{"id":256905,"date":"2024-09-23T07:51:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T13:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfe-is.com\/?p=256905"},"modified":"2025-07-28T16:02:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T21:02:37","slug":"elios-3-us-dot-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfe-is.com\/en_ca\/elios-3-us-dot-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Elios 3 Passes Rigorous US DOT Testing in Chicago Subway System with Enspect Engineering and MTRI Inc."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Elios 3 Passes Rigorous US DOT Testing in Chicago Subway System with Enspect Engineering and MTRI Inc.<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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MFE\u2019s client Enspect Engineering helped MTRI Inc. with a demonstration of remote sensing technologies for the U.S. Department of Transportation, which included tests of the Elios 3 for inspections in Chicago\u2019s transit tunnels and found it made them safer, easier, and produced higher-quality data.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Benefits<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Improved Safety<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Using the Elios 3 helped inspectors avoid the need to send people into potentially dangerous transit tunnel environments to collect inspection data.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Made for Underground Operations<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Elios 3\u2019s ability to create 3D maps in real time, fly without GPS, operate in low light conditions with its onboard 16K-lumen lights, and tolerate collisions in confined spaces with its unique \u201cdrone in a cage\u201d design made it ideally suited for subway inspections.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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3D Maps in Real Time<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Elios 3 comes with software that allows it to create 3D maps in real time using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). These maps showed the location of the drone as it flies, allowing pilots to fly even when they couldn\u2019t see the drone and to capture the location of georeferenced defects on a 3D map that could be reviewed later.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>

The U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) Volpe Center is focused on advancing transportation innovation for the public good.<\/p>

In furtherance of that mission, the Volpe Center, in collaboration with the Federal Transit Administration, commissioned a Phase III SBIR demonstration of UAV use cases in transit work. The project was led by MTRI Inc., a small business that levels the intellectual property and innovations that arise from research funded by Michigan Technological University.<\/p>

MTRI Inc. began its work for the Volpe Center by investigating the ways drones can be used to automate assessments for highway-rail grade crossings.<\/p>

The third phase of the UAV transit project went underground, taking inspectors into the Chicago subway to test drones in the uniquely challenging environment presented by transit tunnels and related infrastructure.<\/p>

This case study shares the findings from the tests conducted for the third phase of the project, in which structural engineering company Enspect Engineering helped MTRI Inc. perform tests of the Elios 3 indoor drone<\/a> and two other drones in subway tunnels to see if they could meet the needs of the US DOT.<\/p>

Customer Needs<\/strong><\/h2>

Can a drone fly underground? And, if so, how can it be used, and what kinds of data can it collect?<\/p>

These questions were the primary focus for the US DOT\u2019s underground testing.<\/p>

The three main use cases the US DOT wanted to test were:<\/p>