Honeywell Partners with Intel on UAV Inspection Service

Honeywell has launched its first commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspection service, the Honeywell InView inspection service, to help industrial customers improve critical structure inspections while helping increase employees’ safety from many of the risks associated with these often-dangerous working conditions.

The Honeywell InView inspection service will combine the proven performance of the Intel Falcon 8+ UAV system and Honeywell’s expertise in the aerospace and industrial industries with data-driven software customized to the needs of the utility, energy, infrastructure, and oil and gas industries. The Honeywell InView inspection service package — which includes the components of the UAV, pilot app and customizable web portal — helps customers organize and create standards around their routine and crisis-response inspections. For example, the Honeywell InView inspection service can help utility customers create routine inspections of transmission and distribution systems that generate data that can be stored, searched and accessed from in the office and out in the field on demand.

“This collaboration combines Intel’s advanced commercial Intel Falcon™ 8+ UAV system with Honeywell’s leadership in aerospace safety and connectivity to deliver solutions that deliver reliable, efficient and actionable information to utility and industrial customers,” said Carl Esposito, president, Electronic Solutions, Honeywell Aerospace. “Through our extensive industrial experience, our customers will also gain access to Honeywell’s customized software and data solutions that will help them log, analyze, and eventually predict or prevent outages and structural failures, while protecting the men and women called upon to complete these crucial but high-risk jobs.”

“We are incredibly pleased to collaborate with Honeywell on this exciting new business opportunity,” said Anil Nanduri, GM of Intel’s UAV business group. “The safety, flight precision and robust performance of the Intel Falcon 8+ system are a perfect fit for the Honeywell InView inspection service and will allow its customers to inspect, collect and analyze valuable data in a whole new way.”

 

About the Honeywell InView inspection service

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, utility line workers have one of the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the United States, with 21.5 annual fatalities from high-voltage lines for every 100,000 workers. By using the inspection service, utility companies can send a UAV to perform routine inspections of substations, transmission towers and power lines while keeping boots on the ground and workers safe. For utilities, using a UAV for inspections offers safer and more cost-effective means than existing methods using helicopters, cherry pickers, ladders and walking inspections.

Crafting standards. Historically, inspections are siloed by organization and by individuals within organizations. Honeywell’s InView inspection service aims to create standardized inspections where customers can create operational efficiencies in the office and out in the field.

UAVs are being touted for their data-gathering capabilities, but without analytics, more data is simply more data. Honeywell’s service can synthesize vast quantities of data to identify only what is needed and actionable, translating workers’ tacit knowledge into valuable information that provides actionable insights for business.

Honeywell and Intel also recently collaborated to create a Connected Freight platform that gives shippers and logistics companies the unprecedented ability to monitor shipments of high value and perishable goods, helping prevent costly damage and loss. The new Honeywell InView inspection service continues the work these two companies are doing to help various industries use connected devices to be more efficient and safer, and harness data in new and meaningful ways.

You can learn more about Honeywell InView inspection service here.