Evolution Flight

Evolution Flight, formerly Innoflight International, designs and builds long-endurance drones for LiDAR and mapping work. The company is based in Brisbane, Queensland, and says its aircraft are manufactured in both the United States and Australia. Its main long-endurance platform is the Patriot, which the site describes as a LiDAR platform with a payload weight equivalent to a LiDAR USA scanning system.

Patriot and Kestrel

• Patriot: a four-arm configuration for long-endurance missions, with a measured hover endurance of 68 minutes using a 1.75 kg payload and a 40 Ah battery, to landing voltage.
• Kestrel: a coaxial eight-motor X8 configuration that fits on the same airframe as the Patriot.
• Batteries: a 52 Ah battery is now available for the Patriot.

The company describes the two aircraft as one airframe with two configurations, changed by swapping the arms.

Setup and field use

Arms and landing legs detach without tools, and the company says removing them takes only a few minutes. Field spares include a spare arm with clockwise and counter-clockwise propellers, so a replacement arm setup can be carried. With the arms and legs removed, the drone packs down to a compact size. The site's flight-time estimator subtracts a fixed 10-minute battery reserve and presents its results as modelled estimates rather than guaranteed flight times. Endurance depends on configuration, flight profile and conditions. Wind, air density, battery health and manoeuvres can also shorten flights, according to the site. Custom integration is offered for payloads, and the company suggests confirming the full mission configuration with its team.

Key facts

• Based in: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
• Products: Patriot X4 LiDAR drone, Kestrel X8 arm set
• Markets: Australia and the United States, where aircraft are manufactured