¶ Tethered UAV
| Company | Fotokite |
| Country | USA |
| Website | https://fotokite.com/ |
| Category | Protection & compliance › Wildfire |
Tethered UAV for first responders (e.g. fire fighting) with RGB and thermal camera, live streaming to mobile devices
¶ Overview
A tethered UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) is a drone system physically connected to a ground station via a thin, lightweight cable — or tether — that simultaneously provides a continuous power supply and, in some configurations, a high-bandwidth data link. Unlike battery-powered free-flying drones that are limited to flight times of 20–40 minutes, tethered UAVs can remain airborne for many hours or indefinitely, making them suitable for persistent surveillance, communications relay, and real-time monitoring tasks. The tether typically carries electrical power from a generator or mains supply on the ground, while the drone maintains a fixed altitude above the anchor point, often between 30 and 150 metres. In forestry and land management applications, tethered UAVs are used for extended aerial observation of active logging operations, wildfire monitoring, environmental compliance surveillance, and providing elevated communications relay in remote areas where ground-based radio coverage is inadequate. Australia's vast and remote forest estates — particularly in Western Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria — present significant communications challenges for autonomous ground vehicle deployments and field crews, and tethered UAVs offer a practical solution for maintaining reliable connectivity over extended shifts. Some forestry robotics programs have explored tethered UAVs as persistent overhead observers that feed real-time video and sensor data to autonomous ground machines, improving their situational awareness in dense canopy environments where GPS and local sensing alone may be insufficient. The systems require careful management of tether tension, wind loading, and obstacle avoidance to prevent entanglement in vegetation, which is a particular challenge in complex forest terrain. Commercial tethered UAV platforms are offered by companies including Elistair, Hoverfly Technologies, and Infinium Robotics, and interest in their forestry applications continues to grow alongside broader UAV adoption in the sector.
¶ Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Fotokite |
| Country | USA |
| Type | Company |
| FWPA RD&E | 2.1 |