Austin acquired specialist company Universal Wing in March 2005 as an aid to its oil and gas exploration activities. Universal Wing is developing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms that can autonomously execute magnetic surveys quickly, safely, reliably, and at low cost in a wide variety of challenging environments. Geophysicists can use the resulting geophysical data to identify deep structures that may contain oil and gas traps. This approach to exploration is innovative, offering significant advantages over traditional manned-aerial and ground-based surveys. Universal Wing plans to expand its technology platform in the future to provide customized services to clients in other market sectors. For more information, please visit the Universal Wing website by clicking on its logo.

Flying Low—Aiming High

David J. Roughley
Strategic Technology Consulting
May 2006

In an article for National Post Business Magazine in 2005, Buddy Doyle—formerly of Rio Tinto—explains the challenges of identifying mineral deposits for mining and energy companies. "I'd drag my instruments through the bush, being bitten by blackflies, climbing up and down mountains," he says. Environmental conditions and access often make ground-based survey methods slow and laborious, if not impossible. Leaving terra firma and collecting data from the air is an obvious solution, but aerial surveys using piloted aircraft also have their challenges. Detecting small changes in magnetic signatures from the geological formations in the earth forces pilots to fly low and/or slow, often over thousands of line kilometers. Accidents and fatalities are not uncommon in the industry. Further, in both ground-based and aerial surveys, cost and time are additional operational limiters. Releasing exploration companies from these limitations not only wins contracts but also expands the market—currently estimated at around $ 200 million. Doyle and others have pondered a more effective solution for years. By 2003, technology costs were plummeting and miniaturization of electronics meant that sophisticated systems weighing only a few kilos could be assembled—light enough to fly on an autonomous scaled-down aircraft. So Doyle—with a track record for finding diamonds—joined a small team of industry veterans to form Universal Wing, a company focused on UAV exploration services. Universal partnered with aircraft designer Dara Aviation in Seattle to customize its bi-wing platform as a low-cost proof-of-principle vehicle, and then set about the task of collecting data sets that would be equal to—or better than—conventional aerial surveys. A year later, Universal Wing had its first drone. It had a 3.4-metre wingspan, weighed 30 kilograms, and could be quickly assembled/disassembled into a packing crate and shipped virtually anywhere in the world. A small field crew could launch and recover the vehicle and download data with minimal support.

Now, with several successful projects under its belt, Universal is getting attention from companies at home and abroad, all attracted by the new economics and flexibility that UAV surveys can offer. “Inquiries have come from all over the world including China, Chile, Kazakhstan, and Angola” explains COO Declan Sweeney. “These companies have challenges that can’t be easily resolved using traditional survey methods. We can go one step further”. Universal continues to develop its technology and is exploring new markets in addition to alternative platforms that can gain access in the most demanding environments. In 2005, Austin Developments—a diversified oil and gas exploration and production company—acquired Universal.