It’s a good time to be in the Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone space. Estimated at USD 1.31 billion in 2025, the BVLOS drone market is expected to reach approximately USD 3.72 billion by 2030, according to recent research by Modor Intelligence. German drone manufacturer Wingcopter has built a successful BVLOS business over the last decade in the medical and commercial delivery sector and has now flown back to its foundational roots: long range surveying. Geospatial journalist Mary Jo Wagner connected with Ansgar Kadura, Wingcopter’s co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer to learn what propelled the company into BVLOS LiDAR surveying, how their drone and approach are different and why they never lose sight of their core mission of improving lives.
Wingcopter has been successfully completing Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) missions in the medical supplies delivery space since 2017. What prompted the move to LiDAR BVLOS surveying solutions?
Wingcopter actually began with surveying projects in 2015, in the early stages of our company. So we already knew there would be strong interest in Wingcopter’s vertical takeoff and landing and fixed-wing flight capabilities for surveying. An early key differentiator for us was in 2017 we maxed out the payload capacity to offer payloads up to 10 pounds while staying below the 55 pounds maximum takeoff weight and carry these heavy loads over long distances.
Then in 2019, we added another core differentiator––aviation grade certification––and became laser focused on becoming an aviation company and developing our aircraft with reliability and redundancies inside. We focused on flying heavy payloads over long ranges, and having good performance in strong winds––dependability that has been paramount for our medical deliveries as well.
In 2020 we began the FAA-type certification process, we continued to progress the reliability of our product, and now we’ve circled back to the surveying market with a very reliable drone that can vertically take off and land, has redundancies inside, and is built for flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). GeoWeek seemed like the perfect venue to demonstrate our re-engineered Wingcopter 198, which replaces the payload box for medical deliveries with a laser scanner. The re-engineered Wingcopter is an electric VTOL system that transitions into forward flight in mid-air. It can carry up to 10 lbs, flies at about 56 mph and has a distance range up to 37 miles (60 km).
One use case in particular that our customers showed significant interest in is using the drone for long-range LiDAR surveys over power lines, which are currently carried out by helicopters, predominantly. With our mobile van solution, users can launch the drone and control and monitor the flight from inside the van. So instead of flying over these long power lines with a helicopter, you can do the job with a safer and more cost-effective drone. Having a drone for BVLOS LiDAR surveys is an attractive alternative.
The response to this has been very positive. A lot of aviation operators are considering the idea of using drones as well.
Are your LiDAR sensors from a third party?
Yes. Wingcopter is open for surveying applications and we have the payload capacity to carry high-spec laser scanners such as those from Riegl or YellowScan. We want to engage with real surveying companies and surveyors to ask, What is it that you need? The customers make the choice. They decide which laser scanner works best for them. We, as a drone provider, are supporting them with a new tool that they can utilize in a better way.
One of the most common challenges for BVLOS surveying is regulatory compliance. What is your approach to obtaining BVLOS waivers to ensure compliance with local aviation authorities’ regulations? A waiver from the FAA, for example, is notoriously difficult to get.
Unlike in the medical supply delivery space where we are operating the Wingcopter, in the surveying sector, we are not the operator ourselves. We are an OEM. We’re providing the drone solution for customers who operate the drone themselves. In the US, we have had customers who’ve secured a BVLOS FAA certificate––in 2022 the Wingcopter was used in Kansas for the longest ever BVLOS commercial delivery in the US.
The drone itself is prepared for BVLOS with a first person view (FPV) stream in the front of the drone and an LTE communication that is not bound to a certain distance but to the LTE network, and we have a backup satellite communication system. These are the typical requirements you need to get these kind of waivers. Also, we have an awareness platform on the drone. So we have the remote ID, we have a digital signal processor (DSP) in for flight control and other advanced sensors to detect and avoid other aircrafts. It’s well designed and positioned for securing BVLOS waivers.
By expanding to the BVLOS surveying market, you’re entering the domain of established drone services providers like Rocketmine, Alliance Engineering + Planning, and Applied Aeronautics that offer solutions for asset-heavy sectors such as energy and infrastructure. How does Wingcopter differ?
First of all, we are entering the LiDAR surveying market as an OEM. We are experts in developing drones and operating drones, but we are not experts in surveying. That is already an established market with many capable companies. Where we fit is helping build out the BVLOS segment of this market with drones, driving innovation and new market opportunities.
We also have operational experience so we can provide proper training on the system and support customers with how to operate these drones and how to get BVLOS waivers.
If you look at drones in the current market in the sub 55-pound category, you’re looking at a VTOL fixed-wing drone that has a certain range. Our drone can fly a conservative 39 miles in one mission. This is a range that we don’t see on other players in the market, particularly combined with payload reliability. And this is what we hear from the market as well, so filling that needed gap is very interesting for them. We believe if you want to build a good drone, you also need to understand completely how it’s being operated.
The W198, the company’s flagship product carries a 10-lb (4.5 kg) sensor payload that can capture up to 570 pts/m2 at 5mm precision and can survey up to 37 miles (60 km) of linear infrastructure in one mission. Potential use cases include the inspection of power lines, pipelines, railways and roads, forest plantations, as well as the mapping of terrain and vegetation that is difficult to access such as narrow canyons. How will this technology be an advantage over the abundance of existing UAS capabilities?
I think the main advantage is it’s more cost effective and safer. Helicopters are incredibly expensive and riskier for pilots, and multi-copter drones have limited range so that becomes more costly if you can only fly five miles per mission. With Wingcopter, you can use a BVLOS drone that can carry a high-spec LiDAR sensor and fly 37 miles per mission. That enables you to optimize your time and costs much more effectively. And you can do much bigger jobs in a shorter time. We’re hearing that this is a game changer in the drone services market.
I’ve spoken with many surveyors who have had challenges with VLOS drones malfunctioning, losing communication, losing power and dropping out of the sky somewhere or falling on private property, in which case they don’t have permission to enter and retrieve the drone. BVLOS surveying seems to heighten the risk of those issues, as well as others. Are you hearing a lot of talk about ensuring safety?
We not only hear the talk, we actively talk about it because this is what we have built the whole system around. We have a lot of intelligent people with a lot of capacities who have been working to solve exactly these challenges. If you imagine, if you want to deliver some urgently needed medicines or blood with a drone, it has to deliver. It can’t just land somewhere off course or get lost. Ensuring the safety and dependability of the Wingcopter has been our core objective since launch. And that’s why it’s been designed and built with advanced sensors and systems to ensure it’s “in site” remotely through constant and reliable communication and it stays on course, even 37 miles away.
You’ve had strong interest in Brazil for asset inspections and mapping. Have you launched any projects there or anywhere else?
Things are in development there. Similar to the US, Brazil has a huge issue with wildfires and power lines and trees falling onto power lines. So they are keen to have a solution that is cheaper than existing solutions to inspect assets over a large area.
As an example, if it’s dry season and a critical time of year for fire risk, and you already have the Wingcopter and a laser scanner in a van in a certain area, you can quickly launch the drone and carry out a vegetation encroachment survey on your own. That eliminates the lengthy procurement process for securing a helicopter survey. This approach is more ad hoc surveying but it is an interesting shift in approach. Also laser scanners are very beneficial for vegetation penetration. With the significant forests in Brazil, this BVLOS approach is a natural for forestry applications, environmental conservation, and these types of applications that can profit from more accurate data from LiDAR sensors.
As Wingcopter, we have this vision that we create efficient and sustainable drone solutions to improve and save lives everywhere. This corresponds directly with our medical delivery cases, and we’re confident this mission will fly in the surveying market as well. If you fly over power lines for vegetation encroachment, for example, and you’re able to identify areas at risk, remove the fuel and prevent a wildfire, this is a very noble cause in our opinion. Surveying in general can create great benefits for people.
So you’re in the feel good business.
More in the do good business.
In addition to Brazil, are you having strong interest anywhere else?
Also in Japan. Brazil, Japan, and the United States are our initial focus areas, but we are open to the whole world.
What are the next steps for Wingcopter? Are you also considering other sensor options like infrared or hyperspectral?
In general we are open to suggestions and requests, but we are particularly focused on certain niches where our drone adds a lot of value for people. So if we can substitute a helicopter that is currently doing a LiDAR survey with a safer, more precise and more cost efficient alternative, then we’re adding a lot of value. Where we can add value is what’s most important for us.
