The technology behind how drones fly
As one of the leading commercial drone survey providers in Scotland, we operate a fleet of drone inspection vehicles ranging from aerial drones designed to cover large areas (ideal for agriculture, wind turbines and building inspection), specialist drones that can operate in confined spaces and indoor environments (such as internal pipelines, dangerous, high risk access locations) and underwater ROV (perfect for ship hull inspection, underwater pipeline inspection etc).
With our aerial drones, they form a large part of our service and whether through aerial outdoor drone surveys or indoor drone inspection work, we rely on them heavily. But when it comes to aerial drones, how do they fly?
VTOL Drones
Our aerial drones are what are known as VTOL – Vertical Take-off and Landing. This means that they have the ability to take off, fly, hover and land in a vertical position. We can use the flat bed of our Ford Ranger transport vehicle or a designated landing pad on site which acts as the return to home point for these drones.
Navigation
Our drones use either GNSS – Global Navigation Satellite Systems which is very similar to GPS and GLONASS which can operate in both non-satellite and satellite flight modes. This allows us to operate our drones with enhanced connection making them safer to operate. Vital when conducting aerial flights of flare stack, under oil platforms and through thick concrete in confined spaces.
The GNSS technology allows our drones to operate a ‘Return to Home’ function meaning that should the drone loose connection to the drone pilot or the satellites, it can safely follow a path and return to the landing point.
Flight
The propellers found fitted to commercial drones are what is known as fixed-pitch propellers.
The physics behind them is simple. The propeller blades spin through a motor which causes wind to be blown in a downward motion – causing lift. When the propellers spin at a fast enough RPM, it creates enough lift for the drone to take off and gain altitude. In the exact same way, when the propellers spin at a lower RPM, it causes the drone to loose altitude.
Find out more
At Balmore, our team of fully qualified drone pilots can provide visual indoor, outdoor and underwater drone surveys with HD video, thermal imaging and photography media. The significant cost and time savings of drone surveys means that they are a genuine alternative to conventional inspection methods and are fast becoming the number 1 method of conducting regular visual inspections on key assets , utilities and infrastructure.
To meet the growing demand for drone surveys, we are constantly expanding our fleet of aerial drones to meet our customers needs and offer the very best in drone services across Scotland and the North of England. If you would like to know more about our drones and the benefits that they can bring to your business, please contact our Glasgow head office today. We are happy to supply relevant case studies upon request and can arrange a demonstration of our drones capabilities in your business sector.
