Canard Drones has been carrying out work at Almería airport for the last three days. The tasks include practically all the elements that make up our current commercial offer, and a first exercise for FOD detection. On Monday, Canard’s team carried out work to determine the Pavement Condition Index (PCI), one of the latest innovations incorporated, in addition to checking the condition of the runway lights.
On Tuesday, the ILS (localizer and glideslope) were inspected, they continued with the PCI. the PAPI in runway 25, and an additional ILS inspection. Finally, some flights were carried out to generate 3D models that are are used to identify obstacles and verify the topographic reference points of the airport.
Canard deployed the entire package of solutions, and all the work has been done during normal airport activity, acting as one more team on the premises, always in contact and coordination with the control tower.
The work carried out at Almería airport is part of a collaboration agreement between Canard and AENA. In this case, ENAIRE technicians were also present during the validation of the ILS.
Canard took advantage of the works in Almería to start validating a new application for detection of dangerous objects on the runway (FOD), with the goal of integrating it in the package of services offered. FOD detection requires identification of the different types of possible objects, and is supported by sophisticated software that uses machine learning techniques to improve its capabilities.
Almería airport (LEI in acronym IATA), is located just seven kilometers from the city of Almería, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is an airport open 24 hours to national and international traffic. It has a paved runway 3,200 meters long. It receives approximately one million passengers a year.
CANARD is a Spanish company that has developed and markets state-of-the-art technology for the inspection and calibration of aids to air navigation (NAVAID) and airport infrastructures, as well as PCI (Pavement Condition Index) systems for detecting defects and objects on the runway. These new technologies allow greater freedom of operation for airports at a fraction of the actual cost. The company offers a complete solution package, which integrates into routine airport work, without the need to close or reduce operations. Canard continues to innovate and develop new solutions, or adapt those already developed to other sectors, and has been supported by programs such as NEOTEC, SME or ENISA.