EXPLORATION

Partners target smarter drone surveys

Australian drone data visualisation platform developer Propeller Aero and Swiss Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) drone manufacturer Wingtra plan to integrate their technologies to target the mine surveying market.

Propeller Aero’s platform uses drones to track progress against design

Propeller Aero’s platform uses drones to track progress against design

Propeller Aero's platform uses drones to measure stockpile volumes, check road grades, and track progress against design, while Wingtra's VTOL drones can take off from confined areas and land smoothly on gravel and in open-mine pits.

"The WingtraOne integration allows mining companies to capture much larger areas of their sites more efficiently without sacrificing any accuracy. The ease of use of the WingtraOne workflow with the AeroPoint makes it a much more accessible and repeatable workflow across teams," Jack Nachazel, Customer Success Engineer at Propeller Aero, told Mining Magazine.

WingtraOne uses at 42 MP Sony RX1R II full-frame camera, and can fly at a high altitude over a deep mine pit and still deliver low GSD images.

Nachazel adds that most mine sites run local or custom coordinate systems, which for most hardware and software pairings means a complicated set-up process before any surveys can be processed.

"Propeller PPK with the WingtraOne makes collecting and processing this data incredibly simple".

He adds that such a pairing between the two technologies wouldn't have been possible in mining even three years ago.

"The advancement of cloud computing, storage, and the adoption rate of new technology by the mining industry has enabled AeroPoints and the Propeller platform to thrive".

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