Elios

A black drone with electronics sits in the middle of a protective spherical carbon fiber cage.
Elios has a cage to protect it from collisions. Photo: Flyability

Elios is a collision-tolerant drone designed for industrial inspections. It can help operators remotely access boilers, tanks, pressure vessels, tunnels, or other complex environments in plants or hazardous environments.

Creator

Flyability

Year
2016
Country
Switzerland 🇨🇭
Categories
Features
Overview of Elios. Video: Flyability

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Appearance

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Did you know?

Elios was inspired by the ability of insects to keep their stability after an in-flight collision.

A worker wearing safety clothing and helmet holds the drone towards a pipe.
This drone is safe to hold. Photo: Flyability
A drone in a circular protective cage flies up to the top of an industrial structure to do inspection.
Checking for cracks and corrosion. Photo: Flyability

History

Elios was designed by Flyability, a Swiss company specialized in commercial drones for inspection and exploration of indoor, inaccessible, and confined spaces. Elios is designed to fly in narrow and highly cluttered areas, including inside buildings, enabling it to perform inspections of equipment and infrastructure. Flyability has hundreds of customers in over 50 countries. Elios is used in power generation, oil and gas, chemicals, maritime, utilities, public safety, and other industries.

The drone flies inside an industrial tank.
Gas tank, checked! Photo: Flyability
Drone's eye view of the space it is inspecting.
Seeing what the drone sees. Photo: Flyability

More Images

Hands hold a remote control attached to a table showing what the drone sees.
Operators can pilot Elios with a remote control and tablet. Photo: Flyability
The drone in its protective cage flies in tight space full of rubble.
Elios can help with search and rescue operations. Photo: Flyability

Specs

Overview

Can operate close to structures or in contact with operators. Allows preliminary inspections to be completed with lower costs and less risk and downtime than current methods.

Status

Ongoing

Year

2016

Website
Width
40 cm
Height
40 cm
Length
40 cm
Weight
0.75 kg
Speed
20 km/h (average), 30 km/h (fast mode)
Sensors

Full HD camera 1920x1080p, thermal camera 160x120p

Materials

Carbon fiber, magnesium, plastic

Software

Custom software

Power

2800-mAh battery, 10 minutes flight time

Cost
$25,000