ThomasLaporte

8 ms·

1.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
ok! thanks for the insights! Yeah, we're convinced that H is the way to go for LTAs.
2.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
noted! how do you know that this a regular part of the O&M?
3.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
I don't understand why it would catch fire and explode without any reason... Plus H2, if not pressurized does not explode is burns quickly upwards. Somebody who experimented this explained it in the comments.
4.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Fire is not a problem for us. We can quickly move out of fumes or hot winds from the ground, we can go higher to observe its evolution. The challenge would be wind. Windy days are the ones that are most at risk of wildfires.
5.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Yeah it's actually something that some companies are thinking about. But the weight of the PV is too much compared to the energy it can generate.
6.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Yeah, it's crazy how it's less noisy even compared to small drones simply because our propellers turn slower (because we don't need them to hover)
7.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
For now yes we make flight with human pilots nearby. Soon we will do beyond visual line of sight flights! It moves quite slowly our cruise speed is between 8 to 11 m/s. Yeah! We've had some interest to do that!
8.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
We have the same incentive but not at the same level. Our aircraft consumes very little energy so it adds much less costs to stay in the air longer to collect more data. Thank you for the feedback on the video!
9.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Thanks for the insight. For now we have no data/ML team. Our clients know this and for now are ok with it or on with getting raw data. We have a nice runway already but it's definitely something we watch closely. The EU is one of
10.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Very interesting thank you! Is there some way for us to connect??
11.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Thank you for the feedback! Will change that quickly!
12.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Thank you so much for your message! I would love to pick your brain if you are available, is there a way for me to contact you?
13.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Basically, the airship drone has more payload, more range of inspections, and less risks to fly (more visible for other users of the aerial area, and falls slowly to the ground in case of engine malfunction).
14.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Client should pay at least 3x times as much to get the same service from drones. Again, it's not scalable using drones that's why our clients keep using helicopter on 90% of their missions.
15.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
It's an engine that's mounted on a gyroscope. Which means that the propeller can turn in every direction.
16.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Yeah! Helicopters make a lot of sense for now when it comes to transport heavy cargo (like for pruning trees near the lines).
17.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
You are entirely right sir ;) We always use metric, it's just that we wanted to adapt to the mostly American community.
18.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
There are approx 53 million miles of energy infrastructure on the planet (a new report was published today). Regular drones can't be used to inspect that much (too many drones required, too many pilots, too much aerial and ground risk
19.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
We have strong termination flight procedures and redundancy at this level!
20.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Exactly
21.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Wow, never thought about it that way. English is not our native language but, for our defense, it's the first time that somebody made that remark.
22.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
No actually utilities have more and more needs concerning data quality and data type. Before the needed to make visual inspections only. Now they have to conduct multispectral inspections involving lidar, infrared, leak detection. All of th
23.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
I'm not sure I understand your question, what do you mean "what happens" ?
24.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Thank you! You are right. That's why we make sure that there is no mix of H2 and O2 inside the envelope.
25.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
The envelope is indeed weaker when compared to a hard carbon fiber tank. But, there is more than enough H2 in a the envelope for an entire day of flight. The airship is the most energy efficient aircraft and it's amazing how little en
26.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
Everything really depends on the payload, the sensors that are used. The more expensive the payload, the higher the price. For instance, helicopters: $30-$40 for visual inspection and pictures but it gets up to $70-$100 with regular LiDARs
27.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
I'm sorry I did not understand. Airships are a very relevant use case for H2.
28.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
thank you for the insight, that's very interesting
29.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
thank you for the insight that's so interesting
30.
by ThomasLaporte 3y ago
No we don't planning to do HAPS because the engineering is much different actually.

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