SF-7 Industrial UAS Prototype Program
A requirements-led aircraft program for ruggedised industrial inspection missions.
Sub-7 kg classPX4 + ROS 2PBS-1.0 payload bay28 min endurance target
Pre-commercial UAS engineering program
Engineering the Future of Autonomous Flight
Advanced drone systems, robotics, and aerospace engineering solutions designed for the world's most demanding environments.
SF-7
Flagship prototype
PBS-1.0
Payload standard
PX4/ROS 2
Autonomy stack
Capabilities
Engineering disciplines for mission-critical autonomous aircraft.
SkyForge is being built around requirements-driven systems engineering, rigorous validation, and modular UAS platform architecture.
Drone Design & Development
Requirements-led UAS concepts, ruggedised airframes, payload-ready structures, and prototype build programs.
Autonomous Systems
Incremental autonomy roadmaps across manual, assisted, supervised, and future BVLOS-capable mission profiles.
Flight Control Systems
PX4-based control architecture, MAVLink telemetry, safety behaviours, geofencing, and return-to-launch validation.
Payload Integration
PBS-1.0 interface planning for thermal, RGB zoom, edge AI compute, LiDAR, and third-party mission payloads.
Industrial Inspection Solutions
Purpose-built platform concepts for power lines, bridges, solar, towers, confined access, and linear corridors.
Aerial Intelligence Platforms
On-aircraft compute pathways for defect detection, annotated outputs, and cloud-connected inspection workflows.
Robotics Engineering
Embedded systems, docking station concepts, power electronics, autonomy middleware, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
Research & Development
Simulation, test readiness reviews, design gates, FMEA expansion, and progressive prototype maturation.
Platform family
A staged UAS portfolio designed around shared architecture.
The public roadmap is framed carefully: SF-7 is the flagship prototype program, SF-2 is a planned portable variant, and SF-25 is a future heavy-lift concept.
SF-2
Sub-2 kg Portable
Compact inspection platform concept for confined access, rooftop survey, and locations where larger aircraft are impractical.
SF-7
Sub-7 kg Industrial
Industrial multirotor concept for power lines, bridges, solar, towers, and payload-rich inspection missions.
SF-25
Sub-25 kg Heavy-Lift
Future long-endurance and multi-payload aircraft concept for larger survey areas and advanced mission profiles.
Engineering process
Aerospace-style gates from concept through validation.
Every production claim must be earned through documented requirements, FMEA, design reviews, bench evidence, HIL simulation, flight testing, and continuous improvement.
01
Requirements Analysis
Mission envelope, stakeholders, regulatory constraints, payload requirements, and verification plan.
02
Concept Design
Airframe class, subsystem architecture, payload interface, risk register, and design assumptions.
03
Simulation
Gazebo/ROS 2 mission logic, HIL preparation, autonomy behaviours, and fault injection.
04
Prototype Development
Mechanical integration, electronics bay, power architecture, firmware stack, and payload fitment.
05
Testing & Validation
Bench, tethered hover, free flight, waypoint missions, inspection patterns, and FRACAS capture.
06
Certification Pathway
CASA, ACMA, WHS, privacy, export-control, and product safety evidence gathering.
07
Deployment Planning
Operator procedures, maintenance plans, docking workflows, spares, documentation, and customer readiness.
08
Continuous Improvement
Flight data review, non-conformance control, CAPA, ECOs, and manufacturing readiness gates.
Telemetry overlay
RTL: PASSHIL: QUEUEDFMEA: ACTIVE
Technology stack
Embedded autonomy, edge compute, and inspection data architecture.
SkyForge technical planning centres on proven robotics foundations, carefully staged autonomy, and payload systems that can feed high-value inspection intelligence.
AI & Machine Learning
Edge inference, defect models, TensorRT pipelines, and annotated inspection outputs.
Computer Vision
Thermal/RGB fusion, target framing, inspection pattern guidance, and visual landing markers.
Navigation Systems
RTK-ready positioning concepts, geofencing, waypoint missions, RTL, terrain follow, and future dock landing.
Embedded Systems
PX4, ROS 2, MAVSDK, CAN, USB 3.0, telemetry, and safety arbiter design.
Communications
900 MHz telemetry, RC links, 4G/5G/WiFi concepts, and secure cloud handoff planning.
Cloud Platforms
Fleet, mission, and inspection data integration through the wider Sky Holdings ecosystem.
Edge Computing
On-aircraft companion compute for sensor orchestration, data reduction, and mission logic.
Architecture
Designed as part of an integrated inspection ecosystem.
Airframes, payloads, docking concepts, ground control, cloud systems, and data intelligence are planned as one technical chain.
Safety First
Design decisions trace to documented requirements, FMEA, and validation evidence.
Engineering Rigor
Prototype, review, test, and improve before any production readiness claim.
Sovereign Capability
Australian design authority, support pathways, and data-sovereignty alignment.
Integrated Intelligence
Hardware, software, and analytics designed as one inspection ecosystem.
System Architecture
Airborne, ground, and cloud tiers
Airborne Tier
- PX4 FMU
- Jetson companion
- Power distribution
- PBS-1.0 payload
Ground Tier
- Ground control
- Docking station
- Operator devices
- Flight readiness data
Cloud Tier
- Mission records
- AI outputs
- Inspection evidence
- Fleet analytics
MAVLink
ROS 2
CAN / USB 3.0
REST / 4G / 5G
Featured programs
Case-study style project areas that communicate engineering maturity.
These public-facing project summaries describe development streams without exposing confidential program detail or overclaiming operational readiness.
PBS-1.0 Modular Payload Interface
A planned mechanical, electrical, and data interface for rapid payload interchange.
40-pin interface60 W continuous powerCAN + USB 3.0IP-rated connector concept
Dock-to-Cloud Autonomy Architecture
A staged autonomy architecture linking aircraft, docking, operator, and cloud tiers.
MAVSDK offboardSafety arbiterHIL validationFuture BVLOS pathway
Industries
Built for environments where failure is expensive.
SkyForge platform concepts are aimed at inspection, survey, and monitoring missions in sectors that demand traceability, reliability, safety cases, and repeatable data.
Mining
Remote site inspection, stockpile survey, haul-road monitoring, and hazardous-area assessment.
Infrastructure
Bridges, roads, towers, rail corridors, and civil assets requiring repeatable inspection evidence.
Energy
Transmission assets, substations, solar farms, wind assets, and thermal/RGB condition monitoring.
Agriculture
Field analytics, crop condition mapping, irrigation visibility, and remote property monitoring.
Environmental Monitoring
Survey, habitat assessment, coastal change, fire recovery, and sensitive-area observation.
Public Safety
Situational awareness, emergency response support, search-area mapping, and incident documentation.
Defense
Mission-adaptable UAS engineering, sovereign capability pathways, and controlled development programs.
Research Institutions
Prototype aircraft, payload testbeds, robotics labs, and collaborative autonomy experiments.