WHITEPAPER

Increasing Fleet
Robustness withFirmatek's Approach to Offering
ACSL’s SOTEN Drone Innovative and Secure Drone Solutions//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Firmatek, a nation-wide leader in utility
infrastructure inspections, is addressing
the increasing need for diversified drone
fleet solutions.

Due to unprecedented demands for inspection data, coupled withheightened regulatory and security requirements around the use ofdrones to capture such data around critical infrastructure, Americanutilities are seeking NDAA-compliant solutions that focus on efficiency
and innovation. In response, Firmatek integrated the ACSL SOTEN drone
into its operations. 

This whitepaper explores the evaluation and integration of the SOTEN
drone, demonstrating how it offers both a compliant and efficientsolution for power pole inspections, with plenty of potential to define
next generation workflows via an expanding payload lineup and onboard
compute capabilities. This comparative analysis highlights the SOTEN
drone's combined efficiency and regulatory benefits, making it a robust
option for utility companies seeking to enhance their inspection
processes while adhering to compliance requirements.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////“Working with the ACSL team has been acollaborative process, and thanks to their
responsive feedback loop, the gap between theSOTEN and Chinese-made solutions is continually
getting smaller and smaller. 

Eric Bitzko, SVP of Electric Utilities, Firmatek

02

Introduction03

The Shifting Landscape for Utility Drone
Solutions
Regulatory changes around critical infrastructure
operations
Efficiency in Drone Inspections

05

Solution Overview
Who is ACSL?

06

Comparative Analysis

08

Implementation Strategy

09

Case Study

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SOTEN use in production projects

10Conclusion

01

INTRODUCTION

Due to heightened geopolitical concerns about potential
regulatory and security risks of using Chinese-madedrones for critical infrastructure inspections, a growing
number of American utilities have switched to using
domestic and allied country drone manufacturers in anabundance of caution. In response, Firmatek has
diversified its drone fleet to include compliant options,ensuring their operations are future-proof.

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

In utility infrastructure inspection, drones have become
essential for enhancing efficiency and data accuracy.
Firmatek leads this innovation, offering advanced
inspection services to hundreds of utility customers
across North America.

This whitepaper details how Firmatek evaluated andintegrated the ACSL SOTEN drone into its operations toprovide an NDAA-compliant solution for their moresensitive customers, while maintaining efficiency inpower pole inspections.

ww.acsl-usa.com

02

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) restricts U.S. government agencies fromusing drones made by certain foreign manufacturers, particularly Chinese companies,citing national security concerns. Section 848 of the NDAA mandates that drones must
be sourced from approved manufacturers meeting stringent security criteria to mitigate
supply chain risks and push for a healthier landscape of drone options. Throughout thepast couple of years, these regulatory pressures have trickled through to impact many
critical infrastructure sectors as well.

Efficiency in Drone Inspections
As the drone industry strives to mitigate data security risk concerns, there is also an
increasing focus on advancing data processing and analytics for utility customers. This
shift can significantly improve the efficiency in monitoring and managing criticalinfrastructure, transforming the landscape of drone inspections.

While drones have effectively proved its value against legacy methods of power pole
inspections, a remaining challenge lies in continuing to optimize workflows to maximize
the number of inspections per day with fewer personnel in the field. To remaincompetitive, firms must enhance efficiency while ensuring robust data security.

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

The ShiftingLandscape for Utility
Drone Solutions

The best practice for power pole inspections using drones involves a streamlined
workflow that ensures safety, efficiency, and accuracy from the field to the back office.
This process begins with pre-flight planning, where the inspection team outlines thespecific poles to be inspected and sets flight paths using advanced drone software. Oncein the field, trained operators conduct a safety check and launch the drone to capture
detailed images of the power poles.

The collected data is then aggregated and uploaded to a secure cloud storage system.
Here, the focus on data processing and analysis becomes paramount. Advanced dataprocessing software analyzes the images, and the processed data is reviewed byjourneymen linemen, who create detailed inspection reports.

ww.acsl-usa.com

03

Firmatek excels at executing these steps exceptionally well, resulting in an extremely
effective end-to-end workflow. They are recognized for not only collecting data
extremely quickly and efficiently but also processing it swiftly and accurately. This
speed and precision are essential for providing the best possible service to theircustomers. By advancing how data is processed and analyzed, Firmatek offers theconfidence and key insights companies need to make informed decisions, significantly
improving the efficiency of monitoring and managing critical infrastructure, andkeeping the world moving forward.

The Impact of Geopolitics on U.S UtilitiesIncreasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

These reports are sent to the back office, where maintenance teams can access them
via a centralized dashboard, prioritize repairs, and schedule necessary maintenancework. This integrated approach ensures the integrity and reliability of the power
infrastructure.

The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has prompted many companies
in the utility industry to reevaluate their use of Chinese-made drone technology.
While U.S. utilities typically use drones from Chinese manufacturers, there is agrowing trend toward transitioning to NDAA-compliant drones to enhance regulatory
risk mitigation, especially for critical infrastructure inspections.

Utility companies have invested in drone dependent workflows for inspecting powerlines, monitoring substations, and assessing storm damage. Drones have
revolutionized these processes by providing aerial inspection data and reducing theneed for risky manual inspections, with Chinese-made drones often offering marketleading solutions. However, the potential for stricter regulations and increasing
security concerns has driven demand for US and Allied-country drones. As utilities
evaluate and integrate these drones, a key consideration is maintaining the efficiencyof existing drone inspection processes while also positioning for further innovation.

ww.acsl-usa.com

04

SOLUTION OVERVIEW
Who is ACSL?

In 2023, ACSL Inc. was established in California
to bridge the needs of the US commercial
drone market with Japan's innovative dronesolutions. The leadership team brings
extensive experience from renowned
companies like Boeing and DJI, supported byan advisory board with decades of industry
expertise. 

Firmatek's collaboration with ACSL focuses on
not only integrating the SOTEN drone into thecompany’s fleet, but also improving andguiding the next generation of ACSL’s drone
products. While these efforts provide Firmatek
the ability to offer compliant and efficient
inspection services for utility companies today,
the collaboration also seeks to push theboundaries of smarter drone operations in thefuture.

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

Japan's largest drone manufacturer, ACSL Ltd., wasfounded in 2013 and became publicly listed on the Tokyo
Stock Exchange in 2018.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

ww.acsl-usa.com

05

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

One challenge in diversifying the drone fleet has been the significant efficiency gap between
the industry-leading Chinese-made options and American-made alternatives, which formed
the basis for Firmatek’s comparative analysis. Another challenge lies in the price disparity ofChinese-made options and American and Allied manufacturer alternatives, a reflection of theglobal challenges around mass production costs and supply chain considerations.

With such factors in mind, the tests measured how many power poles each drone model
could inspect during an 8-hour day in a real-world production project* that featured
challenging terrain and flight conditions.

Each drone model tested was within $10,000 of the original Chinese drone.

Poles inspected per day

Leading Chinese Model 

(Non-NDAA Compliant)
ACSL SOTEN (NDAA compliant)
Alternative NDAA compliant
drone from a leading US
manufacturer

395$6,000$6,000 Hardware$10,000$10,000 Hardware

318

155
$16,000 Hardware

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

As part of diversifying their drone fleet, Firmatekevaluated several NDAA-compliant drones against theindustry-leading Chinese-made and non-NDAA-compliant
model.

$4,000 Software$20,000

Price per drone solution*While the leading Chinese and American drones were always flown with their respective smart controller counterparts, SOTEN was initially tested with
only a standard controller. Further flights with the newest ACSL TENSO smart controller saw notable improvements in efficiency, connectivity andrange, resulting in performance gains overall as reflected in final numbers above.

ww.acsl-usa.com

06

The comparative analysis shows that the Chinese modelsets the industry benchmark for inspection efficiency

The ACSL SOTEN achieved 80% of the efficiency of the Chinese model over the same period,
requiring 0.19 additional man-days to inspect the same number of poles.

ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

This Japanese-manufactured quick-deploy drone combines advanced technology withleading security features, ensuring safe and efficient operations. The SOTEN drone isequipped with high-resolution cameras and thermal imaging capabilities, making it idealfor detailed inspections of power lines, substations, and other critical infrastructure.

 Its compact design and lightweight frame allow for agile maneuverability in complex
environments. Additionally, the SOTEN drone's secure data transmission and storage
protocols safeguard sensitive information, aligning with the stringent industry bestpractices for work around critical infrastructure. Captured data can be optionallyencrypted even before being written and stored onboard the drone. As utility companies
look to mitigate risks and ensure operational continuity, the ACSL SOTEN drone presents
a reliable and innovative solution for their aerial inspection needs.

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

The American-manufactured drone achieved 39% of the efficiency of the Chinese model overan 8-hour inspection period, requiring an additional 1.54 man-days to inspect the same
number of poles

Firmatek found that the ACSL SOTEN offered a reliable NDAA-compliant option without
significantly sacrificing efficiency compared to the Chinese model, a development notconsistently found in the market prior to ACSL launching in the U.S. in 2023. Just as
importantly, Firmatek found the ACSL SOTEN to have notable superiority in connectivity
and flight dynamics compared to other NDAA-compliant drones that Firmatek has tested
over the years.

ww.acsl-usa.com

07

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

Firmatek's strategy for integrating ACSL’s SOTEN drone involved
several key steps.

Training and Certification

Ensuring that operators were fullydrone was a priority. This processincluded field training from the ACSL
team and incorporating the SOTEN drone
into Firmatek’s existing training regimen.
However, the Firmatek team found thatlittle additional training was needed totransition to using the SOTEN drone.

Workflow Optimization

The SOTEN drone seamlessly integrated
into Firmatek’s existing workflows,
eliminating the need to overhaul oradjust standard operating procedures.

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

trained and certified to use the SOTEN“We are thrilled to have integrated the ACSL SOTEN drone. Its
advanced performance and security standards align perfectlywith our commitment to delivering future-proofed solutions toour clients.”

Eric Bitzko, SVP of Electric Utilities, Firmatek/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

ww.acsl-usa.com08

CASE STUDY
Since incorporating ACSL’s SOTEN drone into their fleet,Firmatek has used the system on various production
projects with utility customers who have adopted astricter standard for equipment flown around theirassets.

Notably, the system was used for a utility customer in Arizona, USA. The inspection ofcritical infrastructure with the SOTEN was conducted in high desert, mountainous
terrain, with difficult access from the roads, under less than ideal flying conditions inArizona, with light snow and wind gusts reaching 35 mph.

High Efficiency

318 poles inspected per day; 80% of the average inspection output of non-compliant
alternatives in similar conditions.

Compliance Assurance

Firmatek’s utility customer required full adherence to NDAA requirements.

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

SOTEN use in production projects

Arizona, United States
Gusts of up to 35 mph
318 poles inspected per day

ww.acsl-usa.com

09

CONCLUSION

By adopting efficient NDAA-compliant drones, Firmatek addresses thegrowing regulatory and security concerns while maintaining highoperational output for their customers, allowing for increased focus ondata process enhancement. The SOTEN drone has proven to be a robustand effective alternative to Chinese-made models, while offering notable
improvements in connectivity, and handling when compared to other
NDAA compliant solutions.

Firmatek and ACSL are dedicated to enhancing SOTEN's performance andoperational efficiency for inspection workflows. Their collaboration
focuses on future advancements such as the implementation further
improvements to connectivity, additional payloads, and exploring AI andmachine learning capabilities onboard the drone. This ongoing
partnership aims to drive continuous improvement and innovation ininspection processes.

Increasing Fleet Robustness with ACSL’s SOTEN Drone

Firmatek's integration of the ACSL SOTEN drone reflects
an increasing trend in the field of utility infrastructure
inspection. 

Through this strategic diversification, Firmatek not only meets theevolving needs of utility companies but also sets a benchmark forindustry practices. The successful implementation of the SOTEN drone
underscores Firmatek's commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction,and regulatory sensitivity. This move ensures that Firmatek continues toprovide future-proof inspection services, empowering utility companies tomake informed decisions and maintain the integrity and reliability of
their infrastructure.

ww.acsl-usa.com

10About Firmatek

About ACSL

Firmatek believes in thedemocratization of geospatial data,
providing actionable insights to foster
collaboration and confidence. The
company excels in simplifying complex
decision-making processes throughadvanced technology, unmatched
services, and dedicated expertise.

ACSL Inc. is the US subsidiary ofJapan's largest drone manufacturer,
ACSL Ltd. Established in California inJanuary 2023, the company bridges
the needs of the US commercial drone
market with Japan's innovative drone
solutions. The leadership team brings
extensive experience from renowned
companies like Boeing and DJI,
supported by an advisory board withdecades of industry expertise.