Task

To help our customers in such situations, we have implemented drone based technologies.

Action

The drone is programmed to initiate a flight at a given time from it’s docking station (located on a charging station on premises, probably in a laboratory).

The drone takes a pre-programmed flight path, stopping at locations where measurements need to be made.

At each measurement site, the probe is dipped into the desired depth of the tank or basin, data reading is recorded and sent to a database with proper spatio-temporal signatures.

Once the measurements are made, the drone flies back to the “nest” (docking station), and sets to recharge.

It can also calibrate some of the sensors and indicate when these need maintenance or cleaning.

The probe used in the drone can be any type of dipping probe, and we tend to prefer multiparameter probes.

One can make colorimetric, spectroscopic, electrochemical, and other types of measurements, along with measurements of temperature and pressure.

The operator or laboratory technician does not have to go around making these measurements, and our software can even track local weather conditions and tell the system not to operate during inclement weather.

Can adjust the depth of the sensor in a tank, and these can even detect surfaces of a sludge blanket in a filled and operating clarifier.

The drone flight path can be programmed, with object avoidance built in. A video feed is available to monitor the flight path of the drone when it is operating.

Result

The system never misses recording data.
The reliability enhancement with a single sensor probe is remarkable. No need to maintain and calibrate multiple sensors by going to each of them individually in the field.