Case Study: Queensland University of Technology accelerates dugong monitoring with WingtraOne drone mapping

VTOL drone WingtraOne use in wildlife research cuts risk, cost and time

Queensland University of Technology partnered with Murdoch University researchers to tackle the challenge of monitoring endangered dugongs in remote marine environments. They needed a rapid, cost-effective, and safer alternative to traditional aerial surveys, which were expensive, risky, and required highly trained observers. WingtraOne, Wingtra’s VTOL mapping drone, was used to help collect high-resolution imagery from the deck of a boat.

Wingtra’s solution enabled the team to survey large areas efficiently, with up to 55 minutes of flight time and up to 10 km range, while capturing images suitable for machine-learning analysis using the “Dugong Detector.” Over a three-week trip, the researchers completed more than 90 flights and collected over 25,000 images, producing dugong distribution and density maps in just a few days instead of weeks. Wingtra’s technology reduced risk, time, and cost while improving the scale and speed of wildlife monitoring.

Queensland University of Technology

Amanda Hodgson

Queensland University of Technology