Investment in drone technology takes us flying into the future

AkzoNobel has acquired a minority stake in Donecle, the automated inspections business whose drone technology is central to AkzoNobel’s new Aerofleet Coatings Management service that is dramatically helping airline operators to optimize their aerospace coatings replacement and maintenance schedules for individual aircraft in their fleet.

?Donecle’s technology was originally developed to automate and increase the efficiency of aircraft general visual inspections (GVIs) including the detection and identification of lightning strikes. It has now evolved to be able to detect paint flaws, scratches, and other coatings’ issues such as rivet rash exactly the same way, every time. The findings are then analyzed to determine the overall ‘health’ of the coating and whether/when a new coating may be required.

?Patrick Bourguignon, BU Director, AkzoNobel Automotive & Specialty Coatings, says the investment reflects the company’s strategy of partnering with best-in-class technologies: “It matches our commitment to developing new and ever more innovative services and solutions that help our aerospace customers to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and support a significantly more sustainable operation.”

?Matthieu Claybrough, CEO of Donecle, is excited to have the backing of such a prestigious global brand: “We have already been collaborating to develop the new Aerofleet Coatings Management service and will be working closely with their teams in evolving this and other services to help keep our aerospace customers one step ahead of the competition.”

?As part of the Aerofleet Coatings Management solution, drones fly in a set grid over the plane's surface, taking up to 1,000 HD photos. These are then analysed by Donecle’s bespoke machine learning algorithm based on a two-stage Deep Neural Network to identify issues on the paint surface.

Drones are able to reach parts of an aircraft more quickly than a person can, while their patented laser positioning technology makes the flights fully automated. Navigation sensors enable the drone to fly and land safely.?