Tundra Drone Fitted With Ground-Penetrating Radar

Hexadrone and SPH Engineering have partnered to equip Hexadrone’s Tundra UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) with a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in order to create a new solution for the collection of industrial, hydrographic, urban and environmental data. The drone, which was also equipped with magnetometers, methane detectors and echo sounders, was trialled in Balogi, Latvia.

The joint solution consisted of SPH’s UgCS mission-planning software and SkyHub onboard computer, Radar Systems Zond Aero GPR and the Hexadrone Tundra UAV. The Tundra features a modular and multipurpose body that can be integrated with a wide variety of payloads, accessories and modules. Available in different configurations, it can fly for up to an hour without payload, 50 minutes with a 1.5kg payload, and 30 minutes with the maximum payload of 4kg.

Alexei Dobrovolskiy, CTO at SPH Engineering, said: “Within this year we have had a few requests from drone producers who aim to enable real industrial work in the most challenging terrain. We are open to extending the UgCS Integrated Systems portfolio with new partners, and are satisfied with the TUNDRA integration results. We expect the technology will allow Hexadrone to advance their capabilities with the help of the GPR solution.”

Alexandre Labesse, CEO of Hexadrone, noted: “The Tundra drone has been designed as a development hub, a toolholder, in order to meet every need. It embodies the word collaborative as it is meant to be the starting point of each and every conceivable development. It is through partnerships that technologies and applications can evolve, that is why we are so proud to be able to work with foreign companies such as SPH Engineering. We are very happy with the integration of their GPR that opens new opportunities for drone users. We’d like to thanks Cédric Botella and the whole Instadrone network – French official distributor of UgCS – as they introduced us to SPH Engineering.”