“Glideron” multifunctional drone has been tested in practice in Samara

Developers from Samara tested a multi-purpose drone “Glideron”, which inspected the underwater part of the railway bridge across the Sok River, according to Interfax.

In the fall of 2017, specialists from the Samara State Technical University (SSTU) together with the Talisman Design Bureau and the Setecentric Platforms NPC began to create a vehicle for operational monitoring of water areas and coastal territory. Its uniqueness in combining of different functionality into a single design: the simultaneous use of technical features of surface and underwater gliders to solve problems of hydrology, hydrography, hydrophysics. The vehicle is able to walk in semi-submersible and underwater mode automatically on the specified route and depth.

The developers consider such complexes as a successful tool for the study of the World Ocean: hydrophysical parameters of depths, hydrometeorological, hydroacoustic and ecological characteristics of the coastal shelf.

With such drones the project authors also propose to provide exploration of the underwater situation around oil platforms, to control the composition and volume of bioresources, to study mineral deposits, or to notify promptly about emergencies.

To inspect the underwater part of the railway bridge across the river the Gladeron was equipped with side-view sonar and echo sounders developed by Ekran research and production company.