Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover employs advanced drone in new trial that aims to reduce machinery and site inspection times by up to 95% in its factories. Tony McDonough reports
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is using the latest drone technology to speed up factory maintenance.
It has started a pilot project using the Elios 3 drone by Flyability which can reach high and confined spaces allowing maintenance teams to inspect equipment safely from the factory floor, eliminating the need for elevated platforms and reducing risk.
This pilot is taking place at the carmaker’s electric propulsion manufacturing centre in Wolverhampton and, if successful, the drones could be rolled out to its other sites including Halewood in Merseyside where around 3,500 people are employed.
JLR claims the drone can reduce machinery and site inspection times by up to 95%. Operated via tablet, it delivers a live 3D map to identify and troubleshoot issues.
This helps JLR to better prevent costly maintenance downtime, while also freeing up employees’ time to focus on additional business critical tasks.
Nigel Blenkinsop, executive director of industrial operations at JLR, said: “As we transform our facilities, we’re rethinking every part of our factories, including how we maintain and operate them.
“Trials such as this one with advanced drone technology are helping us improve employee safety, reduce maintenance downtime and operate more efficiently.
“Just as importantly, they’re helping upskill our people in the latest digital technologies, ensuring our teams are part of our factories of the future.”
This drone uses light detection and ranging sensors to send out laser light pulses which bounce back to the drone when it hits an object. By timing how long the pulses take to return, it calculates distances to create detailed 3D maps of the surrounding environment.
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It also features a thermal camera to help pinpoint overheating components or insulation failures, helping optimise energy use by detecting inefficiencies early and supporting JLR’s efforts to reduce its overall operational emissions.
This initiative is part of JLR’s £3.8bn annual investment into industrial transformation, new products and technology, and is being explored through its Open Innovation programme.