Brisbane, Australia, 13 July 2020 — Emesent today announced a major breakthrough in the journey to fully autonomous flight systems, with the launch of Autonomy Level 2 (AL2) technology for Hovermap, the world’s first plug-and-play payload for industrial drones that provides autonomous beyond line of sight, GPS-denied flight.

Building on Emesent’s cutting-edge Hovermap simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) autonomous flight system, AL2 enables compatible drones to fly beyond communications range and venture beyond line of sight into unmapped areas. The AL2 technology enables companies to rapidly map, navigate, and collect data in challenging inaccessible environments such as mines, civil construction works, telecommunications infrastructure, and disaster response environments.

Andrew Rouse, Chief Technology Officer at PYBAR Mining Services, said: AL2 is a game changer for us. It takes Hovermap into places that even the most experienced pilots would fear to venture, enabling us to obtain critical data in real time without risking the machine. We’re already seeing great benefits to our workflow and operational efficiency from using the new technology

Emesent’s technology builds on a decade of award-winning research by CSIRO’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems group into drone autonomy and 3D LiDAR-based SLAM techniques. Customers around the world have been using Hovermap’s Autonomy Level 1 capability for almost two years, safely mapping challenging GPS-denied areas within line of sight.

Moving to AL2 means the drone can self-navigate and avoid obstacles beyond line of sight, while being operated from take-off to landing from a safe distance. The system processes data on-board in real time to stream a 3D map of the environment back to the operator’s tablet, providing instant and detailed insights into the surrounding area, as well as any potential hazards. The entire mission from take-off to landing is conducted by interacting with the live view 3D map, allowing stopes to be mapped with just a few taps.

Images and quotes courtesy Emesent.