We are very pleased with the performance of SwissDrones’ SDO 50 unmanned helicopter platform that has been successfully deployed for the first ever BVLOS missions of heavy drones above 25kg of take-off weight in Belgium in 2021. These missions included individual flights over more than 100km distance to inspect our powerlines. A platform like SwissDrones’ SDO 50 will be instrumental in supporting the digital transformation of powerline inspections in the coming years.
We have been successfully operating SwissDrones’ SDO 50 uncrewed helicopters over multiple years for various research projects as part of our comprehensive Autonomous Rotorcraft Testbed for Intelligent Systems (ARTIS) facility – we call the platform superARTIS. It serves as a testbed for various instruments and technologies and components for autonomous flight and is capable of flying beyond visual range, has a high payload capacity and is easily modified.
The team of SwissDrones made the highest unmanned multispectral sensor survey possible using the Leica RCD30. Heavy payload and hot conditions in Malaysia proved to be no issue for the SDO 50. We received great support from the team and experienced high product reliability.
We partnered with SwissDrones to test and validate their unmanned helicopter’s performance in extreme high altitude conditions. We were impressed by the aircraft’s ability to operate at 11,500 ft AMSL, in -10º Celsius temperatures and during windy and gusty conditions – all while remaining well within its performance envelope. SwissDrones has clearly raised the bar.
We used the SwissDrones SDO 50 as part of our annual radiometric survey. The system performed flawlessly, detecting and collecting radiological information around critical sites and non-accessible areas. SwissDrones proved to be a rapid, cost-effective aerial data gathering platform and we would definitely consider using it again.
