The Home Team has unveiled a new unmanned drone that will allow agencies to fly farther into areas to do security sweeps, covering larger areas based on a pre-programmed flight path.

The drone, which embarked on its maiden long-distance flight yesterday, can be operated beyond the sight of the operator, which means it can fly several kilometres away from the person controlling it, instead of being only several hundred metres away.

ST Engineering will be using its in-house developed drone solution, DroScan to carry out General Visual Inspection (GVI) during aircraft maintenance at its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in Singapore after its Aerospace sector received authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS). This is the first-ever authorisation granted by CAAS for the use of unmanned aerial systems to perform GVI on Singapore-registered aircraft. With this authorisation, ST Engineering can apply its DroScan solution on approved aircraft models such as the Airbus A320 family. An end-to-end aircraft external general inspection solution, DroScan leverages automation and smart analytics capabilities to bring about higher efficiency and greater workplace safety during aircraft maintenance work. The Group had over the past one year demonstrated the solution’s capabilities and benefits through a number of successful trials with participating airline customers including Air New Zealand. By using drones to physically carry out visual inspections, DroScan eliminates the need to set up bulky ground equipment such as boom-lifts and work stands for inspectors to climb up and down during manual inspections. Inspectors can instead conduct indirect GVI using live video feed and post-flight images captured by the drones. Captured images can be fed through algorithms that detect and classify defects to assist the inspectors in the review process.

ST Engineering and Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) will be collaborating to develop and test solutions to enable Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations for shore-to-ship parcel deliveries in Singapore. As part of this collaboration, ST Engineering will provide a suite of flight tests and technology development services for system integration and solution prototyping. Key enabling technologies to be developed include precision landing on-board ship vessel’s metallic platform, non line-of-sight datalink and parcel delivery authentication and release system. At the same time, WSS will help to strengthen the commercialisation and operational aspects of the solution development. This collaboration will receive funding as part of the Call-For-Proposal by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Singapore Ministry of Transport, which aims to support the development of systems and technologies to enable innovations within the wide-ranging use of UAS.

Boasting pristine beaches and tranquillity that contrasts starkly with the hustle and bustle of city life, Singapore’s Southern Islands are a nature lover’s escape from reality and a throwback to simpler times. Waves of technology panned out to these rural landmasses when they recently became testbeds for connectivity solutions that could one day allow maintenance inspection works of all the Southern Islands to be managed remotely from mainland Singapore. While mainland Singapore is almost completely covered by 4G networks, the same cannot be said of the Southern Islands, where the internet connection is spotty in some areas. Hence, one option to bring internet access to the Southern Islands is via television white space (TVWS)—the unused radio spectrum in the television broadcast bands—which can be tapped on to transmit and receive data wirelessly over distances of up to 10 kilometres.

ST Engineering's Aerospace arm is the world's largest airframe MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) service provider with an extensive global network of facilities in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe. The drone inspection trials Air New Zealand is collaborating on with ST Engineering take place at its facility next to Changi Airport in Singapore where Air New Zealand aircraft undergo heavy maintenance checks. ST Engineering has developed an unmanned drone system, known as DroScan, which sees a drone take a planned route around the outside of an aircraft to inspect its surface and produce high definition images. These images are processed using a software with smart algorithms to detect and classify defects, which aircraft engineers can review and confirm, or carry out further inspection for defects if required.

ST Engineering's aerospace arm has entered into respective partnerships with Air New Zealand and Honeywell. Air New Zealand and ST Engineering are teaming up to trial the use of drones to inspect aircraft, while ST Engineering will act as a licensed repair centre for Honeywell components. The Air New Zealand partnership will see the airline using an unmanned drone system developed by ST Engineering. Called DroScan, the drone takes a planned route around the outside of an aircraft to inspect its surface and produce high definition images. These images are processed using a software with smart algorithms to detect and classify defects, which aircraft engineers can review and confirm, or carry out further inspection for defects if required, said the engineering firm.

ST Engineering made further strides in developing advanced Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) solutions for applications in an urban environment when its Aerospace sector became the first in Singapore to receive authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) trials over the Lower Seletar reservoir. The BVLOS trial is for demonstrating ST Engineering’s latest UAS solution, DroNet. Designed for autonomous operations in an urban environment, DroNet is an end-to-end solution that applies advanced unmanned technologies such as drones through a network system to carry out specific tasks or services. By harnessing the power of networking, video analytics and data sharing, DroNet is able to provide solutions for various applications including perimeter security, asset inspection and lightweight deliveries.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and ST Aerospace have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will facilitate the development of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations in Singapore’s urban environment. The MOU was signed by Mr Kevin Shum, CAAS Director-General and Mr Lim Serh Ghee, ST Aerospace President on the sidelines of Singapore Airshow 2018. Under the MOU, CAAS and ST Aerospace will collaborate on the study and development of new concepts, procedures and technologies that will enable BVLOS UAS operations in Singapore's urban environment including within or near an aerodrome. ST Aerospace will provide a suite of technical services for system integration and prototyping in the identified areas of interest. The collaboration will also assist CAAS in its development of the safety regulatory oversight framework for BVLOS UAS operations in Singapore.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have taken to new heights in recent years with various applications across different business verticals. While UAVs do not require pilots on board during operations and can even fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans, engineering precision and passion are must-haves to develop UAVs that can carry out their mission safely and effectively. We highlight two UAV solutions developed by ST Engineering’s Aerospace sector and the team who worked tirelessly behind the scenes from conceptualisation to commercialisation.

Faster emergency response, efficient inspections and safer package delivery in an urban environment. When drones first made its appearance, some people wondered if they were just new toys for big boys. From aerial photography to videography, they were the rave. However, drones have come a long way, evolving to become more than just tools for photography and videography. Known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), their real power is unleashed when these drones appear in masses, in what is known as a “drone network system”.