Boonray Intelligent: Innovative drone applications create more value

              The application field of drones has broad market prospects

Drones can not only take photos, but also conduct power line inspections, land surveying, and emergency rescue operations. A dozen young people at Shanghai Boonray Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. are dedicated to developing drone applications, hoping to expand this technology across various industries and allow small drones to create greater value.

In industrial applications, drones are often referred to as "flying sensors." With the continuous optimization of human-machine interaction and the increasing safety of drones and their own controls, the application of civilian drones is becoming increasingly widespread. Hu Xinyi, CEO of Shanghai Boonray Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., explained that the recent surge in drone enthusiasm has fueled people's imaginations about their potential applications, ushering in the era of drones+. However, new Chinese companies entering the field are mostly considering what type of drone to manufacture, with few focusing specifically on drone application development.

According to statistics, in 2015, 42% of global drone investment went to drone software and service companies. However, these companies are primarily located in the United States and Europe, while in China, most investment in drones is focused on hardware. Hu Xinyi believes that the core of drone applications is data, and drones are tools for acquiring data. Drones allow people to efficiently collect data from high altitudes, process it, and analyze it, ultimately yielding valuable insights.

Boonray Technology aims to become a leader in drone application technology. Focused on the core application of drones, it has developed a complete solution encompassing data collection, analysis, and presentation modules. Within a unified framework, each module is individually developed for specific application scenarios, striving to lower the barrier to entry for drone users while seamlessly integrating with industry needs.

For example, the company is currently developing "Boonray Intelligent Flight," a software based on the DJI drone platform. This software enables drone flight planning, allowing drones to automatically take off and land along prescribed routes and collect data as required. It can also be configured to suit different industry applications. For example, for photovoltaic power plant inspections, image recognition technology can be used to automatically adjust drone flight paths to parallel the array of photovoltaic panels, resulting in clear, neatly aligned images for easier analysis. In the future, the software will collaborate with relevant government departments to expand the functionality of temporary flight restrictions, in addition to existing national flight restrictions, to ensure that important events are not disrupted by drones.

Boonray Technology is currently investing the most in research on the use of drones for photovoltaic power station inspections. Hu Xinyi explained that previously, manual inspections required climbing onto rooftops or power stations on mountains and lakes with infrared thermal imaging equipment to inspect each panel one by one. Now, drones equipped with thermal imaging sensors can automatically conduct inspections by setting a specific flight path. Boonray's software then analyzes the data collected during the inspections to pinpoint the problem. The results are then stored and managed on Boonray's data platform, integrated with the company's ERP system, and dispatched to workers for precise inspections.

Depending on the performance requirements for drones, Boonray Technology offers different flight platforms for different environments (farmland, mountainous terrain, ponds, etc.) and can also provide customized development for specific environments. For example, platforms equipped with multiple sensors (thermal imaging or visible light) enable automated flight planning, precise positioning, and intelligent obstacle avoidance.

Since its establishment nearly two years ago, the company has already developed numerous emerging cross-disciplinary applications. Recently, they are exploring the application of drone data in smart city development with the Xuhui District Government. The company has also signed a contract with Shanghai Industrial Group to explore the application of drones in precision agriculture in Chongming. Using drone-collected data, the company will analyze crop growth and implement precise irrigation.

In Hu Xinyi's view, drones are actually a type of robot, and the fastest-growing type of specialized robot. He believes that machines are valuable only when they serve people, which is why he has never stopped exploring the applications of robots. The company's employees are relatively young, mostly born in the 1980s or even the 1990s. They include graduates from prestigious universities and seasoned professionals with over a decade of model aircraft experience.

In the future, the company plans to build a cloud-based drone data platform to leverage aerial data collected by drones to help businesses solve problems and make decisions. Hu Xinyi believes that drones have a wide range of applications and enormous potential, and the value that can be mined from aerial data is enormous, even beyond imagination. For example, data can be applied to investment. "I talked to some people in the financial field and they said that if we can collect some agricultural planting data from Xinjiang and Northeast China and give it to commodity analysts, it can help determine the trend of this year's crop futures market." If it is applied to disaster relief, such as rapid data collection after an earthquake, rescue plans can be made as quickly as possible.