Solutions · Inspection

Drone Inspection Camera: Asset and Structure Surveys

Close-range detail on structures, assets and installations

Inspection is the opposite of surveillance. The aircraft is close, the object is stationary, and the question is not where something is but what condition it is in.

Up to 48 MP stills
30x – 40x zoom
Stabilised video
Thermal for defects

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A uav inspection camera is judged on detail. A 1920 x 1080 video frame at 30x zoom shows an operator what to look at; a high-resolution still of the same area is what an engineer measures from. That is why inspection work often pairs a zoom channel for finding with a high-pixel-count channel for recording, and why the mount has to hold a narrow field steady against rotor wash and gusting.

Structural, electrical and mechanical inspections add a thermal requirement: a loose connection, a blocked cooling path or a delaminated section shows up as a temperature difference long before it shows as visible damage. For a drone inspection camera working on live assets, the thermal and visible channels need to be boresighted so the same frame shows both the defect and its location.

What inspection work demands

High-resolution stills
The 95Q carries an 8000 x 6000 visible sensor, and the wider range covers 2688 x 1520 and 4K channels, so the image an engineer measures from has enough pixels.
Zoom to find, wide to frame
A 10x to 40x zoom channel locates the area of interest; the operator then frames it properly for the still.
Thermal for defects
A 640 x 512 channel at 40 mK or better picks up loose connections, insulation faults and moisture behind a surface that looks intact.
Stability close to structure
Inspection flights happen at a few metres from a wall, a blade or a pylon, where air disturbed by the structure is worst. Direct-drive axes and accurate encoding keep the frame usable.
Geotagged imagery
Frames carry time and position so each defect can be located again, and again after the repair.
Small, light airframes
Most inspection work uses a quadcopter. The 240 g to 500 g class exists for exactly this profile, with the mid class for long-lens work. An inspection uav camera that is carried by hand between sites rarely exceeds a kilogram.

Inspection payloads by task

The task decides whether the priority is pixels, zoom or thermal sensitivity.

Inspection task	Suggested model	Visible channel	Thermal	Weight
General structure survey	HQ-64DB	Dual 2688 x 1520, 8.5 mm + 25 mm	–	≤ 240 g
High-resolution stills	HQ-95Q	8000 x 6000 with 15.3 – 49.7 mm zoom	640 x 512, 19 mm	≤ 400 g
Long-range visual detail	HQ-115S	1920 x 1080, 40x zoom	–	≤ 1 kg
Electrical and thermal defects	HQ-115D	1920 x 1080, 30x zoom	640 x 512, 25 mm	≤ 1 kg
Defect location with distance	HQ-115T	1920 x 1080, 30x zoom	640 x 512, 25 mm	≤ 1 kg, plus 1.5 km ranging
Long thermal lens for detail	HQ-135TA	1920 x 1080, 30x zoom	640 x 512, 50 mm	≤ 1.5 kg

Five inspection payloads

All five are three-axis or two-axis heads under 1 kg, sized for the quadcopters inspection teams actually fly.

UAV inspection camera for asset and structure surveys

2-axis · EO

HQ-64DB

Two fixed visible cameras — a wide and a narrow channel — at the lowest weight in the series.

Visible: Dual 2688 × 1520, 8.5 mm + 25 mm
Thermal: —
Laser: —
Weight: ≤240 g

3-axis · EO + IR + LRF

HQ-95Q

Four optical channels and a quick-release mount on the lightest three-axis head we build.

Visible: Dual 8000 × 6000, 9.5 mm + continuous zoom 15.3 – 49.7 mm
Thermal: 640 × 512, 19 mm fixed
Laser: 5 m – 1.5 km (± 1 m)
Weight: ≤400 g

3-axis · EO

HQ-115S

A 40x daylight optic alone, for daylight-only surveillance where the weight budget rules out a thermal channel.

Visible: 1920 × 1080, 40x zoom 4.25 – 170 mm
Thermal: —
Laser: —
Weight: ≤1 kg

3-axis · EO + IR

HQ-115D

30x zoom and thermal imaging on a one-kilogram head with no ranging requirement.

Visible: 1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm
Thermal: 640 × 512, 25 mm fixed
Laser: —
Weight: ≤1 kg

3-axis · EO + IR + LRF

HQ-115T

The one-kilogram workhorse: 30x zoom, thermal imaging and a 1.5 km rangefinder.

Visible: 1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm
Thermal: 640 × 512, 25 mm fixed
Laser: 5 m – 1.5 km (± 1 m)
Weight: ≤1 kg

Compare the range

Model	Axes	Configuration	Visible camera	Thermal imager	Laser rangefinder	Weight
HQ-64DB	2-axis	EO	Dual 2688 × 1520, 8.5 mm + 25 mm	—	—	≤240 g
HQ-95Q	3-axis	EO + IR + LRF	Dual 8000 × 6000, 9.5 mm + continuous zoom 15.3 – 49.7 mm	640 × 512, 19 mm fixed	5 m – 1.5 km (± 1 m)	≤400 g
HQ-115S	3-axis	EO	1920 × 1080, 40x zoom 4.25 – 170 mm	—	—	≤1 kg
HQ-115D	3-axis	EO + IR	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm	640 × 512, 25 mm fixed	—	≤1 kg
HQ-115T	3-axis	EO + IR + LRF	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm	640 × 512, 25 mm fixed	5 m – 1.5 km (± 1 m)	≤1 kg

Getting a usable inspection record

Still or video, and why both

Video is how the operator searches; stills are what the engineer measures. A payload that can capture a full-resolution still without leaving the video stream lets one pass produce both, which halves flight time on a large structure.

What makes a frame usable

Enough resolution on the defect, which is a function of zoom, sensor and stand-off distance together.
A stable frame: motion blur at 30x ruins a still that would otherwise be perfect.
A reference point in the frame, so the defect can be found again on the structure.
Time, position and, where fitted, a range measurement attached to the file.

Thermal changes the schedule

Thermal inspection of electrical assets works best with the asset under load and with a known ambient temperature, because the defect is a difference rather than an absolute reading. Planning the flight around the load cycle is usually worth more than a better detector.

HITS stabilised gimbal camera payload integrated under a multirotor UAV airframe — Payload integrated under a multirotor airframe, the configuration most inspection and patrol work starts from.

A rack of HITS stabilised UAV camera payloads in assembly and test before dispatch — Units of the current range on the test rack: every head is run and calibrated before it is packed.

Inspection payloads sit in the light and mid classes.

Gimbal camerasThe full HQ range from 240 g to 1.5 kg.Read more →
EO camerasVisible-light channels from 2K to 48 MP.Read more →
Thermal camerasThermal configurations for defect detection.Read more →
UAV securityThe same payloads on a security mission.Read more →

Engineering detail

Why the mount matters more than the sensor

At three metres from a wall, rotor wash and gusting move the line of sight more than any deficit in the sensor. Encoder resolution and loop rate are what keep a 30x frame still enough to record, and they are the reason an inspection payload cannot simply be a camera on a servo.

Resolution is a system property

Pixels on target come from sensor resolution, focal length and stand-off distance together. A 8000 x 6000 sensor on a wide lens and a 1920 x 1080 sensor on a long lens can put the same number of pixels on a defect, and the two behave very differently in wind.

The link can stay on the ground

Inspection is close-range work, so a high-bandwidth link is easy. That makes onboard recording less critical than in surveillance work, and makes a clean, high-bitrate stream the more useful feature.

Recorded payload footage

Three clips taken from the payload video feed on offshore inspection work: a wide survey, a close inspection pass and a zoomed detail check.

Wide survey. Offshore wind farm covered in a single pass at wide field of view.

Buoy inspection. Structure inspected at close range with the tracker holding the target.

Blade detail. Turbine blades at zoom for defect checks.

Designed and manufactured by HITS

Optics, servo hardware, stabilisation firmware and the AI tracking module are developed in house, and every unit is assembled, calibrated and environmentally tested on our own line before it ships.