By Mella McEwen, MRT.com/Midland | Nov. 21, 2022
American Robotics not only showcased its drone-in-a-box at the Hart Energy Executive Oil Conference but highlighted the fact that its Scout System is autonomous — allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate without a human pilot.
"It changes the economics of human deployment," said Jason Cornell, vice president, product. It allows the company's clients to more efficiently deploy their pumpers who would otherwise spend their time driving to lease sites or operators who have to be on site operating inspection drones, he explained.
Being autonomous, Cornell said the drone is capable of monitoring its airspace for other aircraft and taking evasive action.
The Scout System is comprised of a base station set up on a site that allows the drone to fly up to a 2-mile radius and inspect assets multiple times per day. Inspections range from loss of containment — either oil or water — fugitive emissions and the security of the site. The drone returns to the base to recharge and as it recharges, it downloads the data it collected into a computer that analyzes it for anomalies and then the data is transferred to a portal the client can access.
Source: Aviation Pros