In large chemical and petrochemical infrastructures, biogas plants, and waste treatment facilities, gas emissions (VOCs, methane) represent a triple threat: environmental, economic, and safety related.

Until recently, detecting these leaks required long, risky manual inspections, often yielding incomplete data. Today, integrating OGI (Optical Gas Imaging) sensors onto UAS (drone) platforms is redefining industry standards.

Drones equipped with OGI sensors can scan vast and complex areas in extremely short timeframes.

Methane, Benzene, Butane, Propane, Vinyl Chloride… over 20 gases invisible to the naked eye appear on the screen as “clouds of smoke.” This allows for instantaneous localization of the exact leak source, enabling real-time visual mapping.

Thanks to this solution, operators are no longer exposed to the risks of working in hard-to-reach or potentially toxic areas. Drone inspections are carried out safely, without the need to interrupt production processes, thereby ensuring operational continuity.

MAVTech, in collaboration with Sierra Olympia, a US company specialized in OGI sensing tech, will explore these topics in depth, with presentations and live operational demos at the “Drone Live Operations Days” event, taking place on 24–25 September 2026 at the Swiss Drone Competence Center in Lodrino (TI).

📩 Are you Interested in participating? Contact us at eventi@mavtech.eu.

MAVTech, in collaboration with Info Solution,  is pleased to announce the upcoming Drone Live Operations Days, taking place on 24–25 September 2026 at the Swiss Drone Competence Center di Lodrino (TI).

The event will feature live field demonstrations across three thematic areas:

•  Security & Civil Protection
• Agriculture & Green Spaces
• Industry & Infrastructures

Attendees will have the opportunity to discover innovative technologies, exchange experiences, and discuss the future of drone operations across different sectors.

Participation is free of charge.

For further information or to express your interest in participating, please contact: 📩 eventi@mavtech.eu

We would like to thank Taurus Swiss Business Partner for all the organizational support.

In robotics and drone applications, Vicon’s ultra-precise indoor localization system is the preferred solution when control and navigation algorithms must be validated with extreme accuracy, including swarm configurations, as it can simultaneously track the position of multiple drones and robots.

In collaboration with GPEM, a distributor and technology integrator of Vicon systems in Italy for more than 10 years, MAVTech has developed solutions enabling its drones to use positioning data provided by the system either through a direct local network connection (without the need for onboard processing) or through computations performed directly onboard the drone.

The solution, successfully tested and deployed at the “Futura Innovation Lab” of TXT Group, makes it possible to easily operate multiple drones simultaneously in indoor environments, providing an effective interface for developers working on navigation algorithms, autonomous flight, multi-drone systems, and UAV cooperation.

We are also working together on further developments to improve the integration between our drones and the Vicon system, with the goal of making the user experience increasingly simple, intuitive, and effective.

We are proud to have launched this collaboration between MAVTech and GPEM, aimed at providing advanced solutions for universities and public and private research institutions, thereby contributing to technological development in the drone industry.

MAVTech systems, designed and manufactured in Italy, integrate hardware, software, and communication platforms to support efficient operations in inspection, monitoring, surveying, search and rescue activities. The article also highlights new developments currently underway, including VTOL platforms, advanced swarm-based systems and AI algorithms, indoor drones for confined environments without GPS, and collaborative solutions between our drones and the rover systems of partner Info Solution, aimed at continuous monitoring and safety in complex industrial environments such as those in the Oil & Gas sector.

Founded as a spin-off of the Politecnico di Torino, MAVTech continues to develop innovative solutions, transferring research know-how to the market, with applications increasingly focused on safety, operational efficiency, and sustainability.

To learn more: click here.

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Contact us: mavtech@mavtech.eu

Equipped with a LiDAR sensor and an RGB camera mounted on a steerable gimbal, the MAVtech UAV Q4X flight platform reconstructed the three-dimensional structure of the infrastructure with very high precision, also demonstrating excellent position-holding performance while hovering, despite wind gusts of up to 5 m/s.

The test was planned in compliance with safety requirements and current regulations and took place in two separate locations in the municipality of Gargazzone.

To learn more: click here.

ARGOS (Autonomous UAV for Inspection and Monitoring in Confined Environments)

The project aims to develop an innovative Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform for inspections and surveying in complex industrial and natural environments, such as chemical plants, tunnels, penstocks, and geological sites. These contexts are characterized by confined spaces, lack of GNSS/GPS signals, variable lighting conditions, and obstacles that are not known in advance, making traditional inspection solutions ineffective and limiting the use of conventional drones.
The proposed solution will enable autonomous missions for surveying, infrastructure monitoring, and Search & Rescue operations, even in the absence of external localization infrastructure, ensuring safety and reliability of operations. 

Objectives

The project aims to develop an autonomous UAV capable of operating in confined environments without GNSS signal, with the following main tasks:

1. Autonomous localization: estimation of the UAV’s position using only onboard sensors, with integration through an Extended Kalman Filter. Two complementary approaches will be employed:
   • Lidar Inertial Odometry (LIO)
   • Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO)
     with the goal of achieving high accuracy and reliability beyond commercial standards.
     
     
2. Real-time mapping: creation of incremental 3D maps of the surrounding environment based on advanced SLAM algorithms, optimized for the selected sensors.
3. Obstacle avoidance: dynamic updating of the flight trajectory in the presence of obstacles, ensuring safety and successful completion of the overall mission.

Key Development Aspects:

• Accuracy: reduction of maneuvering margins and access to confined spaces through detailed mapping.
• Reliability: use of redundant and complementary sensors to ensure performance across different scenarios.
• Robustness: testing in environments with variable lighting, reflective surfaces, or non-standard features.
• Software speed: optimized processing for high update rates and reduced energy consumption.
• Versatility: interchangeable payload with different sensors for heterogeneous missions.

The project integrates hardware and software in an incremental approach, from sensor selection and calibration to the development of VIO, LIO, SLAM, and obstacle avoidance algorithms, culminating in experimental testing in controlled environments and real-world scenarios to validate performance against commercial solutions.

Project Details

Title: Autonomous UAV for Inspection and Monitoring in Confined Environments
Acronym: ARGOS
Funding Program: Autonomous Province of Bolzano – Simplified Experimental Development Projects – Act No. 66/2025
Total Budget: €50,000.00
MAVTech Budget: €50,000.00
Duration: January 2026 to December 2027

The project is structured into several phases, with initial laboratory tests followed by trials in real operational environments. In both scenarios, fleets of drones will be deployed, with one drone dedicated to inspection tasks and multiple support drones providing precise positioning through Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radio technology. The number of support drones will be progressively reduced from an initial 4 to 3 and then 2, in order to evaluate and compare the performance of different configurations and identify the optimal solution.
In addition to the hardware and software development of the drones, MAVTech will contribute to the market analysis for this application, with the aim of defining a viable operational solution for infrastructure inspection.

MAVTech is proud to take part in such a significant project, alongside important partners such as TXT e-solutions (Lead Partner), Fondazione LINKS, Inspection Drone, and the City of Turin, with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) programme.

For a complete overview of the project, we report here an excerpt from the Dire.it – TG Hi-Tech, available in full at the following link: Friday, December 5, 2025 edition.

• Lack of a reliable localization system under bridges.
• Partial inspections due to hidden elements that are not detected.
• Partial inspections due to hidden elements that are not detected.

The project aims to enable complete inspections, including the least accessible areas of bridges, through the use of a swarm of autonomous and cooperative drones developed by MAVTech. These drones can operate autonomously and in sync thanks to a mission planning and management platform developed in collaboration with the project partners.

Project partners:

• TXT GROUP: development of the ground control station for analyzing data collected by the drones.
• Fondazione LINKS – Leading Innovation & Knowledge for Society: development and integration of the system architecture.
• Metropolitan City of Turin: provision of urban areas for testing, in particular Parco Dora.

The ultimate goal is to transfer this technology to monitoring services, equipping them with UAV systems that can be used in an operational and scalable way.
Achieving this milestone will require not only the commitment of the project partners, but also the support of institutions and public bodies, so that innovations like this can find real-world application in infrastructure monitoring, with a tangible impact on the safety and development of our country.

Read the article published by inno3 in December 2025: click here.

First Test – April 11, Politecnico di Torino

During the first flight test, MAVTech validated its indoor positioning system using the experimental cage at the Politecnico, equipped with 12 high-precision tracking cameras. This setup enabled millimetric localization of the MAVTech RX3 drone.
The test also confirmed the correct operation of the SAMOIEDO infrastructure, which collects and makes available in real time the video streams from the onboard cameras, telemetry data, and outputs from the AI-based algorithm for object and person recognition.

Second Test – May 30, Val Venosta (South Tyrol)

The second test took place in an outdoor setting, where three RX3 drones and one Q4X were deployed to assess the infrastructure in a broader operational context. The drones, connected via a mesh network, transmitted their data to the ground control station using the other drones as intermediate nodes. This enabled simultaneous monitoring of all operating units, even when they were not directly connected to the control station.

The project continues to move forward toward the goal of delivering an integrated, reliable, and intelligent system for industrial surveillance, capable of operating in complex and dynamic environments.

Current issues in drone-based inspections

The solutions currently available for bridge inspection using drones present several significant limitations:

• Lack of a reliable positioning system under the bridge: without a GNSS signal, drones cannot safely fly in the most critical areas.
• Partial inspection: many structural elements, especially those hidden underneath the bridge, are not detected.
• Long times and high costs: inspections require multiple steps and specialized personnel, with significant impacts on the budget.

Our proposal: cooperative drones for complete inspection

The CAPRI project proposes the use of a swarm of cooperative drones developed by MAVTech, capable of operating autonomously and in sync to fully cover even the most inaccessible areas of bridges.

The project is divided into two phases:

• Phase 1: use of 5 drones, with 1 performing the inspection and 4 supporting precise positioning through ultra wide band (UWB) radio technology.
• Phase 2: reduction in the number of drones to 3 in total (1 for inspection and 2 for support), optimizing system efficiency.

Project partners

The CAPRI project is based on collaboration between actors with complementary skills, each responsible for a key element of the solution.

TXT e-solutions, Lead Partner of the project, will be responsible for:

• AI-based Defect Detection on Bridges: analyzes RGB images to automatically detect defects such as cracks or degraded components.
• Development of the Ground Control Station, the ground station that receives real-time data from the drones and enables analysis of detected defects during flight.

Fondazione LINKS is the technology partner responsible for developing and integrating the system architecture, which includes:

• Hybrid and Cooperative Positioning: enables accurate estimation of the inspector drone’s position even without GNSS signal, solving localization issues under the bridge.
• Mission Planner: plans drone trajectories and manages their autonomous missions in real time.
• Communication Module: enables communication between drones and the ground station via Wi-Fi and/or 4G/5G.

Inspection Drone, a company with solid experience in infrastructure monitoring, provides professional pilots and supports data acquisition activities throughout the project. It will also identify two additional bridges for inspections outside the Turin area.

City of Turin, a strategic partner in the project, provides urban areas for testing, particularly Parco Dora. Its support will be essential for obtaining flight authorizations and for conducting activities in real-world environments.

Business Development

An essential part of the CAPRI project is dedicated to developing the business model. At the end of the project, the technical solution will need to be transformed into an operational and scalable service for bridge monitoring. MAVTech will be specifically responsible for market analysis.

Project details

Title: Cooperative UAVs Positioning for bRidge Inspection
Acronym: CAPRI
Project ID: –
Overall Budget: € 1,492,107.00 (funded: € 994,500.00)
MAVTech Budget: € 232,090.00 (funded: € 185,400.00)
Funding Programme: ESA ARTES 4.0 Downstream Applications
Partners: TXT e-solutions, Fondazione LINKS, Inspection Drone, City of Turin.
Duration: 07.2025 – 06.2027