The importance of the GEON E61 system’s ease of operation looms big as ArroTech, a TechFarms tenant, prepares to ramp up production of the drone/metal detector package and place units in the hands of owner-operators and scanning services contractors.
The GEON E61, in recent field trials, has proven itself capable of making a consequential difference in efforts to rid heavily infected Ukraine of landmines and other unattended weapons of war. Because Ukraine’s farmlands are laced with this ordnance, grain producers are unable to enter their fields. Ukraine’s economy and the world’s food supply suffer as a result.
ArroTech’s goal has always been to equip deminers with a tool that they can reliably, safely and readily use. The GEON E61 represents the realization of that ambition. Drone mission planning and execution are simple. The fully autonomous drone features one-button operation.
Using the GEON E61, the GPS coordinates of suspected landmines can efficiently and speedily be obtained and relayed to Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel.
Tobias Leininger, an ArroTech co-founder and its chief technical officer, and members of the GEON E61 development and prototyping team located at TechFarms in Panama City Beach, Florida, have worked together to see to the system’s user friendliness.
“People who’ve never seen a drone can grab a computer tablet and draw an area on a map,” Leininger explained. “The drone will autonomously fly over that area in overlapping passes to ensure full coverage.” High-precision RTK GNSS and ground-facing sensors are used to keep the drone on track and allow it to follow ground contours within centimeters.
The brain of the system is a unique Ground Control Station designed and developed specifically for this system. All threads come together there. The custom software controls everything from the drone’s flight to real-time mission data analysis.
“The user’s interaction with the drone is minimal,” ArroTech team member Kurt Morris said. “The drone flies itself.”
