Ukrainian company Culver Aviation has presented an innovative automated tracking system using drones.

Menatir is a network of base stations in the form of standard containers in which drones are placed. The containers protect the drones, allow them to launch, land, perform the mission, and charge and transfer the data they collect in automatic mode.

Menatir allows companies to continuously receive and process information from the Earth’s surface in real time. Menatir provides comprehensive aerial observation of any object in real time.

Regardless of the number of base stations in the network, only one expert from anywhere in the world is needed to manage Menatir. Service and technical support is provided by the Culver Aviation team.

“Our solution is unique in its level of automation and scalability. This is a new approach to working with UAVs and data. Business and government structures will be able to continuously receive and process information and make the right decisions in an automated mode with minimal human involvement. 30% cheaper than traditional drones and helicopters with Menatir“, says Oleksandr Danylenko, CEO of Culver Aviation and author of the project.

For the project, the company developed a unique Menatir UAV with vertical take-off and landing capability. On a single charge, the aircraft can fly up to 45 km in one direction and return. The base station has up to six drones. One of the following types of payloads can be placed on the UAV:

• video camera;
• video camera with thermal imager;
• digital camera;
• multispectral camera;
• echo sensor;
• any special equipment that meets the specified dimensions and weight.

Menatir can be used for video surveillance of any object in HD quality, aerial photography to create orthophoto plans of the area, monitor the condition of crops, forests, water bodies, prevent landscape fires, analyze the state of air quality and other tasks in real terms. according to a scheduled schedule or on request

To cover large areas, the system can be scaled to any number of containers mounted to overlap each other’s reach. Drones can move freely between network stations and take no more than 20 minutes to fly to any coverage point. In case of bad weather or force majeure in the area where one of the containers is located, overlapping zones will allow another UAV to be lifted into the air and continue its mission.

Drones in automatic mode are launched from a container, perform a task and return according to the scheduled missions. It takes 3 minutes from the receipt of the command to the departure of the aircraft. Each container has its own weather station that will protect the UAV: ​​the system will stop the flight mission and in case of bad weather, the aircraft will return to the container.

The data collected by the drones are processed and analyzed by special software with artificial intelligence elements of the Drone Management System. The system sends the execution phases and results of flight missions to network users, specifically via a mobile application.