CAP2404: Outcome of the consultation on a draft Airspace Modernisation Strategy 2022–2040
Interview and Photo Opportunities!
photos@thomashaywood.com
07968085609
Photos by Thomas Haywood
FLY SMART, FLY SAFE
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) engaged EAMaven to analyze 20 potential routes across the #UK to assess the viability of advanced air mobility (#AAM) in the UK and chose 14 electric conventional take-off and landing (#eCTOL) and six #eVTOL routes.
Using a range of data sources and a bespoke AAM demand model, EAMaven determined the number of passengers who would switch from traditional road and rail modes of travel to AAM services.
It identified 390 potential routes with one airport having 28 routes which include both eVTOL and eCTOL routes, and estimated that over five million passengers per week could travel on these services where a large proportion of them would come from people traveling by car, helping to decarbonize regional travel in the UK.
Fife-based aerial photographer, Thomas Haywood (51) has been awarded Aerial Photographer Specialist of the Year at the Corporate LiveWire Scotland Prestige Awards 2022.
The event, which took place on the 17th October at the Norton House Hotel, Edinburgh, celebrated businesses and individuals who consistently offer excellent products and services.
Thomas was presented with an award and award certificate to commemorate the occasion during the fairly quiet ceremony, attended by some of the top names in Scottish business.
The photographer, who recently moved to Dunfermline, Fife (from Edinburgh) with his partner, Mart, said he’d actually forgotten all about the award nomination when he received a phone call out of the blue in July telling him that he’d won.
Thomas said: “I was absolutely gobsmacked. In one respect it’s nice to crow about, but in another I’ve been quite humble, and mainly kept it to myself until now. It’s very nice to know that my photography is appreciated, because when I first started up I didn’t think much of it.
He continued: “At times I’m a perfectionist, but I don’t always realise it with my photography – we’re our own harshest critics, aren’t we?”
Thomas has made himself well-known for his tenacity and can-do, team player attitude; from producing high quality images and film of £3.5 million properties, to sports adventure photography, and flying his drone on a film set in the Isle of Skye!
Since Thomas first began working with drones seven years ago, he’s found himself travelling to historic sites, commercial buildings, sports events and so much more besides – and he’s always on the lookout for new challenges and experiences that push the limits.
Why did he become an aerial drone photographer in the first place? Here’s the story from Thomas himself:
“During my 12+ years as a professional photographer, I wanted to challenge myself to reach new heights in the fast-paced, innovative and ever-evolving world of drone photography. Having been a qualified drone pilot for nine and-a-half years now, I’m passionate about the benefits and opportunities aerial drone photography brings.”
With his distinct style and ability to nail a shot whether in the air or on the ground, it’s no wonder Thomas is in high demand. But there’s more to choosing a photographer than just popularity…
Thomas said: “A photographer’s photo collection is like a signature on a page; you can take five photographers to an event, and have five different stories. You have to decide which style you actually like – which often has nothing to do with cost.”
photos@thomashaywood.com
07968085609
Photos by Thomas Haywood
10 November 2022
Changing the practices and culture within the oil and gas sector
TEXO will be presenting on a number of key deliverables to the oil and gas sector covering the traditional inspection criteria all the way through to some of the land mapping challenges that drones have solved for their international client base.
The presentation will aim to give an insight into some of the benefits UAS technology has been able to deliver in the oil and gas industry in recent years and the positive impacts this has had within some organisations in terms of safety, time and cost on a number of projects and in their day-to-day operations.
Key Learnings:
Speakers:
James Arnott, Business Development Manager at Texo
| The University of Birmingham, in collaboration with the ESRC and the UKRI’s ISCF Future Flight Challenge, is offering a programme of nine grants: · 7 grants of £150 000 each + 2 research policy fellowships £80 000 each · Submission date: 16 November 2022 · Start date: 1st April 2023. 14 months · Eligibility: primarily UK-based researchers who are eligible for ESRC funding. · Benefit of a collaboration with ARPAS-UK can be discussed. Theme 1: Innovation by and for social and community need. · 1a) Grant 1: Focus on disability and accessibility · 1b) Grant 2: Focus on marginalised groups’ access and experiences · 1c) Grant 3: Focus on digital exclusion from Future Flight transport · 1d) Grant 4: Focus on socio-economic exclusion/inclusion Theme 2: Future Flight Ecosystems and Enterprises. Theme 3: Governance and Trustworthiness. Theme 4: Spatiality of Future Flight For further information on the grant call, and how to apply please follow this link: www.birmingham.ac.uk/futureflight If you have any questions, please get in contact at: ffcsocialscience@contacts.bham.ac.uk. ALS |
27 September 2022
We were delighted to meet so many members and key stakeholders, and to share our stand with a few members as well: Richard Gill of Drone Defence, Toby Townrow of Dronevolution and Chris Crockford of Electric Aviation. It was fantastic to see the interaction between them and other exhibitors and visitors, as well as being able to introduce a number of people to them.
This was the 2nd year of the UK’s only commercial UAV show, and focussed on The Future of Flight, Military & Defence, Emergency Services and the Commercial Sector.
With over 300 exhibitors and presentations, and positioned alongside Helitech, there was a wide variety of options for the visitor. Talks ranged from the Civil Aviation’s Mark Wharry on The Regulator’s Perspective (see our separate article on this keynote), PwC’s Craig Roberts on The Economic Impact of Drones on the UK Economy, to Inmarsat’s panel on Drone Deliveries: For the Good of our Health were fascinating, Thales’s Neil Watson on Accelerating the Adoption of Drone Services at Scale in the UK and Fraser Nash & The Thunderbird Project’s Stuart Keenan & Alan Bell on Priority Access to the Skies for Emergency Life-Saving Drones.
Now-Chair of ARPAS-UK, Graham Brown, spoke alongside Gordon Baker, the DfT’s Autonomous Systems Lead on Achieving the UK’s Drone Ambition and Some Steps to Achieve the Potential. If you would like a copy of this, please contact us.
There was a definite feel that the industry has become more well established, more mature and that it is being listened to by serious people. Where does the Show need to go from this solid position?
There are two complementary routes: one is to attract even more drone data end-users, i.e. industries using drones, to show how drones can help them deliver faster, safer, cheaper and more digital operations; the other is to attract (back?) the drone operators, for example by building on their professionalism via CPD sessions at the show. Sessions on different types of software, how to apply for an OSC, marketing your company, the importance of networking, the ins & outs of different types of work, how to go about finding work and how to apply for big contracts etc.
The team supporting DroneX have been very enthusiastic and supportive of the industry. They know our thoughts and we hope we will see this now being acted on.
If you would like to share your thoughts on how DroneX could evolve, please contact us membership@arpas.uk.
Exhibiting at DroneX 2023: 26-27 September 2023, London
12 September 2022
With a re-designed, 30% lighter airframe combined with a 3Kg+ payload capacity and 55+ minute flight time, the Clogworks DMqD Gen 2 is a perfect fleet addition for more demanding survey and inspection applications.
There has been a seismic shift towards UAV based applications in recent years, driven by their ease of use, increasing capabilities and constantly improving safety.
Naturally, as adoption increases, so does demand for more capable drones that can fly for longer whilst carrying heavier payloads.
The Dark Matter qD Gen 2 has been developed to not only meet, but exceed our pilots demands. Not just for present day, but for years to come.
Modular Design
Like its bigger brother, the hX Gen 2, the qD has a modular design. The arms can be swapped out for a more powerful drive train to provide more thrust and redundancy for bigger payloads, the legs can also be configured as a long leg set up, short leg set up, fixed landing gear and a tripod mounted lading system to assist the aircraft when landing on moving or uneven surfaces.
This enables the qD to carry a bigger variety of payloads and increases safety when flying in more challenging environments. These individual user specifications can be applied at the point of order or can be made to order later on, providing maximum flexibility for our customers and their constantly growing
list of requirements.
But the modular design benefits don’t stop there. Virtually any part of our aircraft can be upgraded – meaning that when the next generation of autopilot systems are released, you don’t have to replace the entire aircraft to have access to the latest features. We simply remove the old hardware and replace it with the newer hardware, allowing our customers to continue to make use of their perfectly operational aircraft as well as maximizing their ROI.
Cover More Ground
The qD is available with different drive train options and it can also be flown with one or two batteries. The result is a staggering flight time of 55+ minutes, with enough still in the tank to return and land safely.
Even more impressive, is a flight time of 45+ minutes with a 1.5Kg payload. This makes the qD Gen 2 an extremely capable aircraft when paired with a Yellowscan LiDAR, Workswell WIRIS sensor or a Viewpro camera payload to name a few examples.
All of our Dark Matter platforms now come single band RTK ready too, meaning surveys can be completed with extremely high accuracy.
But it doesn’t stop there, if the job covers an even larger area, the aircraft can be landed and the batteries ‘hotswapped’ to allow mission continuity.
GCS Flexibility
Our Dark Matter aircraft are now Ardupilot based, harnessing the potential of an open source platform being developed by a global community.
With this, comes maximum flexibility for our pilots, as some of the most popular GCS platforms are now supported by our aircraft. Our two most popular controller options are also android based, meaning the GCS application (if available) can be downloaded and installed.
Safety As A Top Priority
Whilst we have pushed the envelope in terms of performance and reliability, we have also put a huge focus on safety for the qD.
* The lenses for the navigational lighting have been redeveloped to make the aircraft more conspicuous by cleverly dispersing the light.
* All our aircraft now also come with dual GPS modules as standard, ensuring the aircraft knows exactly where it is at all times. It has also been programmed to select the other GPS module in the event that one starts providing erroneous data.
* The autopilot module also has three temperature controlled IMU’s, two of which are mechanically vibration dampened to reduce the effect of frame vibration to state estimation. There are also two onboard barometers.
* The entire system from airframe to each individual component has been intentionally over-engineered to ensure our platforms can be as safe and reliable as possible for our pilots.
* ADS-B options are now available for our aircraft too. This, along with the improved lighting, allows the aircraft to be as conspicuous and as visible as possible to both local aircraft and ATC.
Customization From The Ground Up
At Clogworks, we are committed to so much more than just manufacturing aircraft as an ‘off the shelf’ solution. We have various configurations available for our aircraft. But we also develop tailored solutions to meet our customers’ exact requirements.
We work with our customers from the initial idea, right the way through to the final, delivered solution.
Looking for something specific? Something that isn’t readily available? Then get in touch with us! We will be able to assist.
Want To Know More?
Get in touch with us at:
Website – www.clogworks.com
Email – info@clogworks.com
Phone – 01484 687989
Address – Clogworks Technologies Limited
Lee Mills Industrial Estate,
Scholes, Holmfirth,
West Yorkshire
HD9 1RT, UK
Clogworks are an ARPAS-UK Member
Esri UK today announced that Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) has rolled out its Site Scan for ArcGIS drone flight management and image processing software, to support the use of drones on its 90km Midlands section of HS2.
Faster and more efficient drone surveys are already saving around £20,000 a year on monthly construction progress surveys on a single site, instead of using physical surveys and the subsequent updating of CAD models. BBV estimates this could save around £1.6m if the same workflow was applied across 80 sites in the first year.
Another benefit has been the removal of 800 ‘working at risk’ days and a cost saving of £30,000 per year from monitoring aggregate stockpiles, using a single drone operator to carry out 3D volumetric measurements in 20 minutes. Previously, contractors would take a full day to physically measure stockpiles and calculate transport requirements, often working in steep and difficult environments.
Site Scan for ArcGIS is being used to carry out drone site surveys, manage aggregate stockpiles and monitor progress of construction. Various 2D and 3D outputs are being generated for sharing with multiple stakeholders, including high-definition imagery and 3D terrain models. The new software was rolled out across the BBV business to almost 400 users in autumn 2021, including 13 drone pilots.
The major civil infrastructure project spans from Long Itchington Wood tunnel in the south to the West Coast Main Line tie-in near Lichfield in the north, with a major junction into Curzon Street Station in central Birmingham. The main works civil engineering contracts will deliver earthworks, ground engineering and many structures including bridges, viaducts and tunnels along a 90km stretch of the UK’s new high speed rail line.
We needed the right software to manage an increasingly complex and varied use of drones and meet the needs of multiple teams, from logistics to site managers to engineers. New digitised workflows are rapidly replacing traditional, physical working practices and introducing new levels of efficiency, accuracy and safety. On major projects such as HS2, the ROI achieved is significant.
Dan Fawcett, Innovation Director at Balfour Beatty VINCI.
Other applications of the new software include helping to show compliance with design tolerances in built structures against BIM and CAD models, speeding-up design cycles, particularly in earthworks and excavations design and monitoring the installation of utilities. Site Scan supports RTK drones to ensure highly accurate data capture and point cloud creation. Super-user training for Site Scan is being provided by Esri UK partner Heliguy, the drone consultancy, hardware and training specialists.
Site Scan for ArcGIS is Esri’s cloud-based drone flight management and image processing software, offering flight planning, hardware management, scalable image processing and unlimited data storage, plus seamless integration with BBV’s Esri enterprise GIS system.
Notes to editors:
About Balfour Beatty VINCI
Website: https://balfourbeattyvinci.co.uk
About Esri UK
Esri is the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence and mapping. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. Founded in 1969, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organisations worldwide.
AEC organisations use Esri’s GIS to help plan, design, build and maintain smarter buildings and infrastructure. Esri UK customers include BBV, EKFB, Argent Related, Arcadis, Mott MacDonald, Skanska and Costain.
Website: www.esriuk.com/aec
Twitter: @esriuk
Esri UK and Heliguy are ARPAS-UK Members.
6 July 2022
Held over 3 days, the World ATM Congress – as its title suggests was previously the preserve of manned aviation and the associated aspects related to the visible and digital infrastructure to support the airports and airlines.
However with the rise of drones and AAM, the 2022 version (the first real one for over 2 years) is a very different beast. About 1/3 of the floor space and most of the stands recognise the industry and are actively looking to offer a service, or partner with some of the new participants such as UTM operators.
But most of you reading this might be saying, how does that benefit me? With a number of UK representatives leading talks and stands – we are having a strong voice when it comes to identifying the problems and offering solutions to integration of airspace, which otherwise will continue to hamstring operators’ ability to fly.
What I noticed is that there are a number of different parts of the problem that seem to be being solved in isolation, and that progress in collaboration is happening across a number of the standards bodies which offer a means for commonality e.g. EuroCAE, ASTM. What is less clear is how they are implemented, one commentator noted that despite EASA having an agreed set of regulations, each country is choosing to interpret them differently or the regulators in a country themselves are unable to deploy their own resources to manage solutions.
Also the excitement that first existed from others about how drones were going to shake up a slow,safety driven industry have quietened down as the industry has matured. UTMs getting certified seems to be a problem for another time, so they are working out how to act as a data ingestor into existing ANSPs who themselves recognise they need to offer services but aren’t quite sure how to do that.
What this conference doesn’t cover is the frustrations members might have about getting safety cases approved, renewals etc. But in summary the wider ATM industry is waking up to the potential of drones and AAM and therefore the offerings and solutions being presented will only multiply for the industry – which we hope is a good thing in the long run.
Check out the World ATM Twitter feed for more.
by Aleks Kowalski, ARPAS-UK Committee Member
24 June 2022