Ouster Lidar Partnerships Target Power Lines and Mine Shafts
Ouster has partnered with GeoCue and Flyability to deploy its Rev8 lidar sensors for drone mapping, targeting large-scale infrastructure surveys.
Lidar developer Ouster has announced two partnerships that deploy its sensors in opposite ends of the commercial drone mapping spectrum. The collaborations with GeoCue and Flyability aim to survey power lines from the air and map hazardous confined spaces like mine shafts from within.
Ouster and Flyability are building on a five-year partnership centered on the Elios 3 drone. This collision-tolerant drone is designed for inspection and mapping inside mine shafts, wastewater tunnels, tanks, and industrial vessels. The announcement follows a separate partnership unveiled last week between Ouster and GeoCue, which plans to integrate Ouster's Rev8 OS1 Max digital lidar into its TrueView drone mapping systems for utility and infrastructure surveying.
Mapping Where GPS and Cameras Fall Short
Flyability's Elios 3 drone combines a protected airframe with Ouster's compact OS0 lidar. The lidar data feeds the drone's SLAM and mapping systems, supporting real-time localization and collision avoidance. This is critical inside structures where GPS is unavailable and where darkness, dust, or featureless surfaces limit camera-based navigation.
The system allows operators to capture measurable 3D models of assets during inspections, reducing the need for personnel to enter hazardous areas. "Flyability has demonstrated how digital lidar can create real operational value when it is taken into environments that conventional surveying systems cannot easily reach," said Ouster CEO Angus Pacala. Flyability is now evaluating Ouster's newer Rev8 lidar technology for future workflows, which Ouster says increases range and resolution while adding native color to 3D data.
Taking the Same Technology to Large-Scale Mapping
The GeoCue partnership applies Ouster's latest technology to a different environment. GeoCue is expanding its TrueView product line with options using Ouster's 256-channel Rev8 OS1 Max lidar, targeting utility and infrastructure applications like power line mapping.
Ouster states the sensor can detect targets with 10% reflectivity at distances up to 200 meters. A smaller spot size and tighter beam are designed to help resolve thin features like power lines. The system also provides native color lidar data. GeoCue selected the sensor after joint flight testing and firmware tuning in Huntsville, Alabama.
"We are moving America's drone surveying onto American sensing by pairing our TrueView payloads with Ouster's Rev8 OS1 Max," said Frank Darmayan, CEO of GeoCue. The Rev8 OS1 Max is also compliant with Build America, Buy America Act requirements, a key factor for some federally funded projects.
Lidar Expands Across Drone Applications
The two partnerships demonstrate divergent uses of similar sensing technology. With GeoCue, lidar captures precise data across large infrastructure from above. With Flyability, it helps a drone handle and map spaces that are inaccessible and unsafe for people.
In both cases, the value extends beyond creating a point cloud. Lidar increasingly supports navigation, localization, and autonomous operation while simultaneously generating the 3D inspection data. As sensors improve, this overlap between perception and data collection becomes more important. The drone is no longer just carrying a mapping sensor; in applications like the Elios 3, the sensor that creates the map also helps the aircraft understand where it is and operate where other navigation technologies fail. The companies will demonstrate the Flyability technology at INTERGEO 2026 in Munich.
