2020-12-23

Russia ranks 3rd in the World in the list of countries for oil production. The length of main pipelines in Russia is more than 250 000 km. Many pipelines often run in hard-to-reach areas of our country, which makes it difficult to monitor the condition of pipelines and increases the risk of illegal activities and violations. It is in such cases drones become an integral part of the oil and gas industry.

What can unmanned aircraft systems be used for in the oil and gas sector?

• Geological survey of the surface
• Monitoring of the processes of construction and repair works
• Environmental monitoring
• Day and night patrolling of extended objects
• Inventory of infrastructure facilities and security zones and others

And this is an incomplete list of tasks solved with the help of drones. Moreover, aerial monitoring can be applied to every stage of oil production and transportation.

To perform the work, a drone alone will not be enough, it is important to have high-quality equipment (photo and video camera, thermal imager, lidar, etc.) and programs for processing photo and video materials.

For Russian oil and gas companies, it is convenient to work with domestic companies, as it opens the possibility to test UAVs in the field, offices, and service centers are located closer to the company itself, which reduces transport expenses, and the process of signing official documents for conducting services or buying drones becomes easier than with a foreign company.

Of all domestic developers, it's good to mention ZALA AERO GROUP. To perform aerial monitoring, the company develops its own UAVs, payloads, and software for data processing based on artificial intelligence. Moreover, ZALA AERO became the first organization in Russia that started using a laser gas analyzer to search for methane leaks on unmanned ZALA systems.

In the very near future, more and more companies in the oil and gas sector will begin to introduce unmanned aerial vehicles into operational processes to obtain high-quality data. The use of UAVs is a great benefit in almost all key production processes in the oil and gas industry.

2017-09-11

FAA Small Drone Rule Lets Unmanned Aircraft Soar

A host of new users is changing the world of commercial aviation thanks in large part to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) small unmanned aircraft rule, Part 107 (PDF), which has now been in place for a year.  

2017-08-22

US Naval Research Lab Tests Stackable CICADA Microdrones Swarm

The U.S. Naval Research Lab has been working on its CICADA (Close-In Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft) drones since at least 2011. The tiny drones are designed to be carried aloft by other aircraft and dropped, whereupon they’ll use GPS and little fins to glide to within 15 feet of their destination.

2017-08-22

The Drone World Expo 2017 Interviews – Hector Ubiñas

In the third of a series of interviews with key figures involved in the success of Drone World Expo, we talked to for Hector Ubiñas, Aviation Services Manager, San Diego Gas and Electric. Hector joined SDG&E in September 2016 and has been overseeing the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) program since starting with the company. In this role, Hector is responsible for the daily operations of the UAS program and continuing to develop new work methods for its application in the utility industry.

2017-04-25

Swarms of Drones Test New Dogfighting Skills

Aerial dogfighting began more than a century ago in the skies over Europe with propeller-driven fighter aircraft carried aloft on wings of fabric and wood. An event held recently in southern California could mark the beginning of a new chapter in this form of aerial combat.

2016-08-08

13 Takeaways from The White House Workshop

The White House launched a new effort Tuesday to help increase the use of drones and showcased how government agencies have become a proving ground for a wide array of new drone concepts and technologies.

2016-07-24

New Report: Drones in Public Safety and First Responder Operations

It may not seem like it, but drones are still in their infancy and only proving themselves through the rigorous testing done privately, commercially, and by state and federal government agencies. Despite the tangible benefits that drones can provide, the public has mixed sentiments about their use by law enforcement, firefighting, and search & rescue operations.

2016-07-14

Drone World Expo – Exclusive Interviews – Mark Bathrick

We wanted to find out more about the team behind Drone World Expo – what makes them tick, what motivates them and what are the secrets behind the success of the event. We interviewed Advisory Board member Mark L. Bathrick who directs a nationwide aviation services business for the U.S Department of the Interior (DOI) overseeing the safe operation of over 1,200 contracted and government-owned manned and unmanned aircraft across a wide range of business applications.

2016-07-03

Rwanda Readies Life-Saving Drone Delivery System

This summer, small autonomous airplanes will begin carrying life-saving blood to 20 hospitals and healthcare centers across Western Rwanda, Africa, in one of the first-of-its-kind drone-based delivery demonstrations.

2016-06-28

Tree-Planting Drones

Beaverton, Oregon-based drone startup DroneSeed created a drone with a device that fires seeds into the ground using compressed air in an effort to reforest the Pacific Northwest, and eventually forests around the world.

2016-06-21

FAA Finalizes Rules for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Today, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has finalized the first operational rules for routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or “drones”), opening pathways towards fully integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. These new regulations work to harness new innovations safely, to spur job growth, advance critical scientific research and save lives.