At this year’s INTERGEO in Berlin, Leica Geosystems and its sister company, Aibotix, presented a solution for accurate positioning of its Aibot X6 – without the use of GNSS.

The solution requires the use of the Leica Nova MultiStation to define the exact position of the UAV – making it possible for UAVs to fly autonomously and accurately indoors, for example to inspect the tops of aircrafts within hangars.

The UAV, equipped with Leica Geosystems’ 360° prism, flies over the aircraft and takes high-resolution images of its surface. This solution helps, for example, to ascertain lightning strikes and effectively document them. During its flight, the UAV is tracked by the multistation to determine its exact spatial position with an accuracy of a few centimetres. In this way, the tracking allows each image to be geo-referenced without GNSS. Subsequently, this solution will also allow tracking for pre-programmed flight lines.

“The tracking of Aibot X6 with the Leica Nova MultiStation is the first result of our close cooperation with Leica Geosystems,” says Jörg Lamprecht from Aibotix. Both companies belong to Hexagon and develop integrated solutions for the use of UAVs. Rüdiger Wagner, Vice President & General Manager – Solutions at Leica Geosystems, comments: “There are many more synergies, which we will use in the development of further applications for UAVs.”