Authorities and executives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Southern Company, Airbus Unmanned Aerial Systems division in Europe, as well as several Airbus Aerial business partners attended the trial.
"Our goal here was to demonstrate how our technology can support Southern Company in monitoring their energy infrastructure - particularly in remote locations, help them improve maintenance efficiency, ensure service continuity, support personnel safety and save costs," said Jesse Kallman, President of Airbus Aerial.
Airbus Aerial brings together aerospace technologies such as drones and satellites, combines them in a common software infrastructure, and applies industry-specific analytics to deliver tailored solutions to customers in utilities, agriculture, insurance and other markets. "In this case, we were able to image an entire portion of the State of Georgia by satellite, identify the need areas along the lines where maintenance issues could occur, then used BVLOS drone inspections to determine how to remedy the issue," said Kallman.
"We put this demo together in concert with Airbus Aerial to demonstrate to our internal customers the relative benefits of Beyond Line of Sight inspections," explained Harry Nuttall, Director of System Air, Southern Company.