Drone as a tool | Mainblades

Drone-as-a-Tool

Our solution is provided as Drone-as-a-Tool (DaaT) meaning that we deliver our hard- and software including the maintenance, spare parts, and software upgrades to run your drone inspections. We enable our customers to perform the aircraft drone inspections themselves. We will make sure that your equipment is always up-to-date and ready-to-fly.

Our pricing model is based on a monthly fee per drone. The pricing is based on the number of flights, expected flight hours, and the length of the contract. The business case for using our drones is on this page. In case you would like to understand how our solution compares to the the competition, you can check out our comparison page.

DJI Drone including ISAAC Module from Mainblades

What is in our package?

package consisting drone, camera, Isaac module and ipad

As part of our product, we will provide you with the following hardware and software:

Top-end inspection drone
High-end camera & lens
Our proprietary ISAAC module
iPad Pro with our Mainblades Flight iOS app for inspections
Our cloud environment Mainblades AI-Dent for data analysis
Industrial quality batteries & charger station
Robust flight safety case for transportation

Our Unique Proposition

Automated drone inspection
Suitable for all aircraft types
Minimized installation time (5 min)
Out-the-box solution
Long flight time (25+ min)
Use of a standard industrial drone
Proprietary unique software

Developed by experienced robotics, automation & aircraft engineers
Autonomous, optimized and adaptive flight path
Software design driven by aircraft engineers
Fully integrated backend: automated damage detection & data storage
Damage classification: based on SRM
Active Learning: improving detection performance over time

Details of our hardware and software package

Drone

We use the best industrial drones available on the market – appropriate to the exact situation and deployment, such as in indoor vs. outdoor – as the body for our brain: ISAAC. We integrate ISAAC, the drone, and the payload sensor into the resulting tool that does what you want: an automated inspection of your aircraft.

The DJI M210 is currently our default drone. We are now testing the use of the next-generation DJI drone: DJI M300 drone.

Dimensions: 28.2×8.7×9.3 inch (716×220×236 mm)
Maximum take-off weight: 6.14 kg
Hovering accuracy: vertical: ±0.5, horizontal: ±1.5
Operating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)

ISAAC

Meet our navigation module Intelligent Sensing And Automated Control, or short: ISAAC. This module serves as the “brain” when mounted on the drone (“the body”). ISAAC makes the drone capable of precision mapping and navigation around your aircraft. With our onboard ISAAC software, we can ensure an automated inspection with full coverage and provide an inspection report, integrated into your maintenance system.

Updates to the software in terms of new features and improvements in the performance are automatically deployed via our CI/CD pipeline. This holds for all three software packages: onboard ISAAC, Mainblades Flight app, our backend & database in the server or cloud.

Camera

We use Zenmuse X5S camera to take HD photos. Equipped with a Micro 4/3 sensor, the Zenmuse X5S has a dynamic range of 12.8 stops with much–improved signal to noise ratio and color sensitivity than the X5R. It supports up to eight standard M4/3 lenses (including zoom lenses) with focal lengths ranging from 9mm-45mm(equivalent to 18mm-90mm on a 35mm camera), allowing more creative flexibility. The new CineCore 2.0 image processing system the Zenmuse X5S capable of capturing 5.2K 30fps CinemaDNG video and Apple ProRes video* as well as 4K 60fps using H.264 and 4K 30fpsusing H.265 (both at 100Mbps). Continuous DNG burst shooting at 20fps with 20.8MP images is also supported. The Zenmuse X5S was designed to keep pace with the rigors of high-end professional aerial imaging.

Upgrades come in as changes to the hardware configuration. For example, another sensor for a different kind of inspection: structured light sensor for dent inspections.