K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
Recent approval of beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operation in the Netherlands is a huge step forward for drone inspection activities across Europe.
The Percepto drone-in-a-box, which carries out checks of storage tanks, is designed to work autonomously, with operators ready to take over, if necessary, from a control room at a remote location. The system is pre-programmed for different inspection flights, and images and other data can be compared between one flight and another to see the change in the data and the imagery of the different tanks the drone is inspecting.
In the Netherlands, Percepto partners with Falcker, a Dutch company that specialises in tank inspections at Rotterdam, Amsterdam and other large ports. Falcker uses the Percepto system to autonomously inspect tanks to detect damage or maintenance issues that could spell trouble for the companies operating the tanks.
Being an autonomous system, Percepto needs approval to fly beyond the operator’s visual line of sight – something that is not allowed in the basic regulation and requires specific approvals. The good news is that this approval will make it easier to operate in similar situations elsewhere in Europe.
Over the past two years, Europe has shifted to a new regulatory framework led by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The goal is to harmonise the regulation throughout all EASA member states. The new rules will allow operators to work more freely across borders and in different countries on the continent.
The new regulatory framework makes it possible for operators to apply for complex BVLOS missions, possibly flying drones over people with different levels of risk. The framework includes all aspects of risk mitigation that need to be used in a mission to ensure safety. The regulator can then confidently approve a given operation, knowing that it belongs to a given class.
Percepto and Falcker recently went through the new approval process with ILT, the Dutch Civil Aviation Authority. “We submitted what we planned to do – the concept of the operations, what we wanted to do with the system and where we wanted to do it,” said Avi Lozowick, director of global policy and government Affairs at Percepto.
Continue reading: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252518409/Netherlands-approves-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-inspection-drones
The Percepto drone-in-a-box, which carries out checks of storage tanks, is designed to work autonomously, with operators ready to take over, if necessary, from a control room at a remote location. The system is pre-programmed for different inspection flights, and images and other data can be compared between one flight and another to see the change in the data and the imagery of the different tanks the drone is inspecting.
In the Netherlands, Percepto partners with Falcker, a Dutch company that specialises in tank inspections at Rotterdam, Amsterdam and other large ports. Falcker uses the Percepto system to autonomously inspect tanks to detect damage or maintenance issues that could spell trouble for the companies operating the tanks.
Being an autonomous system, Percepto needs approval to fly beyond the operator’s visual line of sight – something that is not allowed in the basic regulation and requires specific approvals. The good news is that this approval will make it easier to operate in similar situations elsewhere in Europe.
Over the past two years, Europe has shifted to a new regulatory framework led by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The goal is to harmonise the regulation throughout all EASA member states. The new rules will allow operators to work more freely across borders and in different countries on the continent.
The new regulatory framework makes it possible for operators to apply for complex BVLOS missions, possibly flying drones over people with different levels of risk. The framework includes all aspects of risk mitigation that need to be used in a mission to ensure safety. The regulator can then confidently approve a given operation, knowing that it belongs to a given class.
Percepto and Falcker recently went through the new approval process with ILT, the Dutch Civil Aviation Authority. “We submitted what we planned to do – the concept of the operations, what we wanted to do with the system and where we wanted to do it,” said Avi Lozowick, director of global policy and government Affairs at Percepto.
Continue reading: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252518409/Netherlands-approves-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-inspection-drones
