Use Case - Outdoor Asset Inspection
Outdoor Asset Inspection Drones
Towers, pipelines, bridges, solar fields and greenhouses all need regular inspection, and the traditional ways of doing it put people on structures or helicopters in the air. An autonomous drone generates expansive visuals from an aerial viewpoint, keeps operations running without stopping traffic, and reduces both the risk to employees and the long-term cost of the alternatives.
Why Autonomy Matters Outdoors
- GPS degrades under canopy, next to steel structures and inside greenhouses; visual inertial odometry keeps the aircraft positioned when it does.
- On-board AI on the Qualcomm QRB5165 classifies what the camera sees in flight, so a defect or a stressed plant is flagged rather than found later in the footage.
- Cellular or long-range radio links carry live video and telemetry beyond visual line of sight.
Who Is Doing It on VOXL
| Company | What they built |
|---|---|
| Inspired Flight | Mid- and large-size industrial UAVs for mining, forestry and utility inspection, switched to American-made ModalAI flight controllers to serve government and enterprise customers. |
| Corvus Drones | Autonomous greenhouse drones that identify plant health and count crops without GPS. |
Start Here
Starling 2 Max flies GPS-denied outdoors with 500 g of payload for your inspection sensor and about 55 minutes of flight time. For an airframe of your own, VOXL 2 pairs with the IMX412 4K and AR0144 tracking sensors and a FLIR Boson+ thermal adapter. See infrastructure and agriculture for the industry view.