Beyond Line of Sight: How Sentaero Drones Cover Miles of Utilities Safer and Faster

Beyond Line of Sight: How Sentaero Drones Cover Miles of Utilities Safer and Faster

Article courtesy of Censys Technologies

Utilities deliver the energy that powers modern life—but monitoring them is one of the toughest challenges in infrastructure management. Thousands of miles must be inspected, often across remote or hazardous terrain. Traditional approaches, from ground patrols to helicopter flights, are costly, inefficient, and expose crews to unnecessary risks.

Censys Technologies built the Sentaero, a BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) capable system, to solve this challenge. With multi-hour endurance, networked EdgeDock infrastructure, and proven BVLOS approvals, Sentaero drones provide utility operators with the scale, safety, and intelligence required to protect critical assets.

Why BVLOS is a Competitive Advantage

Most drones are restricted to operating within the pilot's visual line of sight (VLOS). This limitation, typically  a one-mile radius, makes long-distance inspections nearly impossible.

The Sentaero 6 BVLOS platform eliminates those limits. Designed for multi-hour missions and dock-to-dock operations, it enables long-range flights that cover hundreds of miles of utilities in a single deployment. Operators can replace episodic patrols with continuous, automated coverage—turning fragmented data into actionable enterprise intelligence.

Scalable Coverage Through EdgeDock Networks

Quadcopters are effective for localized inspection but cannot efficiently monitor long linear assets like utilities. The Sentaero fixed-wing design was engineered specifically for these missions.

With the Sentaero 6 + EdgeDock system, operators gain:

• Dock-to-dock hopping – a single aircraft services multiple docks, unlike 1:1 dock-to-drone models, delivering true network economies of scale.

• Remote operations – centralized launch, monitoring, and data offload without on-site crews.

• Edge processing – data processed locally at the dock to reduce transmission costs and deliver dashboards to decision-makers in near real time.

• Persistent presence – routine patrols, event-triggered flights, and rapid-response coverage when incidents occur.

The result is a scalable inspection model that lowers costs, boosts aircraft utilization, and ensures consistent coverage across hundreds and thousands of miles.

IntelligEnce That Prevents Disasters

Utility integrity depends on early detection. Sentaero’s multi-payload flexibility ensures operators have the right tools for the mission:

• LiDAR for precise measurements, surveying and modeling

• Live Feed Video for pre/post storm response, security, and hotspot detection

• High-resolution RGB for vegetation encroachment, erosion, or third-party interference

Repeatable flight paths ensure geotagged, consistent data—essential for change detection, compliance, and insurance defensibility. Instead of waiting for an incident, operators gain the ability to prevent one.

Safety, Compliance, and Regulatory Confidence

Safety isn’t optional—it’s mission-critical. Censys Technologies has earned over 85 BVLOS approvals from the FAA, demonstrating unmatched expertise in building compliant, safe operations for our customers and ourselves.

Censys goes beyond technology by delivering comprehensive regulatory advisory services—from CONOPS development and waiver package preparation to full safety case documentation. Backed by a proven track record of FAA BVLOS approvals and proudly American-made systems, Censys stands as the compliance partner operators trust to navigate regulation, ensure safety, and elevate missions far beyond hardware.

The Sentaero platform incorporates:

• Automated return-to-launch (RTL) and abort protocols safeguard missions by ensuring the aircraft returns safely in unexpected conditions.

• Redundant command-and-control links via LTE/5G and radio enable uninterrupted connectivity and mission reliability.

• BVLOS-ready architecture is designed to meet evolving regulatory standards, enabling safe and scalable long-range operations.

• Detect-and-Avoid system identifies crewed aircraft and can execute autonomous avoidance maneuvers when necessary.

This combination reduces human exposure in the field while assuring regulators, stakeholders, and operators that every mission is conducted to the highest safety standards.

Enterprise Integration That Scales

Data is only as valuable as the workflows it supports. The Sentaero + EdgeDock system integrates directly into enterprise platforms—including GIS, EAM, OMS/ADMS, and incident management systems—via secure APIs. This eliminates manual data transfer and accelerates decisions, allowing utility operators to manage inspections, events, and compliance from within their existing systems.

The ROI for Utility Operators

Utility operators face rising costs, compliance pressure, workforce shortages, and liability risk. The Sentaero BVLOS system changes the economics of inspections:

• Lower OPEX: Fewer truck rolls and less mobilization.

• Faster anomaly response: Near real-time eyes on assets after alarms.

• Higher inspection frequency: Routine patrols shift maintenance from reactive to preventive.

• Reduced liability exposure: Persistent monitoring lowers the frequency and severity of leaks or failures—improving insurance posture and reducing premiums.

In practice, this translates to more coverage at a lower cost—with fewer risks to people, assets, and corporate reputation.

Beyond Utilities: A Corridor-Wide Solution

The Sentaero 6 + EdgeDock system was purpose-built to deliver scalable, persistent aerial intelligence across all long linear infrastructure assets—not just utilities. Its endurance, autonomy, and dock-to-dock network architecture enable reliable coverage at enterprise scale. The same capabilities extend seamlessly to:

• Roadways: Support for large-scale roadway inspections, traffic and incident management, vegetation encroachment detection, and surveying for construction planning and monitoring.

• Railways: Continuous corridor patrols to identify encroachments, erosion, or structural risks that threaten network reliability.

• Pipelines: Persistent monitoring for vegetation management, compliance inspections, and rapid storm-response assessments over remote spans.

• Borders & Coastlines: Persistent situational awareness across vast, hard-to-access areas with minimal on-site presence, enabling enhanced security and faster incident response.

With multi-hour VTOL endurance, remote autonomy, and BVLOS-ready architecture, the S6 EdgeDock network scales far beyond traditional “truck and pilot” or multi-rotor dock operations—unlocking safer, faster, and more cost-efficient intelligence for every mile of mission-critical infrastructure.

This flexibility makes Sentaero the most cost-effective solution for organizations managing long-distance corridors.

Proudly American-Made

Censys Technologies designs and manufactures its NDAA compliant systems in the United States, ensuring the highest standards of quality, reliability, and trust. For operators managing critical national infrastructure, American manufacturing provides assurance that their mission-critical systems are built with integrity and long-term support in mind.

Elevating Utility Monitoring

Utilities represent a national critical infrastructure. They demand more than stopgap solution. They require persistent intelligence.

With the Sentaero 6 BVLOS platform, utility operators move beyond the limitations of legacy inspection methods. They gain the ability to monitor miles of corridor faster, safer, and with decision-grade data integrated directly into their enterprise systems.

This is more than a drone. It's the future of infrastructure monitoring.

Ready to see how BVLOS inspections can transform your utility operations? Explore the Sentaero 6 platform by contacting Gresco UAS today.