UL Issues Inaugural Safety Certificate to Intel’s Drone

Industry benchmark group UL (formerly Underwriters Laboratories) just issued the first UL 3030 certification for a drone to Intel’s Falcon 8+ UAV, declaring the aircraft’s electrical system safe for “enclosure strength, functional safety requirements, motor safety and protection against injury, performance and autonomous features.”

According to a UL press release, the UL 3030 certificate is designed to “evaluate, test, and certify in a holistic system approach to ensure that the batteries, chargers and end products are protected against electric shock and fire.”

“As the numbers and applications of drones increase, so does the need for standards for safer product development and operations,” a UL spokesperson stated.

“The Intel Falcon 8+ drone is designed for advanced flight performance with redundancy built in for safety and reliability,” said Anil Nanduri, VP & GM of Intel’s Drone Group. “Our successful UL listing of the Intel Falcon 8+ drone to UL’s 3030 safety standard demonstrates Intel’s commitment to safe

Intel flew into the drone market in 2016 releasing the Falcon built on Ascending Technologies AscTec Falcon 8 after acquiring the UAV company.

The Falcon 8+ specs include:

• Patented V-form octocopter with full electronic system redundancy, featuring redundant batteries, redundant communication between all flight-relevant components and redundant sensing.
• Powered with AscTec Trinity technology – a triple-redundant autopilot with three redundant inertial measurement units that compensate for external influences like electromagnetic fields or strong winds.
• Automated aerial-sensing solutions with onboard sensors, providing detailed orthography down to millimeter accuracy ground sample distance (GSD). Consistent waypoint automation enables reproducible flights for valuable structural analysis.
• The Intel Falcon 8+ system shares similar features with its predecessor, the AscTec Falcon 8: higher performance and weight-to-payload ratio; highest stability in harsh conditions; easily exchangeable and deeply integrated payloads; best-in-class safety including unmatched robustness against magnetic field disturbances; and high-precision GPS.

“We are very pleased to present the first UL 3030 certification for drones as UL is able to contribute to the rapidly advancing and increasing deployment of UAS technology. We will continue to work closely with manufacturers who provide valuable insight into the safety requirements and share a common goal for safer UAS deployment,” said Francisco Martinez, UL’s global director of Energy Systems and e-Mobility.