Drones

Hovermap drones dive underground to autonomously map mines and tunnels

Hovermap drones dive underground to autonomously map mines and tunnels
The imaging and mapping potential of drones flying high above the ground is well enough documented, but they also hold great potential for environments deep beneath the Earth's surface
The imaging and mapping potential of drones flying high above the ground is well enough documented, but they also hold great potential for environments deep beneath the Earth's surface
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The Hovermap drone technology gathers data as it flies through mines and tunnels, which can then be processed on a laptop to generate 3D maps of the environment
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The Hovermap drone technology gathers data as it flies through mines and tunnels, which can then be processed on a laptop to generate 3D maps of the environment
The Hovermap drone technology generates 3D maps of subterranean environments
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The Hovermap drone technology generates 3D maps of subterranean environments
The Hovermap technology comes in the form of a payload that can be mounted to certain drones
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The Hovermap technology comes in the form of a payload that can be mounted to certain drones
The imaging and mapping potential of drones flying high above the ground is well enough documented, but they also hold great potential for environments deep beneath the Earth's surface
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The imaging and mapping potential of drones flying high above the ground is well enough documented, but they also hold great potential for environments deep beneath the Earth's surface
Emesent has tested its mine-mapping drones beneath the surface of Western Australia
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Emesent has tested its mine-mapping drones beneath the surface of Western Australia
Emesant is a startup company founded by former researchers at Australian federal government research agency the CSIRO
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Emesant is a startup company founded by former researchers at Australian federal government research agency the CSIRO
View gallery - 6 images

The imaging and mapping potential of drones flying through the sky is well documented, but they also hold great potential for environments deep beneath the Earth's surface. Australian-based startup Emesant is taking an underground approach to drone technology, developing specialized software for the autonomous mapping of mines and tunnels.

Emesant is a startup company founded by former researchers at Australian federal government research agency the CSIRO, where they worked in the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Group. There began the development of the Hovermap technology, which uses a mix of LiDAR, collision avoidance sensors and GPS to map underground environments.

This comes in the form of a payload that can be mounted to compatible drones, which can then be deployed beneath the ground in dangerous environments, saving humans from putting themselves at risk. Emesant put its technology to the test last year 600 m (2,000 ft) beneath the surface of Western Australia, where it carried out the world's first fully autonomous beyond-the-line-of-sight drone flight in an underground mine.

The Hovermap drone technology gathers data as it flies through mines and tunnels, which can then be processed on a laptop to generate 3D maps of the environment
The Hovermap drone technology gathers data as it flies through mines and tunnels, which can then be processed on a laptop to generate 3D maps of the environment

The Hovermap system gathers data as it flies through these mines and tunnels, which can then be processed on a laptop afterwards to generate 3D maps of the environment.

The company's commercialization efforts have also just received a nice shot in the arm, attracting a handy AU$3.5 million (US$2.5 million) in venture capital. Early adopters are apparently already experimenting with the Hovermap technology, and the company hopes to make it available before the year is out.

You can check out the video below to learn more about the Hovermap technology.

Source: Emesent

Autonomous underground drone flight beyond line-of-sight using Hovermap payload

View gallery - 6 images
3 comments
3 comments
Gizmowiz
Cool idea and sorely needed small ones that can negotiate old mining mines in Colorado and the rest of the country to map them all.
Wombat56
I'm immediately reminded of the "pups" in the Prometheus movie, which were the best part of the movie IMO.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/prometheus-technology/ (About one-third of the way down the page).
notarichman
if it could drop relays at each intersection, then controlling and communicating with the drone would help.