ARIES is a drone platform designed to carry out easy, fast, and precise NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) contact inspections on assets.

ARIES can handle contact and interaction with the environment, guaranteeing stable and safe flight for the platform and the payload.

Advantages

Safety of operators

No need to send workers at height, in high-risk environments, to bring instrumentation in proximity of the asset to be inspected. The operator can pilot ARIES up to the inspection point, in safety.

Reduced costs

Avoid renting expensive and limited-availability instrumentation such as cranes or bybridges. ARIES can reach the inspection point independently.

Faster inspections

Avoid building time-consuming and unsafe scaffoldings. ARIES can carry out inspections in zero setup time.

Reduced or zero asset downtime

ARIES can carry out the inspection during operation of the asset, avoiding costs related to downtime.

Accurate and repeatable results

A high-accuracy localization system allows ARIES to fly in contact with the asset to be inspected, even in GNSS-denied conditions close to structures, while the payload collects data.

Fixed-tilted technology

ARIES features a fixed-tilted hexarotor configuration. Unlike drones in conventional multirotor configuration with coplanar rotors, the rotors of ARIES are tilted at predefined and fixed angles, producing thrust forces in different directions

In this way, ARIES can produce net forces and moments in all directions and exert forces on the surrounding environment.

Maintain stable flight while in contact with the environment

Push forward up to 30N against a surface, while maintaining horizontal attitude

Free flight: linear displacement without changing the attitude

Reduced complexity: less components and maintenance (no servos).

Contact interaction

By means of its capability of generating forces in all directions, ARIES goes beyond the conventional drone platform concept, and represents a truly flying robotics platform capable not only to establish contact but also to interact with the environment (for example with manipulation tasks).

Payloads

Thanks to its payload capability of up to 4 kg, ARIES can be integrated with several payloads to carry out NDT inspections in contact with a variety of assets.

Custom payload integration is evaluated case-by-case depending on mission requirements.

Use cases

ARIES is a platform suitable to carry out contact
inspections in several different applications.
Some examples include:

Inspection of insulators on high-voltage electric powerlines

Measure electric field along composite insulators (in collaboration with DRB)

Inspection of civil infrastructures

Contact inspections of elements (beams, pylons, …) of civil infrastructures such as viaducts and bridges

More to come in the future

ARIES can be integrated with different types of tools to perform specific tasks. Contact us to explore new use cases together!

Endurance: 17 min @ MTOM

30 min @ no payload
Payload capability: 4 kg
MTOM: 11.5 kg
Configuration: Hexarotor with fixed-tilted rotors
Size: 54 x 54 x 50 cm (folded)

116 x 90 x 59 cm (unfolded, without props)

118 x 111 x 63 cm (unfolded, with props)
Transport case: Included

If you are interested in ARIES and want to know more details, evaluate the feasibility of integrating a custom payload for contact inspections, or want to schedule a demo, please contact us, we will be glad to discuss with you about it.

Contact Us

Funding
The project is cofunded within PR FESR Lombardia 2021-2027 programme with joint investment from EU and Regione Lombardia on Misura Ricerca & Innova under Regional Law n. 9 of 20/05/2022 and D.G.R. n. XI/7151 of 17/10/2022

Project key information
Project name: Sviluppo di una tecnologia innovativa basata su drone in grado di svolgere ispezioni a contatto per migliorare la sicurezza e la protezione delle infrastrutture
CUP: E42C22000730009 – Start date: 01/05/2023 – End date: 31/10/2024 – Funded by: Regione Lombardia within PR FESR Lombardia 2021-2027, Asse 1, Azione 1.1.1, “Sostegno agli investimenti in ricerca, sviluppo e innovazione”.

Brief description of the project, objectives and results:
The aim of the project is to develop an innovative drone-based solution to enable contactbased inspections on infrastructures (such as high voltage powerlines, civil infrastructures, bridges, viaducts, wind turbines, …). In the framework of the project, a system to carry out contact inspections will be developed; the system will be based on a drone platform which can be configured with the most appropriate payload depending on the asset to be inspected. The technology developed in the framework of the project will support companies in the sector of operations and maintenance of infrastructures in increasing safety of workers, and in reducing inspection time and costs.