MINING

Streamline your mining operations with visual and metric data from inaccessible places

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Efficient mining operations rely on safety and operational clarity

Equipped with ELIOS 3 and its high density point clouds, surveyors and engineers can quickly collect data in no-go zones and provide underground insights that have not been possible before.
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Software output: 3D model showing the ELIOS 3's trajectory and some of the points of interest recorded during the mission.

BENEFITS

Inspect, survey, and map inaccessible areas from a safe distance

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Accessibility

Complete surveying  tasks in areas that are unsafe or inaccessible to humans with traditional equipment.

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Efficiency

Deliver centimeter accurate data in minutes rather than hours and make informed decisions faster.

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Safety

Keep workers from dangerous working conditions using remote monitoring, mapping, surveying, and inspection capabilities.

APPLICATIONS

Access to advanced drone capabilities for a range of underground mining applications

check-icon Mapping & surveying of hazardous areas
check-icon Stockpile volume tracking and reconciliation
check-icon Monitoring of underground shafts and ore passes
check-icon Change detection
check-icon Cut and fill volume calculation
check-icon Rock mass classification
check-icon Equipment inspection

IN ACTION

Put an end to hazardous inspections and surveys

Underground applications for the ELIOS 3 are extensive. Thanks to its rotating LiDAR sensor, ELIOS 3 provides an omni-directional field of view, ensuring 3D data is collected in all directions. Accurate model measurement and volume calculations are made possible without GPS. 

Related Products

Elios 3

Drone solution for inspection, mapping and surveying of confined spaces

Built to keep humans safe, the Elios 3 features a unique, collision-resilient flight controller that allows inspectors to collect data in inaccessible confined spaces.

Relying on the power of computer vision and LiDAR mapping, Elios 3 allows pilots to navigate mine workings, building a real-time 3D view of the drone’s environment and trajectory.
Learn more

SOFTWARE SOLUTION FOR MINING APPLICATIONS

GeoSLAM

With GeoSLAM, turn Elios 3 LiDAR data into survey-grade 3D models. This easy-to-use software solution has been developed to help surveyors map high risk environments and gain unprecedented analytical insights. 

Thanks to its mapping and volumetric measurements capabilities, GeoSLAM opens doors to a range of mining applications, including: convergence monitoring, volumetric measurement, stockpile reconciliations, and hang up localization.

Learn More

Accessory

Range extender

In underground environments, signal propagation can be limited by the geometry of the place. 

With the range extender, you can extend the range of your drone and gain precious distance for your mission.

Learn More

TESTIMONIALS

What our mining customers say about Elios

"Mining is an extremely hostile and dangerous environment to be in. Being able to remove the human element is key… Elios will help make the industry safer.”
Matt Mackinnon

Founder, UAS INC

"The economic benefits of using Elios for mining equipment inspections are clear. Since the mine doesn’t have to stop production for over an hour, the company sees an immediate savings of between $100-$150,000 in production costs.”
Eric Romersa

Co-founder, WSDATA3D

CASE STUDIES

Learn how mining companies are using our drones to monitor what is happening on-site

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3D Maps from Elios 3 Help Mining Operation Find Cause of Ore Pass Hangup in 10 Minutes

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Elios 3 Helps Luxembourg 3D Map Slate Mine Turned into Museum

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Elios 3 Stockpile Measurements Improve Safety & Accuracy at Salt Mine

Learn More

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Frequently Asked Questions

In order to operate a drone, do you have to be an engineer or an NDE inspector?

No, it is not required but you should always be aware of the regulations concerning commercial drone operations in your area before flying). Piloting Elios drones is accessible to everyone who has completed the introductory training. Traditionally our clients work in teams of two when running inspections, one pilot and one inspector who can analyze the data on the spot. With this approach, each person can focus on their area of expertise.

How do I train my team?

Flyability has put in place a complete certification and training program that takes drone pilots from discovering the particularities of piloting a drone indoors BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight), to being able to perform the most difficult indoor inspection missions. The certification tests the pilots on their ability to assess the difficulty of a mission and puts their own piloting skills into perspective. Our training courses are defined and provided by professional pilots with extensive mission track records using Elios drones. Every bit of theory you will learn is backed-up by practical exercises directly applicable to your everyday job as a pilot. Operators following our training courses receive a valuable professional certification, acknowledging their proficiency at using Elios drones.

Do I need to adapt my Standard Operating Procedures?

Asset owners are responsible for deciding whether to modify their SOPs to accommodate the use of drones. Nevertheless, SOPs provide a method to communicate the process changes to employees. As they no longer rely on humans to enter confined spaces for inspection, most of our customers update SOPs to take the drone into consideration.

Can a drone be used as a formal inspection tool?

Several clients have conducted formal inspections using our products that have been approved by classification societies. You can read more about an example in this article: https://www.flyability.com/articles-and-media/can-a-drone-be-used-as-a-formal-inspection-tool
The thing to note is that drones can't permanently be recognized as a formal inspection tool, since inspectors are agnostic to specific tools. Rather, inspectors can approve a given tool in a specific inspection when they see the data it can produce.

How to process inspection data?

Once your mission is completed, you can simply connect Elios to your computer using the USB port fitted on the top of the drone to import all data in Inspector, our companion software.

After retrieving the flight data, you have immediate access to a high resolution point cloud of your assets that you can visualise in Inspector. You can then review your POIs and document your inspection by taking notes in the POIs, making measurements, and exporting your data as a report.

Are drones intrinsically safe?

ATEX is the European certification given to equipment tested and approved to be intrinsically-safe.

The Elios drones are not ATEX rated / intrinsically safe. It is hardly possible for a drone to be intrinsically safe (none to date).

You will need to perform a procedure to neutralize the environment of the asset you want to inspect like you would do when doing a manned inspection. You still have a lot to gain when performing the inspection with a drone instead of a human. For example, you can use nitrogen to neutralize the asset and send in a drone right away. If you do the same for a manned inspection, the inspector would have to carry a breathing apparatus and you would need to deploy bystanders, which is much more complicated and dangerous.

For more information on this subject, please follow the link: https://www.flyability.com/articles-and-media/are-drones-intrinsically-safe

Can I fly Elios drones outdoors?

Flyability drones can fly outdoors in ATTI mode to inspect outdoor assets. However, it is not recommended to do so as it is much harder to control the drone in ATTI mode. This use case is reserved to experienced pilots only. Keep in mind that flying outdoors is subject to airspace regulations, unlike indoor flights.

Should I insource or outsource drone-based inspections?

It depends on your usage and the regulations in place. Some industries may require a qualified and certified inspector to perform an inspection. In case you would like to outsource, there are service providers that use the Elios drones all around the world.

For more information on outsourcing, consult the following links:

Insourcing versus outsourcing your industrial inspection drone program

Drone Inspections Insourcing vs Outsourcing Your Drone Inspection Program

What is the size of the smallest defect the Elios drones can spot?

With Elios 2 & 3, you can capture images with a Ground Sampling Distance of 0.18 mm/pixel when standing at 30 centimeters from the surface you inspect. With this accuracy, you can easily spot defects that are a few millimeters wide such as small cracking patterns in the walls or a hole inside of silos.

 

For more information on the resolution of the Elios 2 camera:

Drones Camera Resolution: Three Metrics You Should Know About

 

For more information on the types of data the Elios 2 can collect:

https://www.flyability.com/articles-and-media/data-capture-elios-2

Is dust a blocker for drone-based inspections?

Industrial indoor spaces are often full of dust, which makes First-Person View aircraft navigation difficult. Elios drones feature a dust-proof lighting system that allows you to traverse dirty places without losing sight of your objective. And for the extreme cases, you can navigate inside assets relying solely on the live map created by LiDAR and displayed instantly in Cockpit.