Mining
How can UAV’s help mining operations?
UAV adoption in the mining industry is slowly ramping up and it’s exciting to see more advanced workflows develop. Mining operations utilize UAV’s for surveying, emergency response, security, asset integrity, volumetrics, modeling, mining exploration, and environmental reclamation.
There are several benefits to using UAV’s at a mine site. Safety is first. Flying in an open mine pit reduces time spent on the benches, on the road next to large vehicles, and allows their operations to access dangerous or hard to reach places that otherwise would not be accessible. This allows UAV pilots to spend less time in the field and more time in the office managing their data, creating models or leading advanced analysis.
Which UAV’s should you use?
There are a multitude of products that can help optimize your operations. If your UAV program is just getting started, I recommend the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Zoom or the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual for it’s low economic cost and smaller footprint. For more advanced operations such as surveying, look into the Phantom 4 RTK, or the M210 RTK v2 with the X7 gimbal with the 24mm or 35mm lens.
For a USA made vehicle, the Freefly Astro mapping kit with the A7R4 and 24mm lens is a great option. If higher accuracy is required, using Emlid Reach RS2 can provide centimeter level results.
Achievements
Working closely with industry leaders we are continuously improving our hardware to keep up with mining. Minor revisions in firmware and software for the Phantom 4 RTK and M200 series lead to an enhanced user experience. This includes the addition of a high megapixel gimbal camera for mining such as the M210 RTK v2 with the X7. This type of enhancement allows the UAV to be flown higher to cover a larger area while increasing the effective megapixels from 20 to 24. The UI and software is constantly improved as we develop and add new features such as Terrain Awareness for the Phantom 4 RTK series to meet industry demands. Both of these features are just a few of many that are constantly improved and I feel confident that UAV workflows will continue to improve in the following months.