Wingtra drones facilitate aerial surveys of mines

Wingtra is a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH). The start-up manufactures specialized drones for aerial surveying and remote exploration. Their drones combine the positive characteristics of multirotor and fixed wing drones. Wingtra drones take off and land vertically, similar to a helicopter. At the same time, they also manage to fly forwards efficiently, as is the case with an airplane. On account of its high load capacity, the drones are also able to carry a large selection of cameras.

Wingtra is now joining forces with 3DR, a Californian company which develops software for drones. Owing to this collaboration, images captured by Wingtra drones can be uploaded into 3DR’s cloud-based web application and be directly processed, as detailed in a press release. Users can then produce high-resolution maps or 3D models of the areas covered by the drone flights.

The jointly developed solution is of interest to mine operators, according to the information provided by the two companies. They would be able to use the images in mine planning or for geological software, for example. However, the software solution should also aid land surveyors in their work as well.