The C10 Just Got Smarter:
Introducing Vertical Auto Operation
If you have ever watched a C10 pilot clean a tall industrial facade — moving the drone upward by hand, shifting laterally a few centimetres, descending again, repeating — you already understand the challenge. The work is precise. The concentration required is significant. And the higher you go, the harder it becomes to judge distance and position from the ground.
With Vertical Auto Operation, that equation changes.
Auto Operation For Vertical Surfaces
The C10 has always offered more than manual flight. In auto-assisted operation, radar locks the drone at a set distance from a surface, automatically holding that gap while the pilot steers.
Vertical Auto Operation takes this further. Configure three values — vertical travel range, lateral step, and movement speed — choose a starting direction, and launch. The drone handles the sequence: ascending the full vertical range, stepping sideways by the programmed amount, descending, then stepping again. It maintains its radar-locked wall distance throughout and repeats the pattern until the pilot stops it.
The pilot’s role becomes supervisory. The drone does the work.
A Realistic Cleaning Scenario
Take a multi-storey commercial building facade — the kind of surface where manual cleaning requires sustained concentration and precise stick control, pass after pass. The pilot positions the C10 at the starting point, configures the vertical travel range and a lateral step to suit the surface width, sets the speed, and launches. The C10 proceeds through the complete cleaning pattern — section by section, without further input.
The operator remains present and monitoring. The mode disengages instantly on any stick movement or mode switch. But the physical and cognitive load of manually executing that pattern — especially at height, with 200 bar of pressure running through the tether — is removed from the equation. The coverage is more consistent. The mission is more efficient.
A New Interface Built for Real Conditions
Alongside Vertical Auto Operation, we have released a completely redesigned software UI for the C10. Every setting is now accessible through animated sliders with clear range indicators. The radar distance readout is always visible. Mode selection and deactivation are single-tap operations, accessible directly from the flight screen.
We rebuilt the interface because field conditions are demanding. A pilot configuring a cleaning mission 30 metres off the ground should not be navigating a complex menu. The new UI makes the correct action immediately obvious — before flight and during it.
C5 Certification: Why It Matters
The C10 holds EU C5 certification as a tethered unmanned aircraft, confirmed through formal type examination by CertTrust Ltd. (Notified Body 2806). For professional operators, C5 provides a recognised regulatory basis for tethered operations at height across EU member states — supporting procurement processes, insurance coverage, and multi-country deployment planning.
The launch of Vertical Auto Operation makes the C10 the first operationally deployed automated drone operating under C5 certification in Europe. That is a meaningful distinction — not just as a technical milestone, but as a foundation for how professional-grade drone cleaning will be deployed and regulated going forward.
What This Means for the C10
The C10 was already the only industrial cleaning drone designed and manufactured in the EU. It replaces scaffolding, cranes, and industrial alpinism for surfaces up to 60 metres. It delivers up to 200 bar of cleaning pressure with radar-assisted obstacle avoidance and a tethered connection that keeps it grounded to the operation.
Vertical Auto Operation adds a new layer to all of that: genuine autonomy in the cleaning pattern itself. Combined with the new software UI, this is the most significant functional update the C10 has received since its introduction.
Full technical documentation is available at abzinnovation.com. Training on the new autonomous mode is included in ABZ Innovation’s standard pilot certification programme, available through our global network of certified distributors and service partners.
