NAGOYA, Japan — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 7, 2016 — Prodrone Co., Ltd. is proud to announce it has developed the PD6-CI-L, a self-propelling surface-clinging drone able to inspect both ceilings and vertical surfaces, for the civil infrastructure inspection market. PRODRONE will showcase the new model at its booth at InterDrone, The International Drone Conference and Exposition, to be held September 7-9, 2016 in Las Vegas.

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PD6-CI-L (Photo: Business Wire)

The PD6-CI-L addresses a key pain point in bridge inspection. Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has identified 700,000 road bridges as requiring inspection, but unique environmental conditions like powerful wind gusts often make it difficult for traditional drones designed to hover to complete inspections.

PRODRONE’s extraordinary development team came up with a drone that did not inspect while hovering, but instead uses negative pressure to cling directly to the inspection surface. The design enables accurate image capture by maintaining a constant focal distance from the inspection surface. Not only is the PD6-CI-L able to inspect ceilings (horizontal surfaces), but with its L-shape it can also cling to walls (vertical surfaces) – all in the one machine. This enables the drone to perform in a wider range of situations, as it cannot merely inspect bridges, but also the walls of any type of architectural structure.

The groundbreaking design of the PD6-CI-L is based on PRODRONE’s first surface-clinging infrastructure inspection drone, the PD4-CI, which won extremely high praise across the industry when the company unveiled it in April 2016. The new PD6-CI-L refines the ideas behind the first model, which could only cling to ceilings. By building on requests received from many members of the industry, PRODRONE expects to expand the utility of its infrastructure inspection drones.

About Prodrone Co., Ltd.

With its unrivaled engineering and technological skills, Prodrone Co., Ltd. aims to be the world’s number one developer of commercial and industrial drones.

PRODRONE is a B2B industrial drone system manufacturer established in Nagoya, Japan, in January 2015 by experts with over 20 years of experience in a variety of specialized fields. Since its founding, PRODRONE has developed an assortment of customized industrial drones on consignment for numerous drone service providers and manufacturers in the industrial drone market. The company’s successes include large drones that can carry 30kg (66lbs) of payload, drones specifically designed for laser surveying, drones capable of surveying at high-altitudes over 5,500m (18,000ft), drones able to land on water, drones capable of reading RFID at high speeds, drones designed to inspect bridges and other infrastructure, all-weather large-format platforms, drones for pesticide spraying, numerous drones for academic research, and many more. PRODRONE specializes in drones that require superior technical precision – the ones no one else can build. The company has earned the confidence of government agencies and leading companies through quick response to clients’ needs. PRODRONE is now widening its view to help drone service providers and manufacturers of the world expand their businesses globally.

See more at: https://www.prodrone.jp/en/

* Model Number and Specifications are subject to change without notice.

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