Jon Verbeke

Future Services: Scaling rope-access inspections with drones

Future Services, an expert in offshore rope-access inspections for wind turbines and high-voltage substations, recognised the need for innovation. With an eye on safety, cost reduction, and scalability, Future Services wanted to integrate drones into their inspection workflow – without replacing rope-access entirely. They turned to Drone Architect to design a practical, scalable and regulation-compliant solution that could quickly move from concept to operations. In this case study, we show how Drone Architect helped Future Services achieve scalable Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) drone inspections – both offshore and onshore.

Legal drone inspections in high-risk areas

Empowering BCAA: From standstill to pioneer

In late 2023, the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) was at a pivotal crossroads. While the drone department (UAS cell) had existed for some time, a full internal reshuffle meant that all existing staff were replaced. A completely new team was brought in, eager and motivated, but with no prior experience in drone legislation or operations. At that same moment, the department faced a growing backlog of operational authorisation applications, with some operators waiting up to a year for approval. Yet rather than maintain the status quo, the BCAA seized the moment to bring in a more progressive, pragmatic and transparent approach to the European drone regulation. That's where we came in.