“In 2015 we piloted the initial UAS introductory flights for Xcel, which led to scaling the program over thousands of circuit miles,” said Will Lovett, PAU managing director. “What was once a few miles of inspections a day has grown to an average of 40 miles per day, with the highest being 124 miles by a single aircraft and crew. Much of the utility industry continues to wait on the FAA to open regulations that would provide this level of efficiency, but this is a program that has been on the leading edge of regulatory approvals since 2018.” The inspection flights capture high-resolution imagery of the transmission line infrastructure. On board the aircraft are two Phase One IXM-100 cameras, providing coverage of the transmission structure and utility right-of-way. PAU has captured more than 3 000 000 100-megapixel photographs since the program began. Imagery is organized and delivered to eSmart Systems for anal- ysis. The Norwegian-based data analytics firm uses AI technology to assess each image for system cataloging and fault detection. The Xcel Energy waiver authorizes the use of aircraft from two separate manu- facturers to fly the inspection flights. The Freefly Systems Alta X performed over 10 000 inspection miles alone. The quad-rotor platform with inspection cameras comes in under 55 lb and can fly just over 30 min. Flights are planned utilizing Xcel Energy provided structure locations as individual flight waypoints. Mission plans are uploaded to the Alta X and average around 9 min per flight. The aircraft is never recovered at its initial takeoff location, but instead downrange by a second flight crew located adjacent to the transmission line. As part of the Xcel Energy waiv- er’s expansive geographic approval, BVLOS flights have spanned Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. “We are very proud of our accomplish- ments covering this much ground with unmanned aircraft,” said Tom Stegge, UAS program manager for Xcel Energy. “Without regulatory enablement, many inspection programs place as many personnel and aircraft in the field as possible. Unmanned aircraft inspection flights minimize the manpower required for these programs and have managed to cover over 70% of our 18 000-mile transmission network utilizing a single aircraft and flight crew.” PAU and Xcel Energy recognize the success of the program is only a step to standardized regulatory enablement. Both organizations participated in the FAA’s BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), which formed in June 2021. Lovett says many of the concepts and lessons learned from thousands of miles of BVLOS inspection flights were offered in committee discussions and are reflected in the final published ARC report. “Every regulatory approval advances the UAS industry in the United States. Whether the approval is site-specific or as wide as 18 000 miles, each approval drives the regulatory process toward a standardized format. The work of the Xcel BVLOS program proves safe, effec- tive UAS operations can be scaled to support the needs of the utility industry as long as there is support from our federal regulators. This team continues to be on the leading edge of complex oper- ations with the intention of advancing beyond the bounds of Part 107,” said Lovett. IRISNDT ACQUIRES RENEWABLE BLADE SERVICE IRISNDT announced the acquisition of an interest in Renewable Blade Service LLC. Based in Rochester, Minnesota, Renewable Blade Service serves the wind power market, offering a focused array of blade inspection, repair, and maintenance services to customers in the Renewable and Energy industries. This is IRISNDT’s third investment in the wind market following the acquisition of www. .com • 2000 ASME & RFT tubes in stock - Same day shipping • Custom calibration standards • Mock-up exchangers / tube testing bundles • EDM notches, holes and flaws • S • Spiral notches & tube expansions • Corrosion simulation SCANNER | INDUSTRYNEWS 12 M AT E R I A L S E V A L U AT I O N • N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2

Ontario-based Renewable Blade Service Canada in January 2022 and Texas- based Altura Wind Services in June 2021. IRISNDT is a privately-owned NDT, inspection, and integrity engineering company with operations in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. The company serves a blue-chip customer base in the refinery, petro- chemical, chemical, agricultural, and power/renewables sectors around ongoing operational activities and main- tenance turnaround projects, as well as construction and expansion projects. The company is owned by IRISNDT employees and First Reserve, a leading global private equity firm focused on energy and related industrial markets, and has 23 branch locations in the US, as well as nine in Canada, seven in the United Kingdom, and five in Australia. OCEANEERING ANNOUNCES AUV FOR PIPELINE INSPECTION Oceaneering has announced that its Freedom™ AUV has achieved Technology Readiness Level 6 on a 1-9 scale, as assessed by an expert industry group with representation from TotalEnergies, Chevron, and Equinor. Freedom, a hybrid AUV/ROV system, is the result of a long-term collabora- tive relationship between Oceaneering, TotalEnergies, and Chevron dating back to 2014, with Equinor joining the collaboration in 2019. In 2014, the group began efforts to optimize the delivery of a pipeline inspection service from an AUV. The close association between customers TotalEnergies, Chevron, and Equinor, and Oceaneering as developer, has ensured that the specification and requirements of the improved pipeline inspection AUV have been realized within both the hardware design as well as the autonomous behaviors developed and refined during the DevOps testing phase of the Freedom AUV project. As a result of this long-term investment and effort, Freedom has now demon- strated to the expert group that it can carry out low altitude inspection and survey on pipelines of different diame- ters. The vehicle can track pipelines at between 3 and 5 m altitude from the seabed providing high-resolution survey data and at 8 m altitude for reconnais- sance and seabed mapping. Freedom’s control software includes specific behaviors to locate and maximize data acquisition value for burial, crossing, and freespan events. To ensure the safety of the vehicle and customer assets, Freedom includes a sophisticated level of obstacle detection, autonomous obstacle avoidance, and general situational awareness. These features allow the vehicle to re-plan its route to avoid detected objects and then to re-engage with the pipeline being tracked once the vehicle has navigated safely past the object. The Freedom AUV, following an extensive testing and qualification program, has achieved Technology Readiness Level 6 on a 1-9 scale, as assessed by an expert industry group. CALL FOR CANDIDATES FOR ASNT BOARD OF DIRECTORS ASNT is seeking Director candidates for its Board of Directors (BOD) who have a strong understanding of the Society, have a strategic mindset, can demonstrate technical compe- tency, and have business acumen with senior-level experience in large, international organizations. There are five Director seats to fill on the BOD. Elected Directors will serve a three-year term, beginning 1 July 2023. Service on the BOD is a chance to grow personally and profes- sionally, gain unique experience, and make lasting connections with other NDT professionals, all while leading the Society in a strategic direction. To read the job description and apply online, visit asnt.org/election. All applications are due by 1 January 2023. If you have any questions, please contact Heather Cowles, Director of Membership and Engagement, at hcowles@asnt.org or 1-614-384- 2466. CALL FOR 2023 AWARD NOMINATIONS Nominations for 2023 ASNT Honors and Awards are now open! To recognize the contributions and achievements of NDT professionals and Society volunteers, ASNT offers an array of honors and awards, each with different eligibility require- ments. For more information, go to asnt.org/awards. | SOCIETYNOTES N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2 • M AT E R I A L S E V A L U AT I O N 13