Black Swift Technologies unveils American-made UAS for automated industrial and structural inspections

February 14, 2020 | AUVSI News

Black Swift Technologies (BST) has introduced its American-made, advanced UAS called the Black Swift E2, which is designed for automated industrial and structural inspections.

Equipped with advanced navigation, the Black Swift E2 UAS can conduct highly accurate, up-close inspections of infrastructures even in extreme environmental conditions. Considered an intelligent drone because of its leveraging of advances in computer vision and machine learning, the UAS can complete autonomous flights when combined with an inspection payload.

The UAS can safely and reliably navigate around complex structures thanks to this optional laser navigation technology, all while providing real-time actionable data to its operator.

Instead of carrying its payload on its belly, the Black Swift E2 carries its payload up front, which allows operators to get full field-of-view, even looking vertical. Its sensor packages can be swapped using a quick-change payload bay. The battery pack is also easy to change, and its placement is adjustable to maintain perfect balance while accommodating a variety of payloads.

According to BST, typical payload includes an RGB camera, laser positioning and guidance system, and radio modem, but that can be customized to the operator’s individual requirements to include things such as lidar, thermal imagery, trace gas sensors, radiometers, and multispectral cameras.

Because of its ability to easily fold down and fit into a custom carrying case for easy transport while protecting the aircraft from the potential damage during transit, the UAS is considered a “truly mobile solution.”

“Our partnership with Alerion has resulted in the most advanced autonomous inspection drone on the market today,” says Jack Elston, PhD., CEO of Black Swift Technologies.

“The combination of BST’s avionics and flight management system perfectly complements Alerion’s computer vision-based navigation and edge computing capabilities. The E2 is an unmanned inspection solution unrivalled in the industry right now.”

The E2 uses the SwiftCore flight management system (FMS), which is made up of a state-of-the art autopilot and intuitive user interface that BST designed from the ground up to automate missions in difficult conditions with minimal user training. The SwiftCore also utilizes several advanced capabilities including machine learning for preventative maintenance, and it is currently being tested in cutting edge machine vision research to facilitate routine flights beyond the operator’s line-of-sight.

Operators can program the Black Swift E2 in just minutes when they leverage BST’s proprietary Flight Planning User Interface, allowing them to calculate the area under review and then begin collecting data for immediate analysis and decision making. BST says that its flight planning is simple and easy to accomplish as a result of its intuitive tab-driven interface.

Mission monitoring and mapping is all executed from a handheld Android Tablet loaded with BST’s SwiftTab software. BST says that users can confidently deploy their Black Swift E2 with minimal training using gesture-based controls. They can also collect data in diverse environments with confidence. The company adds that the UAS delivers “even greater location accuracy and tracking” with its available RTK real-time GPS corrections.