

“The traditional magnetometers are very heavy and bulky,” he said.

“Over the past four years we have continued to stay ahead of the curve, to stay in front of the new emerging technologies, and we have become a world leader in UAV magnetic surveys.

“UAV Magnetics is focused on providing the best data quality to ensure the client gets the best information and results, and I am yet to find an operator who can provide data that competes with ours.”

The data collected is used to determine the sub-surface structures, and to discriminate between the various rock types and geology beneath the surface.

Mr Rada said that this system has been the point of difference for the company, and that it had been overlooked by new players in the industry.

“We’ve seen a few guys coming into the market, and they have been developing their own systems, but we haven’t seen any of their data,” he said.

“We have seen some new start-ups and there are a lot of promises being made without a lot of delivery.

“Flying the UAV is perhaps the easiest part of the operation, and that is what people don’t understand.

“There is a bigger picture and people don’t see it: it’s the flight planning, the navigation, flying correctly to collect high-quality data.

“It’s not just the drone, it takes a lot to refine the processes and develop a system to the point that we have refined ours.”

Reflecting on the future of the industry, Mr Rada was excited about the advancements to come, and positive about the state of affairs as they are.

“The UAV Magnetic survey has proven that it can acquire superior data safely and economically,” he said.

“The future contains many ongoing refinements and improvements which will allow surveys to continue to be larger and more efficient, and even more automated.

“Major advancements are coming in the areas of longer range data links with more redundancy, higher endurance and payload UAVs, flying beyond line of sight, automated collision avoidance and advancements in sensor technology.”

More information:

Call: 0417 448 153
Email: anton@uavmag.com.au
Visit: www.uavmag.com.au

The post Seeing the bigger picture appeared first on The Australian Mining Review.

It is rare that a single platform can do everything.

Skyline UAV has developed Skyhawke, a Y6 coaxial tricopter, as a solution to some of the problems it had found with its existing fleet of single rotor machines.

The software, much of which was produced in Europe, lacked certain features and controls such as the ability to create survey patterns and automated payload controls, and the aftersales support could take weeks or even months for a machine to be returned, which was costly not just for the price of repairs, but in lost downtime.

Skyline UAV has taken the firsthand experience with these problems and built a fully customisable solution right here in Australia – Skyhawke.

The build

Skyline UAV used its extensive knowledge of, and many years working with, UAV technology to design and build Skyhawke 100pc in-house.

The process began with several known parameters and was then fleshed out in CAD.

A smaller prototype aircraft was built from low cost materials in order to test the concepts and to identify any weaknesses or potential improvements.

After testing, the final CAD files were prepared for a full carbon frame construction.

The multi-rotor frame was chosen because if offers several advantages over single-rotor helicopters.

Firstly, they are cost-effective. Single rotor helicopters require complex control and drive systems which makes them very expensive to produce, and to operate.

Secondly, the multi-rotor aircraft have much fewer moving parts and so they are much more accessible, easier to maintain, and less likely to suffer from control failures due to fatigue and improper setup.

Thirdly, multi-rotor aircraft have a certain level of motor redundancy built in, which improves flight safety and makes them safer for use in high-risk environments.

Last, but certainly not least, multi-rotors were selected for ease of operation and the ability to hover and to move equally well in any direction, regardless of which direction the nose is facing – which makes them particularly useful for survey and inspection tasks.

Electric motors were chosen over fossil fuel motors for two reasons.

Firstly, they have no internal moving parts – this makes them virtually maintenance-free for their service life.

Secondly, they can operate in areas where the use of fossil fuel combustion engines is not viable – whether that is because it is too noisy, too remote, or too dangerous.

Endurance is always the trade-off with electric motors. Skyline UAV’s chief remote pilot, Mike Walters, says that most of the figures quoted by UAV companies are unrealistic, as they are based on zero payload, and using 100pc battery capacity in perfect operating conditions.

“Weight, temperature, wind, humidity, elevation, battery condition, etc, will all impact endurance,” he said.

“As such, we have tried to obtain realistic data for the Skyhawke and continue to update our information over time.

“Skyhawke, with a moderate payload under normal operating conditions can stay aloft for 20-30 minutes.

“This is comparable with the real-world performance of other aircraft in its class.

“However, by using off-the-shelf lithium polymer batteries we can use multiple configurations to achieve different performance.”

Skyhawke can also be built to full custom specifications, due to the in-house capabilities of the Skyline team.

Whether it is as simple as integrating different payloads into the build, or as complex as completely re-sizing the aircraft for different power systems and performance, Skyline has CNC and 3D printing machines on site that can quickly prototype and manufacture new components for any number of applications.

To resolve the software incompatibility problems, Skyline opted for the Pixhawk flight controller, which runs open source software.

This means that Skyline has access to the massive community of developers who are constantly updating and innovating, as well as providing timely support and a lively product development cycle.

For Skyline, the main purpose of the smaller Skyhawke MR6 was as a survey platform that was fitted with a FLIR Duo Pro R camera package.

The larger Skyhawke XL has been used as a precision lifting platform, and has also been configured to carry Skyline’s Infernus aerial incendiary unit.

Skyhawke MR6

System Specifications

• Aircraft size (excluding props): 826x902x303mm
• Aircraft size (folded): 335x902x303mm
• Propeller size: 458x140mm (18×5.5 inch) 2-blade
• Max take-off weight: 10kg
• Max useful payload: 3kg
• Flight battery: 22.2v (6S) 16000 LiPo
• Endurance: 20 minutes depending on battery and payload configuration
• Max wind gusts: 10m/s (20kts) any direction
• Max range: Variable depending on C2 link used

The Skyhawke MR6 is currently fitted with the FLIR DUO Pro R camera package for thermal/visual animal surveillance.

Skyhawke XL

System Specifications

• Aircraft size (excluding props): 1289x1403x429mm
• Aircraft size (folded): 447x1403x429mm
• Propeller size: 762x266mm (30×10 inch) 2-blade
• Max take-off weight: 36kg
• Max useful payload: 14-16kg (depending on batteries)
• Flight battery: 44.4v (12S) 22000-44000mah LiPo
• Avionics battery: 11.1v (3S) 1000mah LiPo dual pack
• Endurance: 30 minutes depending on battery/payload configuration
• Max wind gusts: 10m/s (20kts) any direction
• Max range: Variable depending on C2 link used

Put to the test

Skyline UAV was recently engaged to assist with the replacement of a power cable between two electricity pylons in a remote, densely forested area.

The pylons were 300m apart, with 120m of vertical separation between them – you can see the image in Skyline’s advertisement on this page.

Skyline elected to use the Skyhawke XL as it was easily capable of lifting the cable leader and could be transported to site in a 4wd with minimal ground support equipment.

The lift was carried out at first light in cold and windier conditions than expected, however the aircraft was still able to complete the job with an impressive level of precision and stability.

The cable was placed with great accuracy and the client was able to achieve a successful outcome as a result, and with considerably less risk and cost than if a manned aircraft had been used.

Due to the heavy tree canopy and steep slope, the company did encounter some difficulty with visibility and data telemetry.

As a result, it has identified a need to always place the ground station at the lowest elevation, and will be working with Helicopter Lifting Services (another Skyline company) to identify how full-size procedures can be adapted to UAV with regards to ground crew and communication.

More information:

Phone: (02) 4945 1491

Email: skyhawke@skylineaviation.com.au

Website: www.skylineuav.com.au

The post The skies the limit appeared first on The Australian Mining Review.