eSmart Systems recently launched a new app called Mobile Ground Station (MGS). The app allows utilities to use their own DJI drones, collect inspection data and have it analyzed in the Connected Drone software.

MGS has been tested for the past 9 months with various customers, and the launch is linked to the major upgrade on the Connected Drone software (version 2.1).

I am very enthusiastic about this – in the Connected Drone software the users may follow drone operations in real time.  If you have one or even several drones flying you can sit at your office and monitor the operation in real time

says Lie

Imagine that you have an outage scenario and need to coordinate the efforts out in the field with the operation center. You can start the desktop client and as soon as one of the drone operators starts a mission in the app you will see where the drone is. When they take pictures, you will instantly have those ready and analyzed in the desktop client. We believe that this will reduce the time it takes to identify outages significantly

Lie continues

Typical use cases

According to Lie, the typical user of MGS is related to how the utilities operate. Some utilities fly drones themselves; others use external drone operators. MGS support both these set ups. The two typical use cases for the app are planned powerline inspections and field workers searching and trying to identify the cause of an outage.

An added benefit of using Connected Drone is the product’s ability to strengthen the Utilities’ knowledge about the various components on their assets. eSmart Systems works with operators both in Europe and in the US, and the usage scenario is the same – you install the app on your device, and with a DJI drone you can use the app to effectively collect data. 

How to get started?

The app is a part of the Connected Drone software. Customers can download the app from Apple’s app store and notify eSmart Systems who will setup a user.