Skypersonic performs world-first transatlantic drone inspections

Michigan-based drone developer Skypersonic has completed what it claims to be the world's first transcontinental industrial inspection.

Using a mobile phone connection, the drone was able to service an Iren utility plant in Turin, Italy, while the operator remained in Orlando, Florida - roughly 4,800 miles away.

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The drone's "pilot", Drew Camden, also had little knowledge of the local heating network through which he piloted the drone. The craft can reportedly be piloted without GPS - which is fundamental to piloting drones outdoors but is not present indoors, under bridges, inside tunnels, or other enclosed spaces that may be present during industrial checks.

The firm says this breakthrough "portends an era of quick, safe and cost-effective industrial inspections" across the globe.

“We learned much from this historic flight controlled from an ocean away, which is actually our third trans-Atlantic flight”, said Giuseppe Santangelo, Skypersonic CEO.

“Most importantly, we learned that an internet connection via a mobile phone in the vicinity of the drone is all that is needed to remotely pilot a drone from virtually anywhere – in fact, up to 8,000 miles away.

"The previous two flights had relied on a more sophisticated, non-mobile internet connection. We also learned that it is possible to navigate a very dense and complex interior environment from another continent using this easily configurable set-up".

He added the possibilities for this type of east to use long-distance travel are "enormous".

Camden revealed he had never visited the Italian plant, nor seen any images of the plant or its floor plan. In addition, he claims to have no knowledge of the layout of staircases, ducts and tunnels which could provide a challenge to an operator. The firm claims he only had a direct video feed from the drone with a latency of around 68 milliseconds.

This demonstration in the Iren plant was promoted by the Turin House of Emerging Technologies with the collaboration of the University of Turin.

Prior to its relationship with Iren, the firm also ran a two-year inspection program with General Motors, which used drones to inspect hard-to-reach areas that could typically require drastic actions such as scaffolding. These drones were piloted by operators on-site.

Santangelo claims this can lead to "huge" cost savings as travel expenses are almost entirely eliminated and each individual's time commitment drops significantly, meaning they can perform several inspections per day, potentially from thousands of miles away.

He also claims the tech was developed to deal with restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Pre-Covid, our normal procedure was to send a pilot to a customer to train them in using the Skycopter for interior inspections", he added.

"But the lockdowns imposed by Covid made this impossible, so we had to come up with an alternative and I tasked our software engineers to develop a way to remotely pilot drones over the internet. When this was accomplished, our customers were able to begin practising flying their new drone before it even arrived by remotely flying a similar drone located in our offices in Detroit or Turin".

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All the pilot needs is a radio control connected to the internet and the firm's piloting software. When the customer receives their drone, Skypersonic engineers can teach them how to fly them remotely - without needing to be in the same room.

Despite the flight itself taking place in Orlando, the company itself is based in Detroit, with a European office in Turin.

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