The term “drone” in the headline is inaccurate in describing what JAR actually does; but is the most commonly used term for referring to unmanned aerial vehicles – generally four-rotor helicopter-like craft that are readily available off the shelf for recreational purposes, with industrial applications in areas like video and photography, surveying and monitoring.
JAR was founded by Jack Cullen, Sam Lewinson, Lochie Burke and Daniel Moscaritolo; and commenced in 2016 when the founders looked to address perceived problems in safety and reliability in drones available on the market at the time.
While the initial JAR business plan was based on sales of drones tailored to customer applications, that has expanded to include provision of services using drones. The mining industry has shown a preference for this model.
The term UAS is not as common as UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) but is accurate in demonstrating JAR’s focus on solutions rather than machines. The aerial vehicle is just one of three key elements that make up a UAS: the others being sensors appropriate to the application and software to process the data from sensors and convert it into information that is readily usable by the user.
The aerial vehicle is modular, so that machines can be built to suit the payload requirements, flight patterns and other priorities of individual users. Common to all vehicles is redundancy (often triple redundancy) that allows a vehicle to complete its mission in the event of a component failure; as well as monitoring to detect problems in advance of failure and initiate a service response.
Modern manufacturing technology such as 3D printing (both resin and metal) and injection moulding is employed by JAR.
Lochie Burke outlined that while a large multi-rotor UAV could have a payload capacity up to 150kg, 40kg was a more practical capacity in providing useful range and flight time. With quality cameras and their associated gimbals having a weight up to 10kg, this capacity allows multiple cameras (e.g. conventional/4K, infrared, LiDAR and hyperspectral imaging) to be installed on a single platform.
Noteworthy for users looking for extended air time rather than travel distance is the development of a 150m A-series tether that is armoured with Kevlar and contains both a power cable and data exchange cable, essentially providing unlimited airtime.
The focus on tailored solutions means that JAR UAS technology has applications not just in construction but also in defence, medical transport, agriculture, mining, film and linear infrastructure such as rail lines, pipelines and powerlines; and dialogues have been opened with key sensor and software suppliers and overseas markets. Funding assistance has been provided by the federal government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC).
.png){kind=small}
