Generation equipment thermal
Repeat thermal sweeps catch heat-rise on transformers and generators while the issue is still small, opening usable windows for planned intervention.
Periodic compliance,
now condition-based.
Automated nodes execute thermal and visual inspections daily without crew dispatch. Substations, generation, and transmission stay under continuous condition monitoring.
Substation thermal scans, transmission corridor patrol, vegetation management, all at the cadence wildfire risk demands. Aligned with EU IED and grid-operator audit.
365x
Inspection frequency vs. annual
2min
Intrusion-alarm response
24/7
Unattended autonomy
APPROACH
The aerial monitoring layer above your existing utility assets.
Same node fleet handles thermal substation surveys, vegetation-clearance measurement, copper-theft response, and post-storm damage assessment. Alarm-triggered launch puts live video on the operator's screen before the security team arrives. Vegetation clearances are documented continuously. Wildfire liability shifts from reactive to proactive.
MISSION CATALOG
Eight recurring missions across generation and transmission.
Substation inspection & security
A single node keeps eyes on transformers and breaker bays while doubling as live verification when fence sensors trip, deterring scrap thieves before damage is done.
Scrap-metal & trespass deterrence
Randomised fence-line sweeps plus on-alarm launches push intruders off-site and produce timestamped 4K footage admissible in court proceedings.
Right-of-way vegetation
LiDAR passes log conductor-to-canopy gaps along ROWs and flag branches drifting toward energised hardware, closing off a leading ignition pathway in dry-climate corridors.
Line ignition-risk survey
Pre-season sweeps build a baseline of cracked insulators, slipped conductors, and warm bushings, the small faults that arc into wildfires once humidity drops.
After-storm site walk
As soon as wind drops below limits, nodes self-launch a full circuit of yard and structures. Restoration crews see what's broken on the operator console, and insurers receive geo-stamped imagery without a truck roll.
Audit-ready evidence trail
Every flight writes a coordinate-tagged record into the asset log, so regulator visits land on a corpus of inspections that already runs well past statutory cadence.
Live overhead for incident command
When a breaker blows or a perimeter alarm escalates, an airframe is already overhead streaming to the control room. Duty managers triage with situational awareness, not radio traffic.
DEPLOYMENT TIER
Two ways to subscribe.
Shared
Network service
For substation clusters within 10km of an Aerion node. Multi-customer node infrastructure. Standard thermal, vegetation, and security cadence. Faster onboarding.
Dedicated
Private network
Dedicated node for critical generation/transmission assets needing daily thermal scans, wildfire-risk surveys, and rapid intrusion verification. 8-12 week deployment.
WHAT WE DETECT
Continuous detection across the operational envelope. Findings flagged in your dashboard with audit-grade evidence trails.
DETECTION · 01
Thermal anomaly detection
Identifies temperature outliers on transformers and equipment to enable predictive maintenance before failures cause outages.
DETECTION · 02
Equipment defect ID
Detects corrosion, oil leaks, and structural issues across high-resolution imagery captured at consistent inspection vantage points.
DETECTION · 03
Intrusion & threat detection
Identifies unauthorized personnel, vehicles, and suspicious activity at substations. Real-time alert to the operations center.
DETECTION · 04
Vegetation clearance
Measures conductor-to-vegetation distances and predicts future violations based on historical growth rates. Wildfire prevention.
DETECTION · 05
Wildfire ignition source
Identifies damaged insulators, arcing equipment, and thermal hotspots creating ignition risks before fire season begins.
DETECTION · 06
Change detection
Highlights differences between inspections to identify new damage, debris accumulation, or equipment displacement after weather events.
DETECTION · 07
Degradation curve tracking
Identifies equipment condition trends over time. Predicts optimal maintenance timing for condition-based strategies.
DETECTION · 08
Security threat classification
Distinguishes copper theft attempts from authorized access. Reduces false alarms; prioritizes genuine threats requiring response.
INTEGRATION STACK
Drops into the systems your utility already runs.
CAPABILITY
What each node delivers
- 10 km service radius per node
- Continuous operations through Nordic winters (−30 °C)
- Weather-rated for outdoor deployment
- Multi-sensor capture: visual, thermal, LiDAR, optional corona/UV
- BVLOS-ready under EU specific category
- Real-time AI flagging on every flight
- EU data residency, GDPR, NIS2
INTEGRATES WITH
Your operations stack
- GIS (Esri, Smallworld)
- OMS / DMS / ADMS
- SCADA for substation and grid telemetry
- CMMS for work-order generation
- Custom APIs and webhooks
REGULATORY EDGE
Operating from inside the EU's only U-space sandbox.
Tartu, Estonia operates the EU's only fully-operational U-space regulatory sandbox. Aerion operates inside this framework. That compresses BVLOS approval cycles that take 12-24 months elsewhere in Europe to weeks for our customers.
Discuss your site.
We're accepting design partners and pilot customers for 2026-2027 deployments. Tell us about your facility, fleet, corridor, or operation.
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