Australian Aviation - July 2018

Business development manager
Simon Morris said inspections are
the fastest growing commercial
application for drones, ranging from
powerlines to forests and crops.
This has put the company’s focus
firmly on developing beyond the
line-of-site craft. Altus is the first
company in the US to get a FAA waiver
for its helicopter drone for powerline
inspection for its client, Xcel Energy,
a utility company with more than
three million electricity customers.
The hybrid machine it is developing
is presently using a battery with three
hours of charge, powered by a small
petrol motor.
“Traditionally, powerline
inspections are done with helicopter
pilots using binoculars. It’s very
expensive and they can miss things,”
Morris said.
“We’ve done 80km, stringing three
of these together but we want to do it
with one.
“We’re taking a full size aircraft
approach to maintenance and
inspection of these craft.
“These are people’s investments
and we want to keep them going as
long as possible.”
Morris, a former air force pilot
who has also done geospatial mapping
for the army, says the team had seven
years’ experience in the field before
forming Altus.
That experience, along with a
collaborative relationship with the
CAA helped the company get a
foothold in the US. It sold one of its
Delta X8 drones to US broadcaster

CNN for aerial news-gathering then

partnered with CNN for 18 months on

one of three FAA Pathfinder projects,

evaluating unmanned aircraft systems

for safety and functionality in the

field, particularly loss of line-of-sight

control, and ranges up to 200km.

Morris said commercial drone

ownership in the US was cumbersome

because it required every owner of a

drone weighing more than 2kg to be

registered whereas in New Zealand,

an organisation could be certified

for drone operations. But with the

introduction of the FAA part 107 US

commercial drone operators were

now leapfrogging countries like New

Zealand in the technology stakes, he

said. Hence the Altus US division.

“When we hit the ground in the

US they were amazed how much

experience we had. We are really good

at finding new applications,” he said.

“Customers tell us what the

application is and we’ll put it on the

best vehicle, building up from a base

platform. Each wants something slightly

different and we can do that in-house.”

When the New Zealand Police

came knocking that opened the

door to a new development – a gas-

propelled parachute.

“They wanted a craft that could

safely reconstruct the scene after road

accidents, and for search and rescue,”

Morris said.

If anything went wrong with the

craft they wanted it to be able to land

safely without damaging people or the

craft itself.

“When you have $200,000 of

laser scanners hanging up in there,

mitigating harm gets you preferential

rates from insurers.”

Developing a chute with a tiny

cylinder of compressed carbon dioxide

instead of explosive detonators was

the groundbreaker. It activates quickly

after the failure of two autopilots and

catches the weight of the drone. Apart

from the insurance advantage it can be

transported safely on manned aircraft

and eliminates the risk of fire on the

ground.

The project was initially shelved

because it was not viable to keep craft

at Altus until the police needed them.

But now Altus is on the shortlist in

a new tender round after the police

decided they need their own drones

after all.

Altus was created on the back

of NZ$1 million raised through the

team’s own funds, support from a

Northland surveyor, and from friends

and family.

It’s now on the lookout for a

venture capitalist to fund the next

development – an IP licence in the

US where the marketplace is the

most active. Manufacturing and the

research and development will remain

in New Zealand.

“We have to be flexible and fast

moving and to do that we need to

bring new products,’ Morris said.

He said the Australian market was

largely untapped for the company

but it was talking to large enterprises

across the Tasman with the intent

of forming a partnership instead of

growing the market itself.

‘We have to

be flexible

and fast

moving and

to do that

we need to

bring new

products.’

SIMON MORRIS

Lifting logs by drone in a

Northland forest.ANDY GRANT/

ASSET INSIGHT

Drones in NZ