Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has granted authority for autonomous inspection robotics firm Percepto to complete beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights of its drones-in-a-box system.
The waiver, granted by the CASA, will allow completely remote inspection of a remote operations facility in Australia. Percepto said this lays the groundwork for many similar waivers for its customers nationally.
“Percepto applauds CASA for their efforts to safely integrate autonomous drone technology into commercial operations,” said Dor Abuhasira, CEO and co-founder, Percepto.
“We are confident that our customers will be able to receive similar approvals in just a few months, putting remote operations centres well into reach for any company building their autonomous drone program.”
According to the project, this achievement adds value in the Australian market where many facilities are in remote locations. As a result, companies are increasingly introducing remote operations to manage, monitor and secure sites.
The approval will also enable high risk sites such as mines and refineries to better manage safety and environmental risks, while increasing productivity and reducing downtime.
“With Percepto gaining this regulatory approval, we see huge possibilities for how autonomous drones can improve remote industrial operations given Australia’s wide-open spaces,” said Jackie Dujmovic, CEO of Hover UAV and a board member of Safeskies Australia and the Australian Association of Uncrewed Systems.
“It’s a game-changer for how managers at critical infrastructure can inspect assets and monitor sites while gaining real-time insights based on collected data faster than ever before. The development is as significant as drones lifting off in Australia for the first time.”
