Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/95873
technology | by Wayne Grayson WayneGrayson@randallreilly.com Remote control surveying It might sound like science fiction, but UAVs are emerging as a versatile surveying tool. T Gatewing President Maarten Vandenbroucke: UAVs offer more accurate plotting than a ground-based GPS survey. ypically, when you hear about drones or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) you think of the military and the ability to monitor goings on behind enemy lines. And if you've ever played the blockbuster video game series "Call of Duty," you've noticed these remote con- trol vehicles that can quickly give you a bird's eye view of where your enemies lie in wait. When it comes to survey- ing, there are no enemies lying in wait per se, but that doesn't mean UAVs can't be a huge help in leaning the lay of the land in question. And that's where Gatewing, a Belgian company acquired by Trimble in April 2012, comes in. Gatewing President Maarten Vandenbroucke, delivered a session at Trimble Dimensions 2012 in Las Vegas last month on the fast and high-quality survey imaging UAVs provide. Vandenbroucke said the company's X100 UAV was created and designed spe- cifically for surveying. While UAV is still an emerging technology, it is already possible to map smaller to medium-sized areas "in a very economical way," he said. An added benefit to surveying via remote control is it does away with the need of walk- ing through potentially dan- gerous sites, such as landfills and waste dumps. He showed off a slide pic- turing the X100 – which looks like a cross between a stealth bomber and the curves of a toy rocket ship from the 1950s. Vandenbroucke said the X100 was designed with sea gulls in mind, and at 2 kilograms, it's almost as light as one of the 1.75-kilogram birds. The X100 has a cruising speed of 46 mph and when facing winds, can achieve speeds up to 40 mph. Van- denbroucke said the X100 gets about 45 minutes of fly- EquipmentWorld.com | December 2012 25