Every job requires two people on site to manage the flight and keep the area safe. Even though the area is marked with signs stating there are low-level aerial operations in progress, people still love to walk across a paddock or up a dirt road to look at what is going on. At this point, the UAV is returned to the operator and parked in hover until the offending onlookers are clear of the area.
Australia wide Nathan has six cross-trained pilots who can operate as observers or pilots when he needs them. All flying is done manually for now as the autopilot software available for many UAVs is not quick enough at correcting for sudden wind gusts and altitude changes. Through plenty of experimentation, Nathan finds hand flying to be the most reliable for now.
The Machines
Nathan builds the UAV’s himself and there are six in the fleet. There have been many iterations along the way to perfect flight times with payload and reliability. These are not your average weekend hobby machines. They are expected to operate for hours a day over several days to keep up with demand. Flight times per battery charge average about 18 minutes.
Aerobugs
Sky Machines