The VT-Naut VTOSL (Vertical Takeoff and Short Landing) fixed-wing drone, is an innovative aerial solution meticulously designed to cater to diverse applications, including high-precision mapping, surveying, inspection, scouting, observation, and agriculture, covering very large areas per flight. 

The Aeromao VT-Naut stands as the world’s first vertical takeoff fixed-wing drone capable of water landings, making it ideal for ship-board or coastal operations. 

The uncluttered, unaltered pure fixed wing performance of the VT Naut stands as an lightweight and uncomplicated system with all up weight of 3,700 grs and 2 m wingspan. The clean aerodynamic design of the VT-Naut has no tilt mechanisms that can fail, no extra booms, no additional motors for vertical flight and no unnecessary weight.

Features a long range telemetry link of 30kms, up to 90 mins flight endurance and a compact and indestructible body design.

Catering to the discerning needs of users in search of extensive surveying capabilities through a fixed-wing drone, the VT-Naut UAV system eliminates the additional costs linked to acquiring and operating a VTOL multirotor drone. They can experience unparalleled efficiency without compromising sophistication as the company redefines the landscape of large-area surveying.

The VT Naut addresses the needs of those seeking a cost-effective alternative to a full VTOL platform and who has some degree of flexibility for landing site selection and who requires to survey vast areas, all at a fraction of the cost of other VTOL fixed-wing drones.

Already available with 24MP, 42Mp and 61Mp high resolution mapping cameras camera, a 4K 3-axis surveillance package and Micasense Rededge-P.

Crafted with ingenuity, the VT-Naut is offered as a resilient, modular future-proof solution that transcends the conventional.

About Aeromao:

Aeromao Inc. initiated operations in Canada in 2011 and after already more than 10 years of experience offering mapping services internationally with UAVs and Remotely Piloted Aerial Vehicles (RPAVs), well before other manufacturers. Since 2012 we focus on the manufacturing of turnkey UAV systems, subsystem sales, and comprehensive support services, assisting customers with the integration of the UAVs into their workflows to maximize results and increase their return on investment.

For more information visit:

https://aeromao.com/products/vtnaut/

The VT-Naut is a VTOSL (Vertical Takeoff and Short Landing) fixed-wing drone, an innovative aerial solution meticulously designed to cater to diverse applications, including accurate mapping, surveying, inspection, scouting, observation, and agriculture, with a multitude of payloads that will be offered.

Get your drone compliant with US and EU rules with Dronetag Remote ID solutions, available now at Aeromao

Remote ID Devices and Dronetag App

Flying with an older drone that is not compliant with the new regulations? No worries. Dronetag offers small IoT devices that you can easily attach to any drone model.
Install the Dronetag App manage all your devices, check airspace zones, plan your flights, browse real-time data, inspect other airborne drones and stay notified about any hazards around you. All compliant with US & EU rules.

Professional and hobby pilots, as well as drone manufacturers and authorities, are all thrilled with unlimited options that bring Dronetag RID devices.

Learn about the Dronetag company here.

Dronetag Mini    

The ultimate Remote ID add-on device attachable to any drone
- 32 grams
- EU & US Standards
- Network & Direct RID

Order here

Dronetag Beacon    

Bare minimum for Direct/Broadcast RID in the tiniest and lightest package
- 16 grams
- Up to 3km range
- 16 hr Battery life

Order here

What is Remote ID and how to stay compliant?
Remote ID is a system that allows drones to transmit identification and location information. This information can be received by other airspace participants, including authorities, pilots and the general public.

Who has to use Direct / Broadcast Remote ID?

Under new regulations in the US and EU, most drones weighing more than 249 grams (0.55 pounds) must be equipped with a Direct / Broadcast Remote ID system by a certain date. This responsibility applies both to recreational drones and commercially flown drones.

check this website to answer your questions: https://drone-remote-id.com/

Check all products of Dronetag here

Topodrone, based in Switzerland, designs and produces professional surveying solutions for UAV mapping and 3D modelling based on the most popular DJI drones, as well as providing comprehensive topography and mapping services.

Topodrone produce the most cost-effective multi-band GNSS PPK modules for DJI drones for Mavic 2 Pro, Phantom 4, Mini 2 and Inspire 2. The kits are extremely easy to install and simple to use. Converted drones are also available ready-to-use. These drones are the ideal affordable solution for mapping at centimeter accuracy with no Ground Control Points, and are fully compatible with Emlid Reach GNSS receivers for the ultimate surveying package.

 Surveyors can now get Topodrone Products from Aeromao, the dealer for North America.

 The two most popular products are:

 Topodrone DJI Mavic 2 Pro PPK

The most compact survey drone with folding arms, maps of up to 30 hectares of high-precision aerial survey in 30 minutes of flight. Highest image resolution among survey drones with 20 MP cameras.  Almost half the price of a DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone.

Available for only $5,117 CAD

https://www.aeromao.com/product-category/topodrone-dji-ppk-drones/

 TOPODRONE DJI Phantom 4 Pro v2.0 PPK

Very compact survey drone with a global shutter with a capacity of up to 27 hectares of high-precision aerial survey in 25 minutes of flight.  20 MP camera's global shutter provides increased accuracy.

• The best survey drone to complete aerial survey of the building's façade.
• Highest resistance to wind among survey drones of its class.

 Available for only $5,499 CAD

https://www.aeromao.com/product-category/topodrone-dji-ppk-drones/

Already have any of these drones?

Customers can also buy just the upgrade kit and turn an existing drone into an accurate surveying professional tool, obtaining up to 3 cm accuracy in XYZ and 1 cm resolution resulting in highly accurate orthomosaics and 3D models.

 Kits are available at only   $2,714 CAD

 Instructions for installation are full support is provided.

 More information at:  https://www.aeromao.com/product-category/topodrone-dji-ppk-drones/

 More information will be added to Aeromao’s store soon.

A quick update on the recent expedition by The Ocean Clean Up and Oceans Unmanned using amphibious drones in an espectacular and remarkable clean up operation

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Drones for Environmental Protection: Oceans Unmanned and The Ocean Cleanup Join Forces.

By: Miriam McNabbon.

In another amazing implementation of drones for environmental protection, Oceans Unmanned and The Ocean Cleanup have joined forces to fight marine debris.

Oceans Unmanned, Inc. is a non-profit dedicated to the use of drones for environmental protection:  The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit founded in 2013 to deal with the problem of plastic and debris in the ocean.  Now, the two will work together, using drones to evaluate and improve ongoing efforts to capture and remove marine debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. “Later this summer, a team of Oceans Unmanned operators equipped with several UAS will deploy offshore with The Ocean Cleanup researchers for a six-week campaign to conduct daily aerial surveys in an attempt to quantify the distribution and abundance of marine debris in the target area,” says an Oceans Unmanned press release.

"It is estimated that over five trillion pieces of plastic currently litter the ocean and accumulate in five ocean garbage patches, with the largest one being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located halfway between California and Hawaii. Founded in 2013 to address this issue, The Ocean Cleanup is developing technologies to capture and retain at-sea marine debris to bring it back to shore for recycling. In July, the organization will head back out to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to deploy the third iteration of their ocean cleanup design. The first system was deployed in 2018, and the second, improved version in 2019. “We successfully performed a feasibility assessment on UAS-based remote sensing for the quantification and detection of floating plastic in 2018,” stated Robin de Vries, The Ocean Cleanup Geospatial Analyst. “When we decided to ramp up this area of our work, we turned to Oceans Unmanned because of their years of proven maritime UAS expertise."

"We’re very excited about this partnership,” said Matt Pickett, Director of Oceans Unmanned. “We’ve been following the great work of The Ocean Cleanup for several years, and we’re looking forward to supporting their efforts. We’re big believers in the power of technology to address longstanding environmental challenges and marine debris is an area where we think we can make a big impact. The waterproof Aeromapper Talon Amphibious UAS will be launched from the ship, survey for approximately two hours, then perform a water landing and be recovered by a small boat.  Imagery captured by the UAS will be analyzed through an automated neural network for object detection which can direct on-site collection efforts and evaluate recovery system efficiency."

“We will be operating over 1000 miles offshore, and a UAS is the perfect tool to help analyze this global problem,” CAPT Brian Taggart, NOAA (ret), Director, Oceans Unmanned, tells DRONELIFE. “We hope to make an impact!”

About the Aeromapper Talon Amphibious

The Amphibious version of the Aeromapper Talon allows maritime operations by autonomously belly landing on water. It’s the perfect solution for aerial observation, data collection and mapping thanks to its dual camera set up and video link range up to 20kms.
The Aeromapper Talon Amphibious is a Transport Canada Compliant drone and is manufactured by Aeromao Inc, the leading Canadian UAS fixed wing manufacturer and drone solution provider.

How does it work? The Aeromapper Talon Amphibious is fully waterproof, and its simply unsinkable. Its extreme buoyancy keeps the flotation line low, all its access doors and ports are cleverly designed to keep water out.

More information here

Pioneering scientists lead the research of marine mammals utilizing drones in the most epic ways.

There are countless growing threats to whales and dolphins in the oceans, that range from pollution, ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, climate change among others. Many species remain critically endangered. Ocean Alliance is actively working with the daunting task of acquiring more and better data with the objective to protect and save these beautiful creatures. But collecting data of marine mammals is no easy task, it requires a permanent, consistent effort, the most resourceful brains and the best tools. Therefore, Ocean Alliance developed their Drones for Whale Research (DFWR) program, in which they have been actively utilizing drones in the most creative ways. Apart from using multirotor drones that actually fly a few meters above the whales getting right into their blow of misty exhales to collect biological information (SnotBot), they are also using fixed wing amphibious drones to capture a broad range of data on the whales and their habitat. 

 Dr. Iain Kerr, CEO Ocean Alliance, recalls after using the Aeromapper Talon Amphibious for over 8 months:

“Ocean Alliance is a Conservation Science organization, in that we collect data so that we can best advise wildlife managers and policy makers on strategies to help conserve endangered marine species. Alas Oceanography has long been a rich man’s game, prior to our acquisition of an Aeromapper Talon Amphibious it has been a real challenge for us to collect the types of persistent, consistent offshore data on whales that we would like.

Our Aeromapper Talon Amphibious, has met all of the key touchstones that we look for in a new tool, affordable, field friendly, user friendly, scalable and easily modified or updated. I really think that you have made the right choice with regards to hand launch and water landing.  VTOL fixed wing drones (and I have tested a few) just seem to chew up too much battery time taking off and landing.  While our work to date has been primarily flying our Aeromapper Talon Amphibious on Stellwagen banks to find and count humpback whales, we have been approached by two aquaculture groups (principally mussels & oysters) and a field marsh conservation group to demonstrate the capacity of our Aeromapper Talon Amphibious for their use cases.

Ocean Alliance’s Drones For Whale Research program has been receiving international interest, our lead drone initiative SnotBot has been featured on BBC Blue Planet Live and twice on National Geographic, once with Will Smith in the series One Strange Rock.  Also, more than 18 groups worldwide now use protocols we have developed with SnotBot for whale research. We are excited to have added the Aeromapper Talon Amphibious to our drone stable and I am sure will have more exciting news to report on when we get back into the field.

I think that the Aeromapper Talon represents one of the best solutions out there for offshore research, monitoring and mapping. The hand launch water landing option makes the best use of battery and support resources. Those engaged in the new blue economy need the type of solution that Aeromao Inc., is offering, affordable, field friendly, scalable, robust and user friendly!”

• Credits: Ocean Alliance: https://whale.org/
• Drones for Whale research: https://whale.org/dfwr/
• Adopt a whale!: https://whale.org/adopt-a-whale/
• About the SnotBot: https://whale.org/snotbot/

Two units of amphibian Aeromapper Talons were utilized successfully during a set of trials during an expedition to beautiful Turneffe Atoll in Belize, in a work lead by the Zoological Society of London and the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association. The drones, built by Canadian company Aeromao, were used to detect and document illegal fishing activities and ecology research toward conservation efforts. The Turneffe marine protected area (MPA) in Belize, was delineated in 2012, but is difficult to manage, in part due to illegal fishing, its remoteness, and high running costs.

 The water-landing and waterproof fixed-wing, long range, multi camera drones were trialled to monitor and survey marine megafauna (such as turtles, dolphins and sharks) but also as an exercise to gather evidence of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).

 ” The amphibious drone was able to fly to the site of interest at 110m altitude, gather intelligence and fly back very quickly. The images highlighted that indeed illegal building work had been occurring. Without the UAV the conservation officers would have no way of knowing this and they were very excited at this revelation”, states one of the conservation officers.

The current enforcement strategy on the Turneffe atoll involves patrols in small boats, around the atoll, to find illegal fishers. Systematic surveys for megafauna aren’t regularly carried out, so the conservation officers tend to document animals they happen across on their patrol. However, boat fuel is very costly, and this limits the amount of area the conservation officers can patrol. The drones proved to a be an exceptional low-cost solution to these challenges.  

The conservation team found the front live-link HD camera an exceptional revelation, especially since they were immediately able to spot a diving boat on the LCD screen, that they could barely see from land. The UAV can fly for up to one and half hours, which, flying at 62kph, is a considerable distance and area potentially covered for surveillance.

The pair of drones were also repeatedly operated in BVLOS scenarios. In fact, 24 BVLOS flights were successfully flown during the trials, average length of 10.9km and with total transect lengths of 263km.  The UAV reached a furthest point Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) of 11.3km. BVLOS was tested in a scenario where the conservation officers particularly wanted to scope out a development site several kilometres away across a large bay in order to detect any infringement of their building contract. The amphibious drone was able to fly to the site of interest at 110m altitude, gather intelligence and fly back very quickly. The images & video recorded highlighted that indeed illegal building work had been occurring. Without the UAV the conservation officers would have no way of knowing this and they were very excited at this revelation “We now have the tool we need to see further and faster than before. No one will see us coming!”, Maurice, a conservation officer reported.

“The pair of drones were also repeatedly operated in BVLOS scenarios. In fact, 24 BVLOS flights were successfully flown during the trials, average length of 10.9km and with total transect lengths of 263km.  The UAV reached a furthest point Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) of 11.3km.”

 Whilst the UAV flies, the 20mp nadir camera takes 5 images per second, or stunning HD film and the front camera, which can be panned left to right, films and records a live stream, allowing the conservation officers and us, to see what’s out there, in real time, on an LCD screen back at the ground station. Although the drones normally fly on pre-designed routes in auto mode, switching to “assisted mode” to investigate something of interest, is no problem. This kind of flexibility means that if fishers are found in the wrong place, the drones can be steered quickly to get closer pictures of them or loiter around the point of interest at the desired altitude to keep a constant eye in the sky, or if dolphins are spotted for example, the drones can be redirected to take a closer look and use the images to estimate the numbers of the population in the area. Mapping of habitats, using the nadir camera was also possible. Some areas of coral reef and seagrass beds were mapped using Agisoft Metashape.  

Several static launches of the UAV from a small, moving skiff were successfully performed, which is something that is unheard of for a fixed wing – long range amphibious unmanned aircraft. This is a tremendously important, and previously unknown ability of the UAV, as it now means that the conservation officers can steam to an area where a beach for launching may not exist (very common in mangrove forests), and simply launch from the boat, then land on the water besides the skiff once the mission is completed. This way, no-where the atoll is out of reach for the conservation team.

Impressive geo-referenced images of turtles, sharks, eagle rays, manatees and birds were gathered during the surveys. A variety of habitats were captured, and to identify environmental issues, such as accumulation of plastic debris, and of sargassum seaweed which can cause deoxygenation of the water and block out sunlight.

Data was used to build a spatial picture of how the atoll is used, be it by fishers or fauna, i.e. how the animals use different habitats and when, and when and where fishers are acting with impunity. The results and conclusions can feed directly into planning where marine protected zones are placed. Previously, information on fish abundances would be collected from by-catch on fishing vessels. Since the Turneffe Atoll is a protected area, you can’t rely on catch data anymore- this is where the drones really come into their own as a non-invasive and efficient tool for surveying.

The scientists leading the expedition stated that having a UAV which can easily land on the ocean, safely, and be flown again in moments, is an exceptionally valuable tool. Likewise, the conservation officers in the Turneffe Atoll are adamant that a UAV like the ones trialled, will become an essential part of their patrolling and enforcement strategy, which will ultimately lead to increased biodiversity in the area.

Read full report Case Study and Technical Report here.

About the Aeromapper Talon Amphibious

The Amphibious version of the Aeromapper Talon allows maritime operations by autonomously belly landing on water. It’s the perfect solution for scouting, data collection and mapping thanks to its dual camera set up and long-range video link, up to 2hr endurance and demonstrated BVLOS capabilities up to 30kms from the operators.

The only truly amphibious multipurpose fixed wing drone in the market today, it can sustain repeated operations in salt or fresh water. Perfect for:

• Fisheries
• Marshlands
• Marine research and conservation
• Search and rescue
• Water quality monitoring
• Off-shore infrastructure inspection
• Coastal surveying
• Hydrography
• Marine management

More information:  https://www.aeromao.com/products/aeromapper-talon-amphibious/

Aeromao from Canada is pleased to announce that the Aeromappers line of commercial grade drones have been added to the list of compliant UAV systems of Transport Canada. This distinction allows Canadian organizations using Aeromapper drones to apply for Compliant Operator status.   

A total of four drone system models the company produces have been added to the list of compliant UAV systems for advanced operations, according to Transport Canada UAS Standard:

• Aeromapper Talon
• Aeromapper 300
• (New) Quad Mapper VTOL: fixed wing system with VTOL capabilities
• (New) Nano Mapper: sub 1Kg. fixed wing drone suited for agriculture and high affordability.

The Quad Mapper VTOL and Nano Mapper are two new UAV system models that will soon be made available to the public.  

Two more variants of the Aeromapper Talon are currently awaiting confirmation from Transport Canada to be added to the list of compliant drones: Aeromapper Talon Amphibious and Aeromapper Talon LITE (a 3hr endurance version also suitable for BVLOS operations).

“Aeromao’s UAV solutions officially meet Transport Canada’s standards of safety and efficiency. We are truly excited to continue assisting Canadian and foreign customers with their drone programs, not only by ensuring that our systems continue meeting the latest regulatory policy changes but also by diversifying our line of commercial drone systems that fit all customer requirements and budgets” says Mauricio Ortiz, CEO of Aeromao.

The Aeromappers have demonstrated over the years a history of safe operation in some of the harshest environmental conditions both in Canada and other countries around the world.

For more information please visit www.aeromao.com

About Aeromao Inc.
Is the Canadian leading UAV solutions provider and manufacturer, developer of the Aeromapper series of turnkey unmanned aerial vehicles for mapping, surveying, precision agriculture, remote sensing, inspection and surveillance.
With exports to more than 48 countries since 2012, Aeromao Inc. offers a line of products that adapt very quickly to market demands and to unique client’s applications, where no other UAV manufacturer goes. The Aeromappers have been used by corporations, research organizations, universities and government agencies around the globe for a great variety of applications.
Aeromao not only manufactures and sells the Aeromappers and related sub-systems, but also extends its services to:

• Payload & drone customizations
• Flight training and support
• Flight operational support
• Assistance with difficult missions, difficult terrain
• UAV program implementation and consulting
• Image acquisition service worldwide

Many owners of small sub-1Kg flying wings or multirotor drones at some point encounter the need to cover more area in less time without (hopefully) sacrificing too much ground resolution, or just increase productivity when confronted with large area survey projects. In many other cases, small drones can’t just cope with the wind which shows no sign of easing, the deadline for work completion is fast approaching and there’s still many more acres left to map and process. These challenges are minimized or just eliminated with a larger drone that not only flies for longer, but also faster, which translate into better wind penetration and better area coverage per flight. Adding a higher resolution camera and PPK capabilities the system becomes a truly winner for serious surveyors who want to map any project, in any conditions.

The proven Aeromapper 300 along with the 42 Mp RGB camera and PPK system triples the productivity of smaller drones, offering a rugged and user-friendly fixed wing solution with unprecedented ground resolution and accuracy.

With the Sony 42 Mp camera, UAV operators can easily map 4.7 sq.km at 1.5 cm/pixel, or 9.9 sq.km at 3 cm/pixel per flight. Best of all, the data obtained delivers 2-3cm accuracy level with the included PPK upgrade, without ever setting up Ground Control Points.

Serious resolution, serious precision. Unrivaled ROI per acre.

Hand-launch it, land it vertically, anywhere. Nothing beats the simplicity of a parachute equipped fixed wing drone.

In addition to the 42 Mp camera and PPK upgrade, Aeromao offers other swappable payloads for the Aeromapper 300 such as:

- Micasense RedEdge MX

- Micasense Altum

- Headwall Photonics Nano-Hyperspectral sensor

- ADS-B: live air traffic and transponder

- Flir Duo Pro R: 4K video/stills and thermal infrared

- Standard 24 Mp RGB camera

- 24 Mp RGB with Sequoia Parrot Multiespectral simultaneously: very popular setup for surveying and agriculture

- 24 Mp RGB with Flir thermal simultaneously

 The Aeromapper 300 can be configurable to other payloads not listed above thanks to the large internal space available and its modular construction.

As a cherry on top, the Aeromapper 300 can be ordered with your two choices of image processing software: Pix4DMapper or Agisoft Metashape, to complete the bundle.

Aeromao Inc. Is currently offering a one-time limited time offer of Aeromapper 300 with 42Mp camera and PPK system for less than $20,000 USD, making it the most attractive turnkey sUAS for professional surveying .

The Aeromappers have been the choice of different UAV programs both in Canada and abroad thanks to its dependability for commercial use, Universities and scientific research. Aeromao also provides training & operational support, payload customizations & consultation, service and maintenance in order to implement future-proof UAV programs, so that customers can focus in the data acquisition easily and continuously.

The 42Mp RGB camera is also available for the Aeromapper Talon here.

 More information on the Aeromapper 300 can be found here.

Get in touch to get and quote here.

About Aeromao

Is the Canadian leading UAV manufacturer, developer of the Aeromapper series of turnkey unmanned aerial vehicles for mapping, surveying, precision agriculture, remote sensing, inspection and surveillance.

With exports to 50 countries since 2012, Aeromao Inc. offers a line of products that adapt very quickly to market demands and to unique client’s applications, where no other UAV manufacturer goes. The Aeromappers have been used by corporations, research organizations, universities and government agencies around the globe for a great variety of applications.

Aeromao not only manufactures and sells the Aeromappers and related sub-systems, but also extends its services to:

• Payload & drone customizations
• Flight training and support
• Flight operational support
• Assistance with difficult missions, difficult terrain
• UAV program implementation and consulting
• Image acquisition service worldwide

For more information visit   www.aeromao.com

The Aeromapper Talon Amphibious is the only truly affordable fixed wing UAV system that can be used for inspection and mapping in marine environments.  The UAV system delivers high resolution georeferenced imagery as well as video feed from up to 30 kms from the operators. After completing its mission the UAV later returns and safely lands on the water, adequately serving maritime Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

But how to ensure proper waterproofing for repeated landings on the water?

By design, the UAV can stay indefinitely afloat on the water, and even sustain full immersion without any damage or water intrusion, even in salt water.

To reach this level of dependability the engineers at Aeromao spent more than a year of lab work and field testing, experimenting with different materials, solutions & compounds, techniques and components to ensure a very high level of reliability. The base model is the well-known Aeromapper Talon, which has been the flagship for the company since 2014. The UAV is designed to fully survive and float even if fully filled with water, because internal components have been carefully waterproofed individually.

Some of the industries that can benefit from this technology are:

• Coastal & river mapping/surveying
• Fisheries
• Inspection of infrastructure or wildlife
• Ecology & conservation
• Surveillance
• Marine management

Flying on remote atolls

As of this writing, a couple of Amphibious Talon units have been successfully operating during a 4 week expedition by a worldwide renowned British conservation institution. The location is on an undisclosed remote atoll in Belize, as part of a series of very important efforts for conservation & ecology and enforcement and control of illegal fishing activities over protected areas.

The type of terrain offers little or no land to operate from, therefore only truly amphibious drones are usable. The drones have been successfully launched from both beaches or small boats and then landed autonomously landed on the water after each flight is completed.

Image credit: Three Wise Monkeys & Zoological Society of London

The expedition team required a drone capable of be launched from a boat, record high resolution video and stills, send live video feed to the Ground Station at very long ranges, be able to fly in 40km/h winds, return and land on water, and repeat several times daily and for several weeks. The Aeromapper Talon demonstrated to be the only suitable solution for the challenge.  More information on the expedition to come soon.

More information about the Aeromapper Talon Amphibious can be found here.

Image credit: Three Wise Monkeys & Zoological Society of London

Image credit: Three Wise Monkeys & Zoological Society of London

About Aeromao

Is the Canadian leading UAV manufacturer, developer of the Aeromapper series of turnkey unmanned aerial vehicles for mapping, surveying, precision agriculture, remote sensing, inspection and surveillance.

With exports to more than 45 countries since 2012, Aeromao Inc. offers a line of products that adapt very quickly to market demands and to unique client’s applications, where no other UAV manufacturer goes. The Aeromappers have been used by corporations, research organizations, universities and government agencies around the globe for a great variety of applications.

Aeromao not only manufactures and sells the Aeromappers and related sub-systems, but also extends its services to:

• Payload & drone customizations
• Flight training and support
• Flight operational support
• Assistance with difficult missions, difficult terrain
• UAV program implementation and consulting
• Image acquisition service worldwide

For more information visit   www.aeromao.com

Melissa Schiele, MSc student from Imperial College London, joined the 2018 May expedition to the British Indian Ocean Territory to use fixed wing amphibious drones to look at megafauna distribution across the Chagos Archipelago. @explorer_mel

By Melissa Schiele, MSc   July 8^th, 2018

I was thrilled when Dr Tom Letessier from ZSL chose me to help with his drone research as part of the Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science. To our knowledge, no one had a fixed-wing water landing drone. Our plan was to survey some of the islands of the Chagos Archipelago to compare distributions of megafauna around islands with birds nesting on them to islands with invasive rats on them.  The drones were amphibious Aeromapper Talons manufactured by Aeromao Inc., in Canada.

The use of UAVs (Unmanned aerial vehicles), or drones, is gaining traction in the world of ecology and conservation. In marine environments, drones are being tested for their ability to locate megafauna and map areas. Initial results have been promising across the board and many are looking to drones (of all types) to bridge the gap between ground truthing surveys (diving transects etc) and large-scale plane based surveys, which cover thousands of kilometres.

At the end of April 2018, I flew out to Canada to learn how to fly our new drones with Aeromao, the company that created our waterproofed fixed wing drone capable of flying huge distances with the strength, stability and mechanisms of a small plane. With a two-meter wingspan, the units look impressive. After a week of training and our first successful water landing on Lake Erie, I packed up the two drones and flew from Toronto to the Maldives.

After a tense few days waiting for customs to release our drones, one hour before departure, they arrived on board our research vessel and we steamed to the Chagos Archipelago. Our first deployment and retrieval was a success and we captured our first aerial footage. Our drones have two cameras on board; one on the belly of the fuselage takes snaps every second and one in the clear nose cone that allows for live streaming of the drone flight to a screen used by the drone pilot. The images that we took have proved our original concept worked and we were able to pin point sharks, birds and large fishes.

To read the full article: https://www.zsl.org/blogs/chagos-expedition/project-drone-pioneering-steps-into-water-landing-drones-in-marine-ecology

About the Aeromapper Talon Amphibious: 

The Amphibious version of the Aeromapper Talon allows maritime operations by autonomously belly landing on water.

Air Sciences Inc. hired GeosUAS Inc, and Aeromao Inc. to demonstrate the Aeromapper Talon's capabilities for use in high resolution terrain mapping of a windy, dry lake bed in Southern California. Air Sciences is considering the Aeromapper Talon to acquire 3 cm resolution DEMs and orthophotos for around 8 km2 to be acquired on regular intervals.  

During the tests, the Talon flew several successful flights of up to 1.5 hrs.  The plane flew and landed successfully when ground level winds were about 15 mph and gusting to 20 mph. Once the images were processed with Pix4D Mapper, the resultant terrain and orthophotos were of high quality, equivalent to data obtained from an industry-grade quadcopter.

For Air Sciences, the Aeromapper Talon is particularly attractive because its price is less than half of its competitors.  Consequently, an operational Talon and a second backup system, still cost less than a single plane from other competitors.  As such, the Aeromapper Talon, in addition to being inexpensive can also provide a unique level of operational reliability, still at a reasonable cost.

The Aeromapper Talon is a turnkey sUAS manufactured by Canadian company Aeromao Inc. and designed for tasks such as mapping, surveying, precision agriculture, monitoring and surveillance. It is a multipurpose fixed wing drone with a multitude of payload options, including high resolution RGB cameras with PPk, thermal sensors, multispectral cameras and various combinations of these.

For more information please visit: https://www.aeromao.com/aeromapper_talon_uav/

About geosUAS, Inc.  

Is a United States environmental consulting company which specializes in natural resource assessments for energy, mining, land management and conservation purposes.  GeosUAS incorporate UAS/UAV cutting edge technology like the Aeromapper Talon as well as multirotors to monitor critical resources, find endangered vegetation or conduct overall monitoring and assessments so field scientists can focus on the resource. As a drone service provider, GeosUAS, saw the need to outfit other professionals so its team started businabox.com to help you grow your business using drones (UAS/UAV) technology by providing a web domain name, technical resources, training and solutions within your discipline.  Business in A Box has over 800 web-domain names to fit any business or industry.

For more information about GeosUAS visit  http://www.geosuas.com/

About Aeromao Inc.

Is the Canadian leading UAV manufacturer, developer of the Aeromapper series of turnkey unmanned aerial vehicles for mapping, surveying, precision agriculture and remote sensing.

With exports to more than 45 countries since 2012, Aeromao Inc. offers a line of products that adapt very quickly to market demands and to unique client’s applications, where no other UAV manufacturer goes.

Aeromao Inc., celebrates its 4^th year as an official partner of Pix4D offering the Pix4DMapper Aeromao edition and Pix4D related products.

The Pix4DMapper Aeromao Edition is a fully featured image processing software package bundled with an Aeromapper UAV system, that includes two perpetual licenses of the worldwide leader in photogrammetry software.

This bundle offers the additional advantage of resulting in a more affordable package than if either system is purchased separately. For example, the Aeromapper Talon (the flagship UAV system of Aeromao) is sold for less than $16,000 USD, including Pix4DMapper Aeromao edition. The Aeromapper Talon is a fixed-wing commercial turnkey UAV system for large area mapping, BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) operations and optional PPK (post-processed kinematic) for survey-grade results, including a wide range of optional swappable sensors (thermal, multispectral and even surveillance camera packages).

However, these prices could be impacted after January 1^st, 2019 due to policy changes.

Aeromao Inc,. additionally offers stand alone licenses, educational packages or volume discounts in a quick turnaround time.

Aeromao is also an official partner & reseller of Agisoft Photoscan since 2013 and all its related products.

About Aeromao Inc.

Is the Canadian leading UAV manufacturer, developer of the Aeromapper series of turnkey unmanned aerial vehicles for mapping, surveying, precision agriculture and remote sensing.

With exports to more than 45 countries since 2012, Aeromao Inc. offers a line of products that adapt very quickly to market demands and to unique client’s applications, where no other UAV manufacturer goes. The Aeromappers have been used by corporations, research organizations, universities and government agencies around the globe for a great variety of applications.

Aeromao extends its range of services to payload customizations, data acquisition services globally, flight training and operational support to its clients.   Find out more at www.aeromao.com

Lockheed Martin acquired an Aeromapper Talon from Canadian UAV manufacturer Aeromao Inc, specially suited with a dual camera setup with long range video transmission capabilities.

The Aeromapper Talon fixed wing autonomous aircraft suited the specific requirements for this project in which an affordable, reliable and customizable platform was sought. The purchase happened during the summer of 2018.

As part of the requirements, the forward-looking video sensor had to be capable of recording high resolution video, send live video signal to a minimum distance of 20 miles, provide 10X zoom capability and tilt from horizontal to fully vertical on pilot’s command. Additionally, the UAV was required to carry simultaneously a thermal camera looking straight down, and the video signal on the receiving GCS required to be switched between the 10x zoom camera and the nadir thermal sensor.

Additionally, the unit had to maintain the ability to carry a swappable 24Mp camera for conventional mapping missions when required. 

Such a unique configuration can be used for a number of applications like search and rescue, wild life monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, wild life research, pipeline observation and more.

The unit was delivered in late summer during 2018.

A big fish in a small pond.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones which can safely land on water are a relative scarcity, and fixed-wing users working in the “splash-zone” could benefit greatly with a drone specifically designed to sustain this type of environment. Thus far, fixed-wing UAVs have been the industry model of choice for surveys which require power; long endurance times, substantial payload and extensive range, and the new Aeromapper Talon Amphibious delivers all that plus the ability to function 100% amphibiously by landing on water and being watertight.

The Aeromapper Talon amphibious has been extensively tested in challenging marine conditions by marine ecologists in London, who were the original inspiration for the design. Marine ecologists, and field biologists, have it tough. Their working conditions on vessels or in far flung remote island locations may appear idyllic but can present many logistical problems and constraints when it comes to gathering data. There can be waves, wind and rain at any given moment and the scientists needed a UAV which could stand up to this harsh environment. We were fortunate enough to not only train two scientists in our UAV handling and piloting, but to send two of the amphibious units to the field, to be tested, proving that the system can be quickly taught and implemented.

The UAV was successfully flown in the British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) as part of a scientific expedition led by the Zoological Society of London. This is the first time that a fixed-wing amphibious UAV has been used in the UK Overseas Territories and the applications of a water landing unit in marine ecological surveys, fisheries management and maritime surveillance are vast. 

The amphibious UAV was piloted and trialled by an MSc student from Imperial College London, who described the unit as “An incredible tool for gathering vast amounts of ecological and habitat data, safe in the knowledge that we can easily land anywhere near the main vessel, on the ocean. In the tropics, rain clouds can often hit out of nowhere, and with this amphibious UAV, we no longer have to worry about rain water leaking in, either.”. Over 25,000 images were collected during the ecological surveys and the scientists were able to analyse the images to calculate the abundances of sharks and birds. Their camera of choice was the Garmin VIRB which allowed for geotagging of each image. The UAV is already gathering a lot of interest in the research world after being showcased at a marine symposium in London, with scientists and managers from around the world, looking to implement it into their coastal project operations.

The UAV is quickly assembled and deployed by hand (easily done by anyone), from the shore, from a small boat or from large steel vessels, without disruption to the GPS system; an issue which can affect multicoptrers and VTOL drones. What makes this system unique to life on the water, is the fully waterproofed fuselage and internal components, using marine grade parts which will avoid corrosion from salt water.  The UAV can also be equipped with a live camera system (excellent for monitoring and surveillance) as well as a 20Mp camera which will take crystal clear stills or film. The UAV is simple to retrieve from the water using a small boat or you can land it near to, or on a beach. With a cruise speed of 60kph, communications range of +30Km and flight endurance of nearly 2 hours, it is possible to cover a huge area, saving money and time.

The range of industries that can benefit from a UAV of these characteristics is quite wide: aquaculture, marine sciences and conservation, coastal management and enforcement, freshwater body management, flood zones, fisheries, disaster areas, around oil rigs, dams; in fact, anywhere where water was once a hindrance to your UAV surveying.

Aeromao Inc, has delivered an Aeromapper 300 customized and ready for the Nano-Hyperespectral camera from Headwell Photonics to the University of Brasilia, in Brazil.

Since the initial approval was granted the custom integration was performed in a record time of only a few weeks.

When it comes to find a UA­­­V dependable enough to trust such an expensive sensor, the Aeromappers are the obvious choice thanks to its affordability, dependability, ease of use, parachute recovery and great level of support. 

The Nano hyperespec camera is fully enclosed into the payload bay, meaning that the sensor is very well protected by the carbon fiber/Kevlar pod of the aircraft. A quick swappable mount is provided so the aircraft can be also used normally with other sensors such as the RGB 24 Mp camera included.

The Headwall’s Nano-Hyperspec^® sensor is a completely integrated hyperspectral camera designed for the VNIR (400-1000nm) spectral range, with interchangeable lens capability. A key advantage of the Nano-Hyperspec is that it also includes 480GB of on-board data collection/storage, plus attached GPS/IMU functionality.

Basic Specifications:

• Spatial bands: 640
• Spectral bands: 270
• Frame rate: 350 Hz (maximum)
• Dispersion per pixel (nm/pixel): 2.2
• Lens options: 17mm, 4.8mm, 8mm, 12mm
• Storage: 480 GB
• Interface: Gigabit ethernet
• Weight: 520 grs (excluding lens)

For more information on the Aeromapper 300 go http://www.aeromao.com/

For more information on the Nano-Hyperespec go here

The Nano hyperspectral imagery can be used for  blah blah (from video)

If you want to learn more about how Hyperespectral imagery can benefit your business, we recommend to watch this 5 minutes video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwT1fPJJt9Q

Aeromao Inc. is a Canadian leading UAV manufacturer since 2011, developer of the Aeromapper series of turnkey unmanned aerial vehicles for mapping, surveying, precision agriculture and remote sensing.

With exports to more than 45 countries in less than 4 years after founding, Aeromao Inc. offers a line of products that adapt very quickly to market demands and to unique client’s applications, where no other UAV manufacturer goes. From wildlife monitoring in the Artic to water quality monitoring in Saskatchewan, to urban mapping in Thailand, the Aeromappers are currently being used by private companies, research organizations, universities and government agencies all over the globe for a wide variety of applications.

For more information on the Aeromappers please visit: http://www.aeromao.com/products/

This time an Aeromapper Talon flew a mission autonomously to a target located 30km away from the operators, while maintaining at all times a strong communications and control link. This demonstrates the great potential for Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations for applications such as power line and pipeline monitoring, roadways survey, surveillance and wildlife control, and long linear missions in general. Best of all, the Aeromapper Talon costs only a fraction compared to systems with similar capabilities, traditionally 2x or 3x more expensive.

The mission was carried out in the Andes Mountains of South America. The location of the flight is situated at 2,800m above sea level and the flight was performed at a cruise altitude of 250m agl. The UAV travelled over a body of water during 50% of the flight. The drone travelled a total distance of 60km in one hour of flight, still having plenty of flight time left, thanks to its 2 hour flight endurance.

The UAV could have gone further than 30km but the operators decided to bring it back since the area in the path of the UAV was full of high peaks in excess of 3,500 m above sea level. Further missions are being planned to demonstrate the capabilities to reach 50km. 

The Aeromapper 300 also uses the same long range communication system.

Watch full video here

(link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09EHfr1Ed7s)

Powerful solution for linear mission challenges

At Aeromao Inc, we constantly receive many requests from clients wanting to fly linear missions sometimes to survey thousands of kilometers of pipelines, power lines or roadways. Having done ourselves hundreds of kilometers of linear projects in the past we know very well the challenges faced during this type of operations.

The Aeromapper Talon proves to be the key solution because of its capabilities and affordability. Linear missions usually demand the following set of characteristics from a UAV, in which the Aeromapper Talon excels in all:

• Able to operate in difficult terrain and with a mobile GCS with a reliable strong communications.
• Quick deployment and easy operation: the Aeromapper Talon can be flight ready in 15 minutes and is one of the easiest UAVs to operate.
• Several cycles of takeoff and landings per day from different locations: here the handlaunch and parachute landing are pretty much a MUST have. A large area survey needs the flexibility of operating from virtually anywhere.
• Reliable and easy to repair in the field, as well as affordable and interchangeable spare parts.

Complete UAV solution, multiple fronts

The Aeromapper Talon is also a multi-mission payload complete solution for all your fronts such as agriculture, centimeter accurate surveys, surveillance and monitoring thanks to its full range of payloads

- 24 Mp RGB + with Parrot Sequoia simultaneously: complete your full survey at high resolution and get vegetation data in a single flight.

- 24 Mp RG + Thermal Infrared: How about a high resolution mission where Thermal information is required? Ideal for pipeline or wildlife monitoring.

- Forward looking day / night payload: need an affordable surveillance and observation platform with long range video streaming? All systems are swappable easily in case you need to do mapping missions as well.

- Micasense RedEdge: serious agriculture power with this swappable payload option.

- GNSS PPK: eliminate GCPs and achieve up to 3 cm of accuracy for those engineering projects. Also available as a swappable payload that can be easily removed if required.

- Pix4DMapper Aeromao Edition: serious post processing power for the most exhaustive power, available in an affordable bundle package with the complete UAV system.

- Agisfot Photoscan Pro: affordable and flexible post processing software to become a post-processing Ninja.

More information can be found at www.aeromao.com

Takeoff from a nearby island, survey another one, then come back and land autonomously... No problem!

On December of 2016 Aeromao Inc. in collaboration with Foresight Surveyors completed a full photogrammetric survey mission with an Aeromapper Talon over one of the most unique and exotic islands in the Maldives, surveying a total area of approximately 251 acres or 1 Sq. Km. at a GSD of 2cm/pixel. The UAV flew at a cruise altitude of 100 m AGL and collected 1422 photos with an amazing level of detail. A DSM, orthophoto and point cloud were generated using Pix4DMapper. Despite the 2 hour flight endurance capability of the Aeromapper Talon, the mission was successfully completed in only 45 minutes. The UAV flew at a maximum distance from the ground control of 2km.

The UAV flew flawlessly and was launched and recovered via parachute from a nearby island approximately 1 km away, due to the limited space available for takeoff and landing on the target island.

The Aeromapper Talon was not equipped with PPK GNSS system, so 5 GCS points were taken on the island which resulted in a horizontal accuracy of 4.8cm

The mission resulted so successful that the crew had plenty of time to go snorqueling around the island while the computers processed all the data.

The Aeromapper Talon utilized is owned by Foresight Surveyors purchased by the year 2014. An upgrade and service was performed to get the UAV up to date prior to the flights over the island.

Centimeter level accuracy required...  Bring it on!

The purpose of the survey was to generate an orthophoto to trace the As-built for future developments taking place in the island. Thanks for the data acquired, the client received an up-to-date high resolution property map which was easier to be used by the project department and decision makers. As well the othophoto was useful for their environmental monitoring purposes and biodiversity mapping.

About Foresight Surveyors: pioneers in UAV service in the Maldives region

Foresight surveyor is the first company to introduce unmanned aerial vehicle mapping to the Maldives. Foresight Surveyors decided on the Aeromapper Talon because of its ease use, dependability and affordability.

Equipped with the best technology, Foresight Surveyors provide comprehensive range of surveying and survey related consultancy, which includes topographical survey, bathymetry survey and engineering survey services, using traditional Techniques and modern technologies to produce well presented and accurate data.

For more information about Foresight Surveyors please visit http://www.foresightsurveyors.com/?v=77d96fc8e5c0

Snorqueling in the Maldives upon UAV landing

The Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, along the north-south direction, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 sq mi), making this one of the world's most dispersed countries. It lies between latitudes 1°S and 8°N, and longitudes 72° and 74°E. The atolls are composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, situated atop a submarine ridge 960 kilometers (600 mi) long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs north to south.

Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with maximum and average natural ground levels of only 2.4 meters (7 ft 10 in) and 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, respectively. In areas where construction exists, however, this has been increased to several meters.

Aeromappers: affordable professional mapping solutions

Aeromao Inc. is a Canadian leading UAV manufacturer since 2011, developer of the Aeromapper series of turnkey unmanned aerial vehicles for mapping, surveying, precision agriculture and remote sensing.

With exports to more than 45 countries in less than 4 years after founding, Aeromao Inc. offers a line of products that adapt very quickly to market demands and to unique client’s applications, where no other UAV manufacturer goes. From wildlife monitoring in the Artic to water quality monitoring in Saskatchewan, to urban mapping in Thailand, the Aeromappers are currently being used by private companies, research organizations, universities and government agencies all over the globe for a wide variety of applications.

For more information please visit:   http://aeromao.com/

For the full article and sample imagery please go to: http://www.aeromao.com/maldives/