EmberScope

Payload capability & coverage ยท 2026-06-14

What one EmberScope drone covers, and what it costs.

Coverage is recalculated from the optics: a 25 mm, F/2 wide-field LWIR survey optic on a 640×512, 17 um uncooled core, sized to detect a 3 cm smouldering char. The numbers below follow a fixed-wing survey aircraft across realistic platforms.

Open coverage sizing grid Requirements closeout Mission decision packet Mission requirements

Altitude authorisation is a required enabler.

The high-coverage figures need flight above the 120 m AGL standard ceiling — a BVLOS / altitude authorisation. A Rural Fire Service operation may well secure this, but it must be confirmed: without it, only the 120 m-cap coverage column applies. These are first-order planning figures, not field-measured results, and the costs are planning allowances, not quotes.

Detection-limited geometry

How high you can fly is set by the faintest target, not the optics size.

At the 120 m cap the optic gives 8.2 cm GSD over a 53 m swath and detection is easy. Flying higher coarsens the GSD until a 3 cm char stops being detectable: about 17 cm GSD (~253 m, 110 m swath) for a strong benchmark detection, or 24 cm (~358 m, 156 m swath) at the marginal advisory limit. Wider swath at altitude is what raises coverage.

Drone platforms considered

Per-drone coverage across real fixed-wing survey aircraft.

PlatformTypeCruiseEnduranceMax payload Carries 2 kg?Coverage @120 mCoverage @waiver
WingtraOne GEN IIVTOL fixed-wing16 m/s59 min800 gNo171 ha/h355 ha/h
AgEagle eBee Xfixed-wing16 m/s90 min1000 gNo171 ha/h355 ha/h
Quantum Systems Trinity ProVTOL fixed-wing17 m/s90 min700 gNo182 ha/h378 ha/h
Delair UX11fixed-wing15 m/s80 min500 gNo160 ha/h333 ha/h
AeroVironment Puma 3 AEfixed-wing18 m/s180 min1800 gNo193 ha/h400 ha/h
Event 38 E455hybrid VTOL19 m/s120 min3200 gYes203 ha/h422 ha/h
JOUAV CW-15VTOL fixed-wing17 m/s120 min3000 gYes182 ha/h378 ha/h
JOUAV CW-25hybrid VTOL23 m/s360 min6000 gYes246 ha/h511 ha/h

The 2 kg column is the binding reality: most compact survey fixed-wings carry under 1 kg, so a full 2 kg payload forces the heavier Puma / E455 / JOUAV class — or the EmberScope build is trimmed toward a camera-only ~0.7–0.8 kg module to open the mainstream class.

Per-drone payload cost

First-order planning allowances, not quotes.

LineFirst articleRecurring (per unit)
Detector core + interface (Boson+ 640 radiometric)USD 6k–USD 12kUSD 6k–USD 12k
LWIR window / filter (Ge, AR-coated)USD 1k–USD 4kUSD 1k–USD 3k
Mirror set + metrology (SPDT aluminium)USD 15k–USD 45kUSD 5k–USD 12k
Mirror coating (protected gold/IR)USD 2k–USD 8kUSD 1k–USD 4k
Internal blackening / bafflingUSD 500–USD 3kUSD 500–USD 2k
Optical cassette + mountsUSD 5k–USD 15kUSD 2k–USD 6k
Housing, seals, drone adapterUSD 3k–USD 10kUSD 2k–USD 5k
Compute, storage, timing, powerUSD 2k–USD 6kUSD 2k–USD 6k
Calibration + field-reference kitUSD 1k–USD 5kUSD 0–USD 1k
Assembly + metrology + first-article reworkUSD 5k–USD 15kUSD 3k–USD 6k
Total payloadUSD 46k–USD 128kUSD 22k–USD 57k

Drone airframes are excluded from the AUD 100k payload budget. A 2 kg-capable fixed-wing is itself roughly USD 20–30k each — a separate, larger platform spend.

Fleet sizing against the budget

Maximum total coverage within the payload budget.

Per drone

182 ha/h at 120 m; 378 ha/h with an altitude waiver (representative 17 m/s cruise).

Fleet from budget

Custom-optics payloads at USD 22k–USD 57k each buy 1–2 payloads within the budget.

Total coverage

~182–364 ha/h at 120 m, or ~378–755 ha/h with a waiver.

What that means

Hourly revisit fits a focused high-risk zone of a few square kilometres, not a whole region. Unit payload cost sets the fleet; altitude authorisation roughly doubles per-drone coverage.

Next sizing decision

Open the coverage sizing grid to convert these per-drone numbers into target-area, payload-count, and max-unit-cost thresholds.