In June this year, we attended the Drone & Unmanned Aviation Conference, South Africa’s flagship drone event where stakeholders in the country’s commercial drone space meet annually compare notes on the pace of the industry’s growth.

We worked with conference sponsor, drone insurance services provider, iTOO Special Risks, to pick the minds of the top voices in South Africa when it comes to commercial drone applications.

The interviews ranged from industry growth, potential, the current state of the drone space as well as the future of drone technology operations in South Africa.

One of the experts is Amit Ramdath, an engineer and founder of Autonosky, a drone manufacturing and services provider from Cape Town.

Autonosky could be the first start-up in the world to introduce a real MPD – a multi-purpose drone that can carry out any task if saddle it with the right payload – from remote sensing, crop spraying, delivery; and even fighting fires.

And it is already ready for order; ahead of even another more illustrious MPD – the now mythical VoloDrone that has promised to deliver so much since 2019, but is nowhere near the horizon yet.

Called the Autono1, Autonosky’s drone can carry a maximum payload of up to 30kg, can fly for an hour on a single charge; and also comes with a 3-axis camera and sensor stabiliser.

“We designed Autono1 from the ground up to maintain sufficient flight times at increased payload capacities,” the company said.

When they are not building drones, the smart people at Autonosky also offer drone services that include training and other drone-based operations.

Recently, Autonosky announced a partnership with Workswell, a European developer and manufacturer of thermal imaging solutions, which gives licence to the former to become the local supplier and integrator for Workswell’s new innovative WIRIS Enterprise payload.

A thermal camera system, the WIRIS is a fully radiometric camera that has been specially designed for use with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones; and, as the company claims; built for the most demanding applications, including industrial inspections, archaeology, and precision agriculture.

“Workswell’s cutting-edge technology aligns perfectly with our commitment to providing industry-leading solutions,” Autonosky says.

“As the first platform to integrate this payload, our Autono1 heavy-lifting drone will transform into one of the most comprehensive surveillance packages available.”