Since our last post, we spotted some Māui dolphins off the coast of Hamilton's gap! This sighting is a massive step for us in continuously monitoring the dolphins and their behaviour.
We also completed all our EVLOS (Extended Visual Line of Sight); this involved flying for 20 hours up to three kilometers away from the pilot! Our next goal is to fly EVLOS up to 30km away from the pilot with the DOC (Department of Conservation) boat.
With the new year, we also bought a new surveillance van! Our van helps keep the light out of the eyes, off our screens, and keeps our pilots comfortable while the drone is in flight. It is also 4WD, so we can drive down the beach making our drone set up easier.
We're on our proving ground stage as we continue to fine-tune our AI systems and capture more data on the dolphins. This includes testing our equipment on real dolphins to ensure our data is conveyed accurately, just like our dolphin sighting at Hamilton's Gap. We are continuing to practice towards our goal of flying BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight).
We are also excited to introduce three new pilots/spotters who have been training and added to our growing team!
Our Flight Schedule: Our flights are dependent on wind and weather, but we hope to fly once a week going forward!
Our v1 AI spotting Māui dolphins with little white boxes.
A look at inside our new van!