In the first of a two-part Q&A series, walking through the start-to-finish process for SkyX’s midstream pipeline integrity services, we sat down with Josh MacDougall – Flight Operations Manager –to understand how data collection and flight operations play out on a pipeline Right-Of-Way (ROW). To start, tell us a bit about what you do at […]
According to the World Economic Forum’s report on digital transformation in oil & gas, predictive maintenance stands to unlock $150 billions of value for the industry.1 If you’re a pipeline operator, this manifests as a radical reduction of costs and a vast improvement to operational efficiency. Predictive maintenance exploits both real-time and historical data to […]
For this week’s blog article, we sat down with Niall McCallum – Flight Operations – to discuss how SkyX is working toward Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations in the United States. To start, tell us a bit about what you do at SkyX. Within flight operations, my job is to ensure that SkyX […]
If you’re a pipeline integrity manager it’s your responsibility to get the right sensor systems in place that will allow you to safely and reliably transport your product. Yet, you may still be experiencing limitations that continue to leave you vulnerable to leaks and damage. Consider this, are you limiting your thinking around intelligent, remote […]
In last week’s article on pipeline safety, we covered the immediate benefits of making an aerial data platform – that leverages UAVS and AI – a core part of your pipeline safety management systems. In this week’s article, we’ll be exploring how you can use the resultant data to craft the ultimate tool for a […]
Since the year 2000, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Significant Pipeline Incidents report shows that the industry is struggling to create a consistent year-to-year reduction in fatalities and injuries. In 2019 alone, over 12 lives were lost and 35 people were seriously injured in pipeline incidents.1 Sometimes, looking at figures like this, […]
Photogrammetry – the art of turning remotely sensed data sets into comprehensive models of the earth’s surface and terrain. With the introduction and gradual evolution of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology, the high-resolution orthomosaics and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) this process yields are becoming more accessible and higher in quality. With UAV-sourced imagery, you can […]
If you work in the field of pipeline integrity management, you’re likely finding yourself playing an ever-more difficult game. With aging infrastructure and ever-increasing regulatory burdens, you may be in search of a way to better monitor and mitigate issues along your pipeline and right-of-way (ROW). Platforms for aerial data can provide a new layer […]
In last week’s article on UAVs for Border Patrol, we discussed how re-thinking UAV deployment with smaller, lower-cost aerial systems can greatly improve a border patrol agency’s ability to visually monitor their border from the skies. This week, we’re examining how situating this UAV technology in a greater workflow for aerial data, that incorporates AI […]
Recent evolutions in commercially-available Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have made them better data sourcing and agent support tools than ever before. On the regular, agents find themselves working solo in remote locations, far from any boots-on-the-ground assistance. It’s not uncommon for a single agent to be seizing massive drug shipments or arresting dozens of people […]