Telecommunications base-station towers support services that are indispensable to crisis communication, emergency response, public administration and economic continuity. Their dispersed location, height and lattice geometry make conventional close-access inspection hazardous, time-consuming and difficult to document consistently. This study evaluates the usefulness and limitations of uncrewed aircraft systems for inspecting steel lattice towers that form part of telecommunications critical infrastructure. A retrospective field study was conducted using records from inspections performed in 2022–2023 at 50 towers in three Polish provinces. More than 150 sorties were completed with a DJI Matrice 30T platform using optical zoom, thermal imaging, a laser rangefinder and georeferenced mission telemetry. Manual, column and spiral flight patterns were compared, while image sets were processed with photogrammetric software to support three-dimensional reconstruction and spatial localisation of defects. The observations show that uncrewed inspection is particularly effective for documenting coating damage, local corrosion, fastener deterioration, connection anomalies, snow or ice accretion and equipment requiring thermographic follow-up. Column flights generated the most detailed evidence but also the greatest processing burden; spiral flights were faster and better suited to screening and three-dimensional modelling. The study also identified important constraints: wind, battery endurance, vegetation, airspace restrictions, electromagnetic and navigation disturbances, and the need to protect sensitive infrastructure data. Uncrewed aircraft should therefore be treated as a risk-based screening and documentation tool integrated with engineering judgement and targeted close-contact or non-destructive testing, rather than as an unconditional replacement for statutory structural inspection.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) play an increasingly important role in civil and military aviation, supporting missions ranging from infrastructure monitoring and parcel delivery to reconnaissance and combat operations. Their widespread use in modern transport systems raises the demand for reliable onboard equipment. Among critical subsystems, the Indicated Airspeed (IAS) sensor provides key information for flight control, stability management, and stall prevention. Failures of the IAS sensor – caused by contamination, icing, mechanical damage, or electronic malfunction – pose a significant safety hazard and may lead to flight instability or operational incidents. This study investigates the reliability of the IAS sensor in UAVs using non-parametric reliability analysis methods. Data collected from the SAMANTA maintenance management system over a four-year observation period (2016-2019) were analyzed to determine the cumulative distribution function, hazard rate, and instantaneous reliability function. The research highlights that IAS-related failures account for the second-largest group of recorded UAV malfunctions, underscoring the importance of proactive maintenance strategies. The results provide insights into the operational reliability of IAS sensors and lay the groundwork for the development of predictive maintenance models, improved component design, and enhanced UAV safety in both civil and military applications.
Anna Michalska, Robert Brodzik, M. Izdebski· Scientific Journal of Silesi...· 0 citations
Background: Wing-in-Ground-effect (WIG) craft generate lift by operating at the air–water interface, enabling a unique mode of very high-speed maritime transport that is particularly suited to the highly complex nature of coastal and archipelagic regions. However, their distinctive operating characteristics high speed and low altitude present significant safety issues that require advanced navigation and communication systems.
Objective: This paper investigates navigation and communication systems associated with the safety of WIG craft under relevant international maritime rules (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea SOLAS; IMO Guidelines for Wing-in-Ground Craft (MSC.1/Circ.1592).
Methods: A qualitative regulatory analysis and R&D methodology is used to analyze the alignment of international standards with WIG operational requirements, as well as to examine barriers to the implementation of domestic maritime systems.
Results: In the marine context, this study identifies major navigational technologies such as GNSS, radar, AIS, and integrated bridge systems for navigational awareness and collision avoidance. The integration of GMDSS communications and satellite-based technologies is indispensable for enabling coherent coordination and emergency response operations. SOLAS provisions do not fully satisfy all WIG operational requirements, while the application of IMO guidelines may result in disparate standards across jurisdictions.
Conclusion: A harmonized and risk-based navigation and communication safety framework is proposed, integrating SOLAS provisions and IMO WIG Guidelines to address identified regulatory gaps. The framework aims to promote regulatory consistency and support the safe integration of WIG craft into national and international maritime transport systems.
D. Widarbowo, Fajar Gumelar, Maltus Jackline Kapistrano et al.· Equivalent: Jurnal Ilmiah So...· 0 citations
Aircraft telemetry systems generate large volumes of rapidly changing flight data that are commonly presented through numerical dashboards and two dimensional monitoring interfaces. Although these systems provide access to raw telemetry information, operators may experience difficulty interpreting complex parameter relationships during real time missions, potentially reducing situational awareness and delaying abnormal condition recognition. This paper presents a real time 3D aircraft telemetry visualization platform that transforms live telemetry streams into an interactive spatial monitoring environment. The system visualizes aircraft 6DoF state, trajectory history, and control surface movements within a geospatial 3D environment. Abnormal or critical telemetry conditions are presented through HUD style interface overlays, presenting real time mission relevant information to assist operator monitoring activities during live operation. The proposed system is designed as a modular and extensible architecture that enables easy integration of different telemetry sources and supports adaptation to various mission specific requirements. To improve accessibility and reproducibility, the implementation uses openly available geospatial datasets, reducing dependence on commercial or restricted data sources.
Ahmet Yusuf Yatkin, Mahmut Emin Çelik· European Conference on Artif...· 0 citations
Wind turbine towers in coastal environments are exposed to geometric misalignment and surface corrosion, yet these condition indicators are commonly assessed separately and without a consistent reference across inspection epochs. This study develops a reference-consistent structural health monitoring framework that integrates total-station surveying and multi-temporal unmanned aerial vehicle imagery for concurrent monitoring of view-dependent image-space inclination indicators and visible corrosion. A baseline lower-segment reference axis is established in a fixed geodetic coordinate system. The geodetically controlled baseline image configuration is transferred to subsequent epochs through covariance-weighted control-image constraints, while RTK-GNSS and inertial observations support exterior-orientation estimation. The angular difference between the projected reference axis and an image-derived visual symmetry axis defines the inclination indicator. The combined single-view standard uncertainty is 0.041°, the expanded uncertainty is 0.082°, and the engineering monitoring threshold is 0.098°. Five UAV epochs acquired between October 2024 and June 2025 yield first-to-final angular-change magnitudes of 0.030° to 0.074° across eight fixed viewing directions. These values remain below the single-view expanded-uncertainty reference magnitude and are therefore interpreted as monitoring-level observations rather than statistically confirmed structural deformation. An independent total-station re-survey at the final epoch yields validation residuals from −0.032° to +0.044°, with a mean absolute residual of 0.017° and a root-mean-square residual of 0.023°, supporting monitoring-level consistency between the UAV-derived and projected total-station changes. Visible corrosion is segmented using YOLO11-seg and normalized with respect to the valid, observable tower-surface region. The independent test set yields a precision of 79.6%, a recall of 88.0%, and an F1 score of 0.84. The visible corrosion extent index increases from 0.04 to 0.12%, corresponding to a descriptive transition from ASTM D610 grade 8 to grade 7. The framework provides a reference-consistent and uncertainty-aware basis for maintenance-oriented monitoring of slender tubular towers.
T. Chuang, Po-Yen Chen· Structural Health Monitoring· 0 citations
Against the backdrop of accelerating urbanization and diversifying social demands, aerospace technology has extensively permeated numerous fields such as logistics and transportation, emergency and disaster relief, environmental monitoring, and urban transportation. Its application scope is expanding from traditional reconnaissance and surveillance to complex scenarios like material transportation, manned operations, and precision maintenance. Within this trend, high-payload, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), and high-safety aircraft have become key equipment for enhancing operational efficiency across multiple sectors. Among these, high-payload ducted fan aircraft, with their high safety, excellent low-speed performance, and outstanding VTOL capability, demonstrate unique advantages in tall building fire suppression, power lines and towers maintenance, and personal flight experiences. This paper first outlines the diversified application prospects of aerospace technology, then focuses on high-payload ducted fan aircraft. It discusses the technical requirements specific to such aircraft in the aforementioned key scenarios and analyzes the critical technical bottlenecks hindering their broader application, along with potential viable solutions.
Bin Lou, Zhuoyuan Li, Yuansong Zhang et al.· SAE technical paper series· 0 citations
Accurate bathymetric data are essential for the design and monitoring of coastal structures, but conventional multibeam surveys are costly and often impractical in shallow or confined areas. We evaluate a single-beam echosounder (SBES, ECT400) suspended beneath an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a rapid method with low logistical requirements for bathymetric monitoring of coastal infrastructure. Fieldwork was performed in an operational dry dock that was alternately drained and filled, enabling direct geometric validation against an ultra-high-resolution photogrammetric DEM (0.55 cm GSD). The co-registered dataset comprises N = 16,137 sonar returns to depths of ≈ 8 m. The UAV-mounted SBES produced a mean depth difference of 0.15 m (SD = 0.58 m) relative to the photogrammetric reference. From these residuals we estimate a 95% Minimum Detectable Change (MDC95) of ≈ 0.5 m when changes are assessed by aggregating repeated co-located passes. These results indicate that the UAV-SBES workflow is suitable as a Tier-1 screening tool for structural-health monitoring, effective for detecting metre- to decimetre-scale changes and triaging sites for targeted high-precision follow-up, but not for micrometre/mm-scale deformation monitoring. The method’s portability and vessel-free operation make it especially useful for frequent inspections in shallow, confined coastal settings.
Bethsaide Souza-Santos, M. Arza-García, J. Ortiz-Sanz et al.· Journal of Civil Structural...· 0 citations
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