KORTHOS / ECOSYSTEM / PRODUCT

Elios 3

About

About Elios 3

Elios 3 encloses its propellers and flight body within a rotating protective cage, allowing the aircraft to contact walls, pipes and structural members without immediately losing control. Lidar, cameras and onboard localisation produce a three-dimensional map as the operator flies through tanks, mines, boilers and other GPS-denied spaces.

A modular payload bay supports visual inspection, ultrasonic-thickness measurement, radiation sensing and surveying configurations. Inspector software links imagery and findings to their position within the map, while Return-to-Signal and collision-recovery functions assist flight outside direct sight. Flyability supplies the drone as a professional inspection system with training, software and payload support.

Capabilities

Source-backed capabilities

  • Capability areas: LiDAR mapping, GPS-denied operation
  • Workflows: Industrial inspection, Confined-space inspection, Indoor inspection drone
  • Operating environments: Tanks, mines, sewers, power-generation assets, chemical plants, maritime spaces and other confined or GPS-denied industrial environments., Indoor, Confined Space
  • Target markets: Enterprise, Infrastructure, Industrial
  • Control modes: Slam Stabilization, Return To Signal
  • GNSS-denied navigation

    Customer-site use - Flyability documents AGL Energy using two Elios 3 drones for regular internal inspections, centimetre-accurate LiDAR scans and 3D models at power-generation sites, including confined and GNSS-denied spaces under remote-pilot control.

    Source
  • GNSS-denied navigation

    Claimed - 2026-09-09 - Elios 3 already uses Ouster OS0 lidar for mapping, localisation, flight stability and collision avoidance in GPS-denied or dark spaces.

    Source
  • GNSS-denied navigation

    Claimed - 2022-05-19 - Flyability launched Elios 3 as a collision-tolerant indoor LiDAR drone for inaccessible and GPS-denied environments.

    Source
  • Robotic inspection

    Customer-site use - Flyability documents AGL Energy using two Elios 3 drones for regular internal inspections, centimetre-accurate LiDAR scans and 3D models at power-generation sites, including confined and GNSS-denied spaces under remote-pilot control.

    Source
  • Aerial LiDAR surveying

    Customer-site use - Flyability documents AGL Energy using two Elios 3 drones for regular internal inspections, centimetre-accurate LiDAR scans and 3D models at power-generation sites, including confined and GNSS-denied spaces under remote-pilot control.

    Source
  • Contact and NDT inspection

    Research demonstration - 2026-03-04 - The work presents a control and software architecture for autonomous contact-based ultrasound inspection using a commercial quadrotor.

    Source
  • Inspection

    Claimed - 2025-09-15 - Flyability launches Elios 3 Tether Power Unit for extended industrial inspections

    Source

Observed use

Exact-product configurations are shown without inferring supply, purchase, customer status, standard fit, deployment or partnership.

  • CAN-USA offshore inspection configuration

    Operational - Mounted - Physical - CAN-USA used Flyability Elios drones for offshore inspection work for Shell.

    Source

Supply

Supply / Components

  • Elios 3 Surveying Payload

    SLAM Processing Software - software - FARO Technologies - FARO Connect software is bundled with the Elios 3 Surveying Payload for SLAM processing and point-cloud workflows - source: flyability.com

    Source
  • Elios 3

    Ouster Os0 LIDAR Sensors For Elios 3 - Perception - Ouster - Ouster OS0 lidar is integrated in Flyability Elios 3; Rev8 was under evaluation for future inspection workflows in September 2026 - source: flyability.com

    Source

Research

  • Autonomous Aerial Non-Destructive Testing: Ultrasound Inspection with a Commercial Quadrotor in an Unstructured Environment

    2026-03-04 - Research Publication - This work presents an integrated control and software architecture that enables arguably the first fully autonomous, contact-based non-destructive testing (NDT) using a commercial multirotor originally restricted to remotely-piloted operations.

    Source
  • Robotics meets Fluid Dynamics: A Characterization of the Induced Airflow below a Quadrotor as a Turbulent Jet

    2024-03-20 - Research Publication - The widespread adoption of quadrotors for diverse applications, from agriculture to public safety, necessitates an understanding of the aerodynamic disturbances they create. This paper introduces a computationally lightweight model for estimating the time-averaged magnitude of the induced flow below quadrotors in hover.

    Source

Resources

Media library

Official operating documents, exact-product imagery and a verified overview video for the Flyability Elios 3 inspection drone.

Timeline

  • Flyability evaluates Ouster Rev8 lidar for Elios 3 workflows

    2026-09-09 - Capability - Elios 3 already uses Ouster OS0 lidar for mapping, localisation, flight stability and collision avoidance in GPS-denied or dark spaces. The newly disclosed work evaluates Rev8 range, precision, resolution and native-colour 3D data. The release describes an evaluation rather than a completed commercial Rev8 integration.

    Source
  • Flyability introduces Autonomous Repeat Flight for Elios 3

    2026-02-26 - Product Launch - The feature enables consistent data capture across repeated inspections weeks, months, or years apart. The capability supports comparison-over-time workflows for detecting asset degradation in industrial environments.

    Source
  • Flyability released colorization for Elios 3 indoor 3D models

    2025-11-14 - Product Launch - Colorization adds visual context to point clouds captured by Elios 3 The feature maps image colour onto indoor three-dimensional models The release updates the inspection-data workflow rather than the aircraft hardware

    Source
  • CAN-USA used Flyability Elios drones for offshore inspection work for Shell

    2025-10-01 - Demonstration - Shell and CAN-USA adopt the Elios 3 UT drone with Tether Power Units for their offshore inspections One of these technologies is the Elios 3 UT, a collision-tolerant drone equipped with a 4K camera, powerful LiDAR, LEL gas sensor, UTM payload, and tether power unit Most recently, Tori has been working on Olympus, a Shell-operated offshore platform positioned 130 miles south of New Orleans

    Source
  • Flyability launches Elios 3 Tether Power Unit for extended industrial inspections

    2025-09-15 - Product Launch - Flyability launched the Elios 3 Tether Power Unit for industrial drone inspections. The tethered power accessory is designed to extend inspection duration for confined-space and industrial environments. The launch adds a continuous-power capability to the Elios 3 indoor inspection drone ecosystem.

    Source
  • Flyability launches high-capacity batteries for Elios 3 inspection drone

    2025-06-01 - Product Launch - Flyability launched high-capacity batteries for Elios 3 in June 2025. The new battery offers up to 50% more flight time per charge. Flyability said Elios 3 can fly more than five additional minutes when equipped with the LiDAR Rev 6 payload.

    Source
  • Flyability launches flammable-gas sensor for Elios 3

    2024-10-29 - Product Launch - The NevadaNano sensor detects more than 14 combustible gases at 0.1% lower-explosive-limit resolution. It reports both gas class and concentration while the drone is in flight. The payload improves situational awareness but does not make Elios 3 ATEX-certified.

    Source
  • Inspector workflow moves Elios 3 inspection data to the cloud

    2024-09-24 - Product Launch - The service provides online storage for Elios 3 inspection data. Teams can share and review mission data through the cloud platform. The launch expanded Flyability’s offering beyond the aircraft and payload hardware.

    Source
  • Flyability and Samsung sign MOU for Elios 3 indoor inspection drones

    2024-09-13 - Partnership - The September 13, 2024 memorandum targets unmanned inspection of equipment and infrastructure inside Samsung semiconductor facilities to improve safety and efficiency. Flyability will develop and supply the systems, while Samsung will maintain and service the resulting drones and integrate them into plant operations. The source identifies Flyability’s Elios 3 as its latest platform, supporting ultrasonic-thickness measurement, radiation detection and surveying payloads.

    Source
  • Flyability and ABS present Elios 3 ultrasonic-thickness payload

    2024-06-04 - Partnership - The payload measures material thickness from the Elios 3 inspection drone. ABS participated as the classification-society partner. The collaboration covered testing and class-survey certification, not a standard configuration for every Elios 3.

    Source
  • Cygnus brings ultrasonic wall-thickness sensing to Elios 3

    2024-03-06 - Product Launch - Cockpit software displays the live A-scan and lets inspectors adjust gain and gates during flight. The probe became the third modular payload offered for Elios 3. The configuration targets certified ultrasonic-testing inspectors working in confined spaces.

    Source
  • Elios 3 maps radioactive-waste storage vault at U.S. DOE site

    2023-01-23 - Market Signal - The mission kept personnel outside the radioactive storage space. The drone collected data for the Calcine Retrieval Project. The operator described it as the first drone flight inside a high-level radioactive-waste vault.

    Source
  • Flyability raises CHF 22 million Series C for Elios 3 sensing and autonomy

    2022-09-07 - Funding - Flyability raised an additional CHF 15 million on top of CHF 7 million previously closed, bringing the Series C round to CHF 22 million. The financing supports development of new sensing and autonomy capabilities for the Elios 3 platform. The round reinforces Flyability's position in indoor inspection drones for industrial customers.

    Source
  • Flyability launches Elios 3 indoor LiDAR inspection drone

    2022-05-19 - Product Launch - Flyability launched Elios 3 as a collision-tolerant indoor LiDAR drone for inaccessible and GPS-denied environments. The standard configuration used an Ouster OS0-32 LiDAR sensor and GeoSLAM software to create survey-grade 3D models. FlyAware combined LiDAR and three optical cameras for real-time mapping and flight stability, while a second payload bay supported configuration-specific sensors.

    Source

Context

Market context

Elios 3 is Flyability’s indoor inspection drone for mapping and visual inspection inside confined, hard-to-access industrial assets.

  • Target environment: Tanks, mines, sewers, power-generation assets, chemical plants, maritime spaces and other confined or GPS-denied industrial environments.
  • Workflow context: Captures visual, thermal and LiDAR-backed inspection data, then ties findings to a 3D map through Flyability’s software workflow.
  • Customer context: Asset owners, inspection service providers, mining operators, energy companies, utilities and industrial maintenance teams.
  • Deployment model: Commercial indoor drone system with companion cockpit and Inspector software plus optional payloads.
  • Commercial maturity: Commercial product with public documentation and named payload ecosystem.
  • Adoption constraints: Flight time varies by payload and indoor inspection quality still depends on operator procedure, lighting, access and post-processing.
  • Market position: Leading confined-space inspection drone category reference with collision-tolerant hardware and SLAM-based mapping.
  • Adjacent products: Dronut DD1, Emesent Hovermap, Skydio X10

Comparable Systems

Related Systems