King company ushers in the future of UAVs

September 24, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
There are simply no limits to what technology can offer society these days.
In fact, a King-based business likes to think the applications for its aerial platforms are “infinite.”
Jeff Jackson and his wife Deborah St. Clair are at the controls of Infinite Jib, which has established itself as a world leader in remotely controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). They design and manufacture these cutting-edge flying robots that serve a multitude of purposes. Put simply, they give cameras wings, offering the perfect tool for many industrial, commercial, agricultural, and mining applications. Manufacturing delicate vehicles such as this will need precision and the best machinery, which can be found in places such as https://www.tsinfa.com/metal-lathe-machine-for-sale/, to achieve this.
Buzzing just above a herd of cattle, one of Jackson’s machines can find a single cow with an elevated body temperature, indicating it’s sick and could use medication.
Another customer, guiding Jackson’s newest workhorse, Surveyor, can determine in short order, the volume of a huge pile of gravel and calculate just how many truckloads it will take to remove it.
Short-range search and rescue??No problem, the Orion can detect a person’s body heat and transmit the real time infrared digital data instantly.
While hobbyists have been tinkering with radio-controlled aircraft for decades, the UAV has come into its own, grown out of its adolescence and is becoming a significant piece of technological equipment, capable of almost anything.
Jackson and his wife embarked on this endeavour roughly five years ago, after Jeff had careers in computers, aircraft and machining, working with Boeing, Magna and selling Apple products.
They originally built and sold airborne craft designed to carry cameras for the film industry.
They grew and evolved and quickly discovered the line of products on the market weren’t addressing the needs of customers and cinematographers.
Jeff set to work matching clients’ specific needs to the hardware, software and the UAVs themselves. And he found what worked, offering filmmakers a turn-key solution.
The last year or so has seen an explosion in the UAV market. However, Jackson stressed it’s being flooded with cheaper, inefficient models and in this industry you really do get what you pay for.
Infinite Jib last year switched gears and now focuses on top-quality products, catering to the industrial and scientific markets.
The company’s Orion model is the only one in the world that can capture infrared in the air and send a live digital feed to the ground. It can not only find a needle in the proverbial haystack, but read its temperature!
One customer has requested tailoring a system to analyze cash crops.
Their Surveyor, designed to fly for the mining industry, was launched this past July.
For one client, the gizmo can fly over an open pit mine and create a 3-D model of the terrain, complete with volumetric assessments. The craft can whiz along a grid pattern at upwards of 70 km/h and stay aloft for almost 30 minutes on a single charge.
Customers not only receive the UAVs and software systems, but extensive training and followup service.
“We’re just scratching the surface,”?Jackson observed, adding they’ve taken their machines from Hollywood to farmers’ fields and open pit mines.
Jackson’s company was involved in the Toyota TV commercial, where the red Corolla is being followed by r/c vehicles on the ground and in the air. Infinite Jib was asked to produce five r/c cars that could jump 18 feet in the air, small enough to drive under the Corolla and one to carry a Red Epic camera.
Jackson said they receive inquiries on a daily basis from all over the world. One caller wanted to know whether a UAV can carry a block of ice cream to and from a factory in India. Another company wants these hovering beauties to carry radiation detectors.
UAVs are an efficient cost alternative to fixed wing aircraft and full-sized helicopters for all aerial support applications. Designed for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Infinite Jib’s systems are based on Droidworx airframes, considered the finest, most advanced multi-rotor airframe technology currently available. The high quality materials engineered with anti-vibration properties, matched with premium components and flight control systems combine to provide an industrial strength platform that allows your camera to capture the smooth video footage and clear images desired in aerial imaging and videography.
Their flight solutions are ready to fly and contain everything need to complete a successful operation. Each system is packed in a custom built aluminum flight case for safe and effective transportation and storage.
Jeff loves his job. He likens it to Marvel character Tony Stark (Iron Man), heading to his home-based laboratory, tinkering with technological marvels.
But he’s serious about his craft and wants to make Infinite the undisputed world leader –?the “Apple”?of UAVs.
“No one in the world makes better multi-rotor UAVs than us,”?he said.
The market is still maturing and Infinite Jib exudes professionalism in every aspect, in creating its out–of-the-box packages.
But never use the five-letter word around Jeff (“drone”). That has a negative, military connotation.
Just like any other technology on the planet, it’s changing and improving constantly. New micro-circuits and lightweight materials are being introduced, changing UAV flight.
And Infinite Jib will be front and centre, because “having it in the air will make it better.”
Enough said.
For more on Infinite Jib, visit http://infinitejib.com or call 905-859-8857.