Building a network of autonomous drones

Drone systems designed for longer-distance flights often have limited autonomy and rely heavily on the operator's visual assessments during flight. Sevendof's new long-range drone can now automate operations that previously required crewed helicopters or drones controlled by operators in the field.

Using an advanced sensor package, the drone can respond to its surroundings and fly autonomously.

‘In practice, this means you have a self-flying drone that is reliable enough to fully automate drone operations. The flight is planned automatically based on the customer’s order, and monitored from a control room. Although the drone effectively flies itself, a person is always responsible for each flight,’ says Per Magnus Veierland, CEO of Sevendof.

The Trondheim-based company has worked with us for several years. Veierland explains that our support has been crucial in bringing the project to life. In addition to providing funding, we have introduced the company to key business partners and investors and helped it gain insight into relevant markets.

‘We have found Innovation Norway to be a reliable source of support and a valuable sounding board. Among other things, we have received useful input on our business model. At the same time, Innovation Norway’s support has served as a mark of quality for other companies and investors in the market. It has been crucial in enabling us to establish the company,’ says Veierland.

They have received a Startup grant, a mentoring grant and an innovation contract grant, as well as support through our Environmental Technology Scheme and capital in the form of loans from us. Most recently, in 2020, they received NOK 3.6 million through our Environmental Technology Scheme.

The company is also the lead partner in a Eurostars project with Visimind AB and SINTEF, supported by the Research Council of Norway.

Sevendof's drone is built as an industrial workhorse with a payload of up to seven kilograms, making it suitable for a wide range of missions. It features a hybrid engine that gives it a range of 200 kilometres. Combined with drone stations that support automatic charging and refuelling, this enables extensive coverage.

'The versatility of the technology means that the same drone can serve a wide range of purposes. It is equally well suited to inspecting critical infrastructure such as power lines, railway networks, communications towers and wind turbines, as it is to emergency response operations involving mountain searches, rescue work or fires in buildings,' says Veierland.

This means that operators can share the same drone systems when using Sevendof's drone services.

Over the past few years, the company has been developing a service platform for its drone system. Working with the grid operators Tensio TS, Elvia, Skagerak Nett and BKK Nett, it has developed a service for automatically inspecting power lines. The service enables grid operators to order power line inspections through an application programming interface (API), with the operation carried out automatically by a drone system stationed in the field.

‘Our goal is to offer drone services across a wide range of industries and emergency response operations, allowing different organisations to order individual missions from us. That is why we work with partners who enable us to provide a variety of services to our end users, much like a smartphone offers a range of apps from different developers,’ says Veierland.

The drones could replace a significant proportion of helicopter operations, while also enabling inspections in areas that are currently inaccessible. According to Sevendof's own analyses, its drone system will reduce CO2 emissions by 90 per cent compared with the helicopter systems currently used for surveys and power line inspections.

‘The environmental benefits of this project have been crucial in securing some of the funding they have received. Drone operations like these will reduce noise and lower the carbon footprint associated with manufacturing and operating the aircraft,’ says Roger Hatling, one of our financial advisers.

He has followed the project for several years and praises the Sevendof team for its strong technological expertise and sound understanding of the market.

‘It is incredibly exciting to see a fully fledged technology company considering user involvement and usability so early in the process. They clearly understand what the market needs. Their business model, product and service are also well suited to scaling and entering international markets,’ says Hatling.