Inspect the unreachable — without sending people in. India dealer for Flyability Elios 3 and Elios 2.
Buy, hire or run inspection-as-a-service with Flyability Elios 3 and Elios 2 — collision-tolerant cage, GPS-denied stability, LiDAR SLAM mapping, modular thermal and 4K UHD payloads. Built for boilers, pressure vessels, storage tanks, sewers, mines, refineries, HV substations and any asset where human entry is a permit-to-work problem.
Confined-space entry is the highest-risk activity on most industrial sites — and the slowest. A scaffolded boiler internal inspection takes a week, costs lakhs in indirect cost, and exposes 4–8 personnel to atmospheric, fall and entrapment risk. A confined space inspection drone does it in a shift, with one operator standing safely outside the manhole.
No permit-to-work for confined-space entry, no atmospheric monitoring crew, no rescue standby team, no fall-arrest harness ratings. The pilot stays at the manhole. The drone goes in. HSE and Operations finally agree.
Flare stacks, boiler furnaces, FCCU regenerators, kiln internals, silo cones — typical scaffolding install runs ₹4–12 lakh and adds 5–10 days to the outage. A drone walks through the manhole and starts capturing data inside 30 minutes.
Where a manual internal inspection takes 3–5 days from man-entry permit to clearance, drone capture is typically 4–8 hours plus data review. Outage windows shorten, plant gets back online sooner, lost-production cost drops materially.
Every flight produces a 4K video log, a thermal pass, a 3D LiDAR map and timestamped images. Auditors, third-party verifiers and statutory inspectors get the same dataset the engineer reviewed — no "the inspector saw it but didn't photograph it" gaps.
Flyability is the only manufacturer mass-producing collision-tolerant caged drones for industrial confined-space inspection. The Elios 3 is the current flagship with LiDAR SLAM and real-time 3D mapping. The Elios 2 remains the proven workhorse for visual and thermal inspection without the LiDAR overhead. xBoom is the India dealer for both.
The first mapping-and-inspection indoor drone with embedded LiDAR. FlyAware™ SLAM stabilisation lets pilots of all skill levels complete complex confined-space missions with minimal training. Real-time 3D map of the asset on the controller as the flight progresses.
The proven workhorse for indoor inspection. Compact 400 mm spherical cage fits through standard 16-inch manholes. 4K Ultra HD video, FLIR Lepton 3.5 thermal sensor, oblique-light lighting head, 260° vertical FOV including camera tilt.
The Elios 3's FlyAware™ engine combines computer vision, LiDAR sensing and an on-board NVIDIA graphic engine to act as a centimetre-accurate indoor GPS. It builds a high-density point cloud map as the drone flies — giving pilots flawless locational awareness and engineers a workable 3D model of the asset as a deliverable.
Computer vision plus LiDAR plus NVIDIA compute equals a drone that knows exactly where it is, even in a boiler furnace with no line-of-sight to satellites. The same engine powers SLAM-based stabilisation — the drone holds position stone-still even in turbulent industrial atmospheres — and feeds the live 3D map shown on the pilot's controller.
The Elios 3's modular payload bay features two ports — one dedicated to LiDAR, one for auxiliary payloads. Swap between visual + thermal close-up inspection, ultrasonic thickness measurement (UT), radiation detection (RAD), surveying payload, or flammable-gas sensing. One investment, multiple inspection programmes.
If you're mapping the asset (creating a 3D model for engineering review or repeat inspections), you want the Elios 3. If you're doing visual + thermal RVI on a known geometry where 3D mapping isn't part of the deliverable, the Elios 2 is the right tool at a different price point. Same caged philosophy, different capability ceiling.
| Flyability Elios 3 | Flyability Elios 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Mapping + inspection | Visual + thermal RVI |
| Stabilisation | SLAM-based · LiDAR-aided | Computer-vision · GPS-free |
| 3D mapping | Real-time on-board LiDAR map | Not available |
| Modular payload bay | Yes · dual-port (LiDAR + AUX) | Fixed payload |
| Camera | 4K + thermal + distance sensor | 4K Ultra HD 30 fps |
| Thermal | Yes · integrated | FLIR Lepton 3.5 · –10 to 140 °C |
| Lighting | 16K lumen dust-proof oblique | Oblique-light head |
| Recovery | Inverted-attitude self-recovery | Collision-tolerant flight controller |
| Ingress rating | IP44-equivalent design | Splash & dust-resistant cage |
| Reporting software | Inspector 4.0 · 3D-model based | Inspector — image & video |
| Optional payloads | UT · RAD · surveying · gas sensor | Single integrated payload |
| Engagement | Purchase · Rental · IaaS | Purchase · Rental · IaaS |
Confined-space inspection isn't one industry — it's any asset with internals that humans can't safely or efficiently get into. Eight sectors where Flyability Elios 2 and Elios 3 are running production inspection programmes today across India.
Coal-fired and combined-cycle plants, hydropower stations, nuclear auxiliary buildings. Boiler internal RVI during outages, FGD absorber inspection, cooling-tower fill audits, hydropower penstock walkthrough — every survey that used to require scaffolds and rope-access teams.
Refineries, petrochemical complexes, gas-processing plants, terminal tank farms. The drone goes inside the column, the FCCU regenerator, the storage tank, the flare stack — anywhere atmosphere, dust or temperature would force a hot-work permit on a human inspector.
Cement plants, lime kilns and high-temperature mineral processing. Refractory wear mapping inside rotary kilns, preheater cyclone build-up assessment, silo cone integrity, raw-meal storage internals. Plant turnaround windows shrink, kiln campaigns extend.
Underground hard-rock and coal mines, tailings impoundments, ore-processing plants. Drone enters stopes too unstable for human re-entry, scans ore passes for blockages, surveys voids, and produces 3D point clouds for ground-control engineering.
Class-society inspections, dry-dock surveys, in-service ballast and cargo-tank inspection, FPSO and tanker internals. Replaces enclosed-space teams climbing into ballast tanks — historically the highest-fatality activity in maritime safety statistics.
Municipal water and wastewater utilities, large culverts, stormwater interceptors, drinking-water reservoirs. Drone replaces confined-space-entry crews on the larger-diameter mains where CCTV crawlers struggle and divers are overkill.
Indoor GIS halls, transformer internals, switchgear rooms, cable galleries. The drone enters energised areas with full clearance distances maintained, captures thermal hotspots and partial-discharge signatures, and exits without anyone setting foot on the live floor.
Highway and rail tunnels, urban basements, search-and-rescue scenarios, structural-collapse response. The cage and lighting let SAR teams send eyes into voids before sending personnel, and let civic agencies inspect tunnel linings without lane closures.
Also deployed in: nuclear auxiliary buildings · pharmaceutical reactor vessels · pulp & paper digesters · aerospace fuel tanks · brewing & distillery vessels · grain silos & food processing
A confined-space inspection drone is only as useful as the data it brings out. Six payload and software lanes turn a flight into an inspection deliverable — and let your engineers work on a 3D model of the asset, not just review video clips.
Primary inspection sensor — 4K UHD video at 30 fps, JPG stills, FHD live stream to the controller. Configurable EV, fixed focal length tuned for short-range industrial inspection. Captures pitting, cracks, weld defects, refractory wear and corrosion.
FLIR Lepton 3.5 radiometric core. Detects temperature anomalies through dust, smoke and low-visibility air — refractory hot-spots, water ingress in tank insulation, electrical hotspots in indoor switchyards. –10 °C to 140 °C range.
Elios 3 only — embedded LiDAR + computer vision + NVIDIA compute. Builds a real-time, centimetre-accurate 3D occupancy map as the drone flies. Acts as an indoor GPS, returns a point-cloud deliverable post-flight, and powers Repeat Flight for periodic inspections.
Optional payload for the Elios 3 modular bay — ultrasonic thickness measurement for steel-shell wall thinning, corrosion-under-insulation indicators, and remaining-life calculations. Lets NDT teams take measurements without rope-access deployment.
Industry-leading on-board lighting head designed for confined-space conditions. Oblique-angle lighting reveals surface texture and pitting that flat-front lights miss. Dust-proof housing keeps lumens consistent across hours of flight in dirty atmospheres.
Flight footage, thermal frames, LiDAR point cloud and pilot annotations all stitched onto a 3D model of the asset. Mark defects on the model itself, share secure links with engineering and statutory inspectors, version-control between annual inspections.
Not every site needs to own a Flyability drone. Some run multiple inspections per quarter and own the fleet outright; others have one major outage per year and hire the platform plus a certified pilot for that window. xBoom supports all three pathways.
Best for asset owners running multiple internal inspections per year — refineries, large utilities, mines, ship operators. Hardware is yours, your in-house pilot is certified by Flyability via xBoom's training partner, AMC keeps the fleet flying year-on-year.
For sites running one or two confined-space inspections a year — outage-driven boilers, cement-kiln stops, annual class-renewal surveys. xBoom arrives with the drone, certified pilot and reporting team. You get a deliverable; we take the hardware home.
For first-time buyers validating the workflow before a full capex sign-off, or for one-off project windows that don't justify owning. Take the drone for a defined window with our pilot; convert to purchase against partial credit if the workflow proves out.
All three paths include OEM-genuine spares · manufacturer-backed India warranty · pilot certification · mission-method statements · post-inspection technical support
Asset-integrity, HSE, NDT, procurement and statutory-compliance questions we hear most often before the first confined-space mission.
For most internal RVI under API 510 / API 653 / IBR / OISD-GDN regimes, drone-captured visual evidence is accepted by approved inspectors and third-party verifiers. xBoom delivers inspection reports in formats your statutory authority accepts. Physical-measurement requirements (UT, hardness) still need certified NDT — but the visual component is covered end-to-end.
The Flyability Elios 2's 400 mm spherical cage fits through standard 16″ (~410 mm) manholes found on most pressure vessels and storage tanks. The Elios 3's slightly larger cage fits through 450 mm openings. For tighter access, xBoom coordinates with the asset team during scoping.
For a single asset (one boiler furnace, one storage tank), expect 4–8 hours of on-site flight + capture, plus 3–7 working days for the full annotated report and 3D model deliverable. For complex multi-asset turnarounds, xBoom plans a flight schedule alongside your outage critical path.
xBoom's certified Flyability pilots, accompanied by a safety officer where the asset risk profile demands it. Every IaaS mission is preceded by an HSE walkthrough, written method statement and pre-flight asset briefing with your operations team.
Standard Flyability platforms are designed for indoor industrial environments but are not intrinsically-safe (Ex)-certified. For Ex-rated zones (refineries during live operations), xBoom operates during shutdown / gas-free conditions with confirmed atmospheric clearance. We can advise on the gas-free certification process during scoping.
For defence, nuclear, oil & gas and critical-infrastructure sites, xBoom operates under NDA with offline-only data transfer — no cloud sync unless explicitly approved. Raw flight data and reports are handed over on encrypted drives. Inspector 4.0 supports on-premise deployment for air-gapped environments.
Yes. xBoom is the India dealer for Flyability. We hold OEM-genuine spares (cage parts, motors, propellers, batteries, payload modules), provide 1-year manufacturer warranty as standard, and offer extended-care AMC plans with priority repair turnaround.
Indicative payback: a single avoided scaffolding install + 2–3 outage days saved typically covers the cost of a flagship Elios 3 in two to three inspection cycles. For sites doing 4+ confined-space inspections a year, capex purchase pays back inside 12–18 months versus IaaS day-rates over the same period.
Same form whether you're buying an Elios 3 for in-house deployment, hiring our pilots for a one-off turnaround, or renting a platform for a six-week project. xBoom routes the brief to the right enterprise lead and replies with a feasibility note within one working day.
Thanks — the enterprise lead for your sector will reply within one working day with a feasibility note. For outage-driven urgent missions, call 08447 831 821.
