● The flight control computer includes new capabilities enabling UAS manufacturers to extend their platform’s capabilities to new scenarios.
As UAV operations become more and more advanced and precise, unmanned aircraft require cutting-edge flight control solutions with functionality that may guarantee the success of the missions.
Highly specialised and robust guidance, navigation and control systems that enable the latest generation unmanned aircraft to execute complex manoeuvres guaranteeing operational safety are required.
UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía’s flight control system is characterised by its aerospace quality, high reliability, and high level of innovation.
The new version of the flight control computer software allows the Spanish company’s clients to execute multiple and advanced functionalities, such as the autonomous replanning of the flight plan and execution of 4D trajectories to reach a target waypoint (WP) within a specific time frame or Multi-UAV and Multi-GCS missions.
The new version of the software stands out for providing the following functionalities:
Mission Replanning for Automatic Sense and Avoidance or Geofencing When an unauthorised fly zone is detected in the path of the autopilot mission, the system will recalculate the flight executing an automatic alternative route to avoid the detected zone and reach the desired destination safely.
Multi-UAV and USV Operations Improved with New Intercommunication among the Vehicles. Autopilots installed on different platforms can exchange information to allow the designated operator (DO) to see the other vehicles on the Visionair Ground Control Station Software. Additionally, several improvements have been made to the telemetry to allow more UAVs to use the same radio link.
Multi-GCS Capabilities The autopilot can detect commands received from more than one GCS simultaneously, allowing seamless GCS handover that helps users perform advanced operation monitoring and control from multiple ground control stations located in different places.
4D Trajectory for Executing Accurate Actions. The system allows the selection of the exact time the autopilot has to arrive at a specific WP. Moreover, in multi-UAV operations, the aircraft will be able to fly at a specific time away from another aircraft.
Improvements in Maritime Operations.
The flight control computer includes the “Follow Target” command to allow a UAV to
follow a given mobile reference with a time delay, which refines the advanced maritime
capabilities of the flight control system.
Online Map to Widen the Mission Following Awareness. When an internet connection is available, it is possible to use the online world map to download the map in real-time.
Other features: ● Alarms panel renovation. ● Primary Flight Display (PFD) enhanced showing the vertical speed indicator. ● Local network panel available. ● New emergency parachute deployment conditions. ● Visual interface modifications to improve user experience. ● Many other improvements…
UAV Navigation – Grupo Oesía
UAV Navigation is a private company with 100% Spanish capital. It has specialized in the design of guidance, navigation and control solutions (GNC) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) since 2004. The flight control solutions are characterized by their reliability and robustness, being used on all kinds of platforms and under all weather conditions. These include high-performance tactical unmanned aircraft, VTOL fixed-wing platforms, aerial targets, mini-UAVs and helicopters.
UAV Navigation is part of the multinational Oesia Group, a Spanish group of companies with more than 45 years of experience designing, developing and maintaining cutting-edge technology for the Security, Defense and Aerospace sectors; it also has a long history of work in avionics for national level projects. The Oesia Group is involved in the whole system life cycle (design, development, qualification and maintenance) of critical and non-critical flight systems for Eurofighter EF-2000, A-400M, F-18, C-295, P3-B Orión or MH-60R. The Group is now involved in the most challenging UAV projects, such as the FCAS/NGWS, Eurodrone and SIRTAP.
Oesia Group has over 3,500 employees with 15 offices in Spain and America. It is working on projects in 23 different countries with the main purpose of creating a better, more efficient, safer and sustainable world. UAV Navigation uses a worldwide network of distributors to supply its cutting-edge capabilities around the world. www.uavnavigation.com
Modini and Unmanned Helicopters have signed a partnership agreement enabling the sales and bespoke development of the ‘Beyond-S’ Uncrewed Air System (UAS). The Beyond-S is the best in class, battery-operated UAS capable of payloads of up to 12Kg. Capable of operating in fully autonomous modes, in all weather conditions, with a detachable tether the Beyond S also boasts to be silent above 120m. The novel rotor technology offers speeds of 55Kts, and secure uplink/downlink and navigation systems which work in GPS denied environments.
Modini are the UKs leading UAS Trials and Evaluation company, specifically configured for platforms which are above 25Kg and operate in the specified dome (and whilst not approved by the regulator, we also operate platforms to crewed certified standards). Our pedigree of designing, embodying, and delivering similar solutions (to platforms such as the Schiebel S-100 and Stealth II hybrid) now sees our delivery teams operating globally for international clients. Modini has operating approvals for platforms above 25Kg, as well as trials and evaluation airspace to assist third parties developing their systems, providing engineering oversight and support, and test pilots, to ensure trials are conducted methodically and safely.
This formal agreement is the result of months of trials and development work to bring this mature platform to the market. Its applicability and capability is unrivalled, and its potential is limitless.
The utility industry entered the commercial drone game early, enabling quicker expansion into more applications.
Data collected from drones, ground crews and helicopters can be assessed using Cyberhawk’s cloud-based software, iHawk. Photo courtesy of Cyberhawk.
In the nearly 10 years since Dominion Energy first began deploying drones, the team has bult up more than 150 use cases—and Nate Robie, manager of the Unmanned Systems Group, expects that number will continue to grow.
Robie describes drones as a workforce multiplier, increasing safety and enhancing efficiencies for both inspections and operations. The technology is a key part of the industry-wide effort to make the bulk power system more reliable, with asset inspection a main focus.
Drones, typically carrying RGB, thermal or LiDAR payloads, are looking for defects in boiler tanks at power generation facilities, detecting radiation interference at substations, identifying anomalies on transmission poles and monitoring vegetation encroachment in right of ways, to name a few routine applications. Reports and repair orders are generated based on what’s discovered during the flights, helping utilities better maintain their equipment and ultimately prevent outages.
Because utilities were early adopters—many of the big players have had programs for upwards of five years—there’s been a recent expansion of drone use at scale, said Sean Guerre, executive director of the Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition. The number of linemen cross-trained as pilots deploying drones in their daily operations has significantly grown, with many utilities offering vigorous training and certification programs. There’s a high comfort level with the technology and an understanding of what it can do for the industry, particularly as we move toward more automation and a regulatory framework for BVLOS flights.
As drone adoption continues to grow across the industry, so too does the opportunity for new use cases. In recent years, UAS have been deployed for rope pulling, as part of wildfire prevention programs and as surveying tools for environmental monitoring. More complex applications, such as attaching equipment from a drone to a power line, have also become possible.
“It’s not just accepted in the industry, said Corey Hitchcock, program lead at Southern Company. “It’s almost expected.”
POWER GENERATION
Drones are now more routinely being flown for inspections inside power generation facilities, gathering data in confined spaces and GPS-denied environments, Guerre said. The systems can help spot various defects, from flaws in pump valves to corrosion inside a vessel, allowing them to better predict when it’s time to take an asset out of service for repair, or to replace it.
“It’s not just accepted in the industry. It’s almost expected.”
Corey Hitchcock, UAS program lead, Southern Company
Southern Company is starting to do more drone work in radiological containment areas, Hitchcock said, performing inspections in the “deep, dark places” inside power plants so humans don’t have to. This not only enhances safety, particularly in nuclear power plants where radiation dose is a concern, it also eliminates the costs associated with erecting scaffolding and equipment downtime.
“If something breaks at a power plant and has to come offline, you’re not generating electricity, which isn’t good for companies whose business it is to sell electricity,” Hitchcock said. “In the past, we had to wait several days for a boiler to cool and to build scaffolding. With a drone, we can identify or rule out problems, saving us a lot of time and allowing us to get the right part.”
Repairs are made faster, shortening outages, and scaffolding can be contained to just the area that needs repaired, rather than covering the entire asset.
This response has been made easier with the Elios 3 from Flyability, Hitchcock said, which uses LiDAR point clouds to navigate once it’s inside a boiler. Before, a drone could collect imagery and video to identify flaws, but it couldn’t tell the operator exactly where those flaws were. Now, they can fly the drone and model at the same time, what Hitchcock describes as a game changer.
Drones are also being deployed to perform inspections after radiation leaks, Hitchcock said. In fact, it’s now the go-to tool, where it was once an afterthought.
Dominion relies on UAS for boiler inspections as well, with the technology also leveraged to inspect infrastructure outside power-generation facilities, Robie said. Construction monitoring, water tower inspections and volumetric measurements are among other applications. They use both quadcopters to hover for close inspections and fixed-wing drones to map large areas.
Dominion recently received a waiver from the FAA that covers more than 40 facilities across seven states, allowing the team to fly the Skydio X2 drone BVLOS without an additional crew member or technology to detect other aircraft. Skydio’s AI technology makes it possible to fly the drone closer to structures, enhancing the data obtained during inspections.
Drones also can deployed for inspections at hydroelectric facilities or dams, said James Pierce, manager of UAS and inspections for Ameren. And the company isn’t just responsible for the dam; it also must maintain shoreline permitting around the reservoir. UAS provide detailed inspections that assist with that activity.
Other robotics, such as crawlers and rovers, are finding their place at these facilities as well, Guerre said. They can perform inspections on a variety of assets in a set, repeatable pattern, as well as examine a perimeter around the plant as a means of security.
Drones and ground robotics can be used in combination, Guerre said, for more efficient inspections. A crawler might be deployed to handle a boiler inspection, while a quadruped robot is sent to look for corrosion on internal pipelines and the drone checks for flaws on a stack.
Submersibles also play a role, Robie said, and can be deployed on a dam, for example, to gauge soil sediment or inspect the infrastructure. They can be used inside water-holding tanks or other liquid holding vessels as well.
Energy companies are also leveraging robotics for their renewable assets, deploying crawlers designed specifically for wind turbine inspection and to monitor solar panel operations, as examples.
DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSMISSION
Drones have become a key enabling technology for scaling power grid inspection services across transmission and distribution lines, which span thousands of kilometers, including assessing the condition of substations, Cyberhawk Chief Revenue Officer Patrick Saracco said.
Substation buildings are large and difficult to access, U.K.-based National Grid Condition Monitoring Manager Mark Simmons said, so deploying drones to inspect them makes sense. Drones can fly overhead rather than crews having to work via elevated platforms.
Typically, asset managers are looking for radio frequency interference (RFI) during these inspections, Simmons said, because it indicates equipment is in distress. A specialized payload must be flown on the drone to detect RFI and locate its source.
National Grid is also involved in a project to develop a payload for live insulator testing across both substations and overhead lines, Simmons said. This application helps avoid system outages while also providing a bigger sample size.
Encroachment is another area drones can address, Guerre said, whether it’s monitoring vegetation to ensure it’s not contacting lines, which could lead to outages or spark a wildfire, or serving as security to make sure nothing is in the right of way that doesn’t belong.
A National Grid drone during inspection. The system uses highly automated drones flown BVLOS to gather detailed close-quarter data. Photo courtesy of Ameren, Saxon Unmanned and National Grid.
Then there are the transmission towers. Drones can look for corrosion or any type of flaw around a transformer, Guerre said, such as the way the line and equipment attaches to the pole or broken screws.
Drones can provide an in-depth look at each individual structure, Robie said, and the various components. Frayed lines, chipped or cracked insulators, broken cotter keys and rust are among the many deficiencies they spot.
The Ameren UAS team primarily provides imagery and infrared analysis for state-mandated pole inspections in Missouri, Pierce said, covering more than a million poles on four to six year cycles.
“We fly 120,000 poles a year, producing inspection reports which eventually take the form of work orders to address any reliability issues discovered,” Pierce said. “We do similar inspections for our transmission company. We use UAS to ensure reliability and prevent outages, flying different shot patterns and covering long stretches of corridor.”
Before drones, National Grid relied on helicopters for these types of inspections, like other energy companies, but the challenge was the aircraft couldn’t get everywhere because of proximity to buildings or livestock, missing 10 to 15% of the assets, Simmons said. There are no right of ways in the U.K., so it’s common for livestock—particularly horses and sheep—to roam in the field under towers. The company started using drones to address this challenge in 2017.
Inspection and survey, Simmons said, are the primary reason for most flights, flying high-end cameras, radar, vision optical sensors and infrared cameras. The technology has come a long way in just five years, now enabling UAS to follow automated flight paths, build a 3D way point, fly a tower and then fly the exact same path on a different day. The goal is to not only look for various defects that could lead to issues, but to determine where the assets are on the end of life curve to work out the optimum time to not only replace individual components, but entire assets.
Photo courtesy of Florida Power and Light.
Florida Power and Light (FPL) began its drone program in 2016, using the technology as a tool to help them work safer and smarter, said Eric Schwartz, manager of technology and innovation for FPLAir, the company’s drone program. Poles and wires are among the items on the inspection list, moving from crews driving along looking up at lines to spot defects to the aerial perspective drones provide.
“In the poles and wires business, drones have revolutionized how we do our assessments and allowed us to be more precise.”
James Pierce, manager, UAS and inspections, Ameren
“They were really only assessing one quadrant out of the entire pole because they couldn’t get up on top and look down, and they weren’t looking from the other side of the neighborhood or block,” Schwartz said. “In the poles and wires business, drones have revolutionized how we do our assessments and allowed us to be more precise.”
From left, Dominion Energy’s T.F. Butler, UAS Program Coordinator, and Alexis Ramsey, Unmanned Systems Operator, launch a drone to map a Dominion Energy power station and to provide visual inspections of hard-to-reach areas of the site. Photo courtesy of Dominion Energy Services, Inc.
The team flies thermal and RGB sensors looking for cracks, corrosion from salt spray, termite damage, pole rot and hot spots that indicate there’s risk of an outage, he added.
Crews no longer have to regularly walk in backyards or drive along roads to find the damaged components, weathering and broken poles that could lead to outages, Pierce said. Drones can quickly identify defects so operators create work orders and prioritize repairs.
“When drones became an option for us in 2016, we proved you can capture so much more data from above, looking down,” he said. “A lot of problems are on the top of the pole. That’s where the weather hits, like snow sitting on top of a pole. That’s readily visible from above. And the detail drones provide have had amazing results as far as reliability of the system is concerned.”
STORM RESPONSE
Drones have also found their place in storm response, allowing utilities to quickly find damage and start repairs. Emergency response caught on quicky after the 2017 hurricane season, which included Irma in Florida, Schwartz said, and has become routine.
A lot of the work is done before a storm makes landfall. Drones can map an area in good weather, and then be sent out to map it again after a storm, Southern Company’s Hitchcock said. Change detection software can show crews exactly where they need to be and the equipment they need to bring.
LiDAR is also being flown for pole and wire assessment pre-storm, with FPL leveraging the technology for hardening. The company is a leader in a program that started after the 2004/2005 hurricane season. The goal was to redesign the entire system of lines on the distribution side to withstand 150 mph plus winds.
“When poles go down, it’s the longest bottleneck and lead time to get electricity back on,” Schwartz said. “It’s easier to put wire back up. Flying LiDAR helps with pre-engineering to get a better understanding for design and redesign jobs.”
FPL’s newest drone, FPLAir One, is designed for these and other large-scale flights. The fixed-wing drone is the size of a small aircraft, can fly up to 1,000 miles and operate in tropical storm-force winds.
The team plans to fly the drone to create a 3D twin of the entire state, and then use the drone in a box solution from Percepto to look at the distribution network and overhead lines for pre-engineering of the hardening program, Schwartz said. AI will be leveraged for change detection.
Pulling rope is another application born out of storm response.
“You can use a drone to pull rope when you need to get a power line across an obstacle, maybe water or other terrain,” Hitchcock said, noting Southern Company uses a rope release mechanism designed in-house. “That practice was developed in the mountains of Puerto Rico during hurricane Maria.”
THE FUTURE
As the technology continues to advance, standardized inspections will become more automated, Simmons said. Remote pilot inspections will become the norm, with complete autonomy on the horizon.
Hitchcock sees drone in a box solutions standing by at facilities like substations, and UAS eventually replacing helicopter patrols for linear inspections.
“You’ll still see some manual operations, but with a drone in a box solution on board a majority of our post-events will be done autonomously,” he said. “As the substation or distribution operation sees the call come across the consul, the drone will already be online trying to determine what caused the problem.”
“When drones became an option for us in 2016, we proved you can capture so much more data from above, looking down.”
James Pierce, manager, UAS and inspections, Ameren
Utilities are also starting to look into corona ultraviolet detection sensors that can tell if electrical connections are not configured efficiently, Pierce said.Methane is another area of interest in the proof of concept stage, Robie said.
More intrusive inspections are starting to come online as well, including developing a sensor that allows testing on insulators on overhead lines while they’re live, Simmons said. Crews would have to be onsite to operate these types of specialist sensors, but most other inspections will still happen remotely.
Large scale, high-endurance UAS will continue to become more cost-effective, Schwartz said, making highly autonomous BVLOS flights more feasible. Drone in a box solutions will handle the granular level cracks and fractures, zooming in on equipment like insulators.
Alternative fuel sources, such as hydrogen, are also in play, Robie said, as the industry looks to continue to improve efficiencies and ultimately the power system with the help of drones.
“What we’d like to do is be able to cover more of our footprint and inspect various assets in one flight rather than going from an electric transmission right of way to another mission in a solar field,” he said. “The goal is to have one flight where we can inspect various infrastructure to get that data to the multiple businesses we service quicker.”
Industry Experts Speak – What Will It Take to Make BVLOS A Reality, Enabling Drones in the Oil and Gas Industry and Beyond?
By: Dawn Zoldi
Continue reading below, or listen:
More than six years ago when Jon Damush, the current CEO of Iris Automation, was the Chief Growth Officer for Boeing subsidiary Insitu, his team inspected Shell Oil’s liquified natural gas natural well heads with drones, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
They used the ScanEagle and a patchwork of command and control radios, terrestrial communications, VHF transceivers and dedicated radars coupled with constant ATC contact. This project increased inspection rates by a power of almost 20 – from six to ten well heads to over 200 per week. Some data (live video) was realtime, other data (3D models) took several days to analyze by computer at the time, it nevertheless proved invaluable. The project not only relieved workers from the dull, dirty and dangerous tasks they had previously been required to perform, it also produced much higher quality information for decision-makers located in a central location. So why, in 2022, are BVLOS inspections in the oil and gas industry, and other industries, not yet routine? Industry experts gave their opinions on this topic at this year’s Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition three-day Summit.
Jon Damush, CEO Iris Automation Inc. – Drive Public Benefit
Damush, a seasoned crewed aviation pilot with over 30 years of extensive aviation technology experience and executive leadership, has led new business ventures at Boeing NeXT, growth at Insitu and acted as executive liaison and board observer to SkyGrid, LLC, a joint venture between Boeing and SparkCognition. He believes the lack of regulation (or more generic approvals) presents the primary challenge to moving BVLOS operations forward.
In his current role as CEO of Iris Automation, a leader in collision avoidance technology, Damush participated as an industry representative on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). He said one of the fundamental emphasis items for the committee was to focus on BVLOS drone operations which provide public benefit.
Damush explained, “The FAA’s job is to keep the airspace safe. In crewed aviation, they’ve been doing this successfully for decades. Most of us don’t think twice about our safety when we step onto a commercial airliner to travel. We take our safety for granted. Drones are new entrants into that same airspace, and there will be a lot of them. A conservative approach to integrating them into our airspace should not be surprising to anyone. But the FAA is a public entity, and therefore sets priorities based on public need. So, as an industry, we need to drive and communicate public benefit in our operations.”
Iris Automation, Detect and Avoid
As the Shell Oil vignette above illustrates, those benefits include safer and more efficient operations for businesses and their employees. “BVLOS operations also make us a better neighbor,” he noted. “Drone flights avoid the need to drive over land and produce less noise than heavy ground equipment.”
According to Damush, public benefit will drive public acceptance. That acceptance will encourage the FAA to advance BVLOS regulations and regularize these operations. “We need to tell our stories that save time, help people and make businesses thrive,” he said. “We all have a responsibility to communicate the benefits and also show that we put safety first in our operations.”
Trevor Perrott, CEO and Founder, Censys Technologies – Change Culture
An aerospace engineer by training, Trevor Perrott has a background in systems and human factors engineering for companies including Gulfstream Aerospace and Textron Systems. He founded Daytona Beach, Florida-based Censys Technologies to enable airborne economies with drones and flying cars. Perrott believes that the FAA operates from a spirit of fear that the industry needs to conquer through culture change within the government, the drone industry and among its clients.
Culture change must begin, according to Perrott, with potential clients first. Proving the value proposition of drones to oil and gas companies, and others, will incentivize the desirability of these assets to a wide range of market sectors. Censys has had great success in doing this. The company currently holds about thirty percent of all of the FAA’s BVLOS waivers and routinely performs missions traditional helicopters would otherwise do, but cheaper and with greater levels of safety.
Perrott attributes the success of his company to its crawl-walk-run approach. “Crawling may be demonstrating the drone, providing a business with drone training or just talking to business leaders about relevant case studies.” All of these efforts should illustrate how drones can create value for organizations. “Drones will have a cell phone-like impact on the world,” Perrott said. “We just need to keep showing that every day.”
Censys Sentaero BVLOS Fixed Wing
Similar to Damush, Perrott believes that once businesses routinely use drones in their operations, government action will follow, in terms of required regulation and funding. “It’s a policy level issue. Drone evangelism remains fundamental to get more capital flowing in from all angles, including customers, investors, banks, and government officials,” he said. “All of that originates from the ability to storytell effectively. And we all have a treasure trove of good stories to share.” Those stories, he thinks, will encourage regulators to start speaking from a tone of acceptable level of risk, instead of a zero-risk mindset.
Those stories, Perrott noted, can only be shared if the drone industry itself shifts its culture. “I have nearly two dozen projects that I’m not even allowed to talk about publicly because of non-disclosure agreements or concerns over proprietary information,” he lamented. Even close partners may be hamstrung about what they can speak to the public about. “We need a culture change in America,” he said. “We need to tear down the NDA wall and let people know all the good things that are out there.” Only then can the drone industry thrive.
Read more about Iris Automation, Censys Technologies, and BVLOS Flight:
Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Retired) is a licensed attorney with 28 years of combined active duty military and federal civil service to the U.S. Air Force. She is the CEO & Founder of P3 Tech Consulting and an internationally recognized expert on uncrewed aircraft system law and policy. Zoldi contributes to several magazines and hosts popular tech podcasts. Zoldi is also an Adjunct Professor for two universities, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2022, she received the Airwards People’s Choice Industry Impactor Award, was recognized as one of the Top Women to Follow on LinkedIn and listed in the eVTOL Insights 2022 PowerBook. For more information, follow her on social media and visit her website at: https://www.p3techconsulting.com.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies. For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
FREQUENTIS to extend UTM system for Avinor ANS enabling safe and efficient drone use around offshore platforms Avinor ANS, Norwegian Air Navigation Services, has contracted Frequentis to extend its existing unmanned traffic management (UTM) system to enable safe and efficient UTM service provision around offshore platforms in the Norwegian North Sea. The contract, within a framework agreement between Frequentis and Avinor, will allow UTM service provision by an authorised third-party UTM operator to supervise and manage drone traffic around their key infrastructure assets sustainably.
The extension of Avinor`s UTM system to support other industries highlights the importance of a secure, safe and efficient UTM data exchange based on Frequentis’ MosaiX SWIM platform as Flight Information Management System (FIMS). Avinor’s UTM infrastructure is unlocking the potential of full autonomous operations for Norwegian offshore industries. Autonomous Remote Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) operations, coupled with seamless UTM/ATM integration, will more sustainably serve the offshore industry, contributing to lower C02 emissions as well as enhancing safety and efficiency.
“We are proud to have worked with Frequentis to implement the first Nordic UTM system and even prouder that it now allows the addition of third-party services, enabling drone-related business,” says Axel Knutsen, Vice President UTM, Avinor ANS.
Avinor has been working with Frequentis since 2020 on the implementation of a nationwide UTM system for 17 airport towers across Norway, testing it in a real-world environment at two airport towers and since deploying the remote, cloud-based system to all 17 airport towers. The project fully supports Norway’s future drone strategy and in 2021 also won an ATM Magazine award for ATM/UTM integration.
“When we began this UTM project with Avinor we promised a technically advanced solution able to scale and this is exactly what we are proving with this system extension, supporting, not only the 18 nationwide airports but now also, authorised UTM service provision in third-party airspace where helicopter flights are common. Providing an infrastructure as a service that allows the safe integration of both crewed and uncrewed aerial vehicles into Norwegian airspace is the goal we are working on together with Avinor, and the addition of the offshore industry further highlights Avinor as an innovative and safety-focused service provider,” says Guenter Graf, Frequentis Vice President New Business Development.
By providing MosaiX SWIM as the FIMS, or Common Information Service Function (CIS), Frequentis underlines its capability to provide a cloud-based UTM infrastructure as a service to clients. The UTM extension for Avinor ANS is set to go live in the summer of 2022, ready for use by Equinor, an international energy company committed to renewables and low-carbon solutions.
“Equinor initiated a project on drone-based logistics four years ago. We have had close cooperation with Avinor throughout the project and are pleased to see that UTM now is becoming a reality. This has been a joint effort, and will be an enabler for Equinor, as we continue to mature and prepare for safe and efficient operations with drones in the North Sea,” says Espen Wanvik, Project Leader for Logistical Drones in Equinor.
For more information reach out to the team at World ATM Congress in Madrid, June 21-23, booth 526.
Today, uAvionix announced its “Trade-up to Certified” avionics upgrade program enabling users of uncertified Mode A/C/S and ADS-B transponders models to trade up to the uAvionix ping200X, the only TSO certified transponder for drones on the market today.
The “Trade-Up to Certified” program helps operators and manufacturers upgrade their operational capabilities and accelerate approvals by providing a credit of $800 towards uncertified Mode A/C/S and ADS-B transponders from Sagetech or older uAvionix ping200Si and ping200SR transponders when returned to uAvionix in working condition after purchasing a ping200X certified transponder. The program includes an option for higher rebates when combined with other TSO products such as the certified truFYX WAAS GPS or a pingRX-pro ADS-B receiver.
Trade-In Model
ping200X TSO
ping200X + truFYX TSO
ping200X + truFYX + pingRX Pro
ping200Si
$800
$1000
$1050
ping200SR
$800
$1000
$1050
Sagetech XP / MX Series
$800
$1000
$1050
With regulators increasingly focusing on transponder requirements when operating a UAS in transponder mandatory airspace, many older model transponders are being considered as non-compliant, putting operational approvals at risk. Higher complexity flights, including BVLOS operations, IFR operations, and flights operating in controlled airspace require aviation-grade ADS-B transponders that are DO-260B compliant and meet TSO requirements that are applicable to traditional aircraft as well.
The uAvionix ping200X is currently the only TSO-certified UAS ADS-B transponder, specifically designed for unmanned aircraft. Operating a certified transponder will simplify any type certification process that an operator or OEM might be pursuing, and it will significantly simplify obtaining regulatory approvals to operate in transponder airspace or beyond visual line of sight. TSOA certified avionics often require no further review from a regulator as they have demonstrated performance against certification standards.
With an unprecedented lower Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) requirement than traditional aviation transponders, it is an easy upgrade to enable compliance. At a weight of only 50-grams and a power draw of only 1.5W Continuous On/Alt. 4W Peak (8ms maximum), ping200X will integrate and operate with any unmanned airframe, regardless of its size and mission.
“We are excited to offer UAS operators and manufacturers the ability to up their game by helping them replace their obsolete transponders”, says Christian Ramsey, President of uAvionix. “It is our mission to connect everything that flies. By leveraging the extensive experience that uAvionix has with certification in the more traditional aviation segment we can expand those benefits to the rapidly growing enterprise UAS market”
ping200X and the full uAvionix certified product line-up are in-stock and ready to ship, visit our program page today: Trade-up to Certified
About uAvionix Corporation
uAvionix was founded with the mission of bringing safety solutions to the unmanned aviation industry in order to aid in the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into National Airspace Systems (NAS). uAvionix offers low SWaP TSO certified and uncertified avionics for General Aviation (GA), Airport Surface Vehicles and the UAS markets. The team consists of an unparalleled engineering and management team with a unique combination of experience within avionics, surveillance, airport services, UAS aircraft development, radio frequency (RF), and semiconductor industries. uAvionix is backed by investors at Playground Global and Airbus Ventures.
To learn more about uAvionix manned and unmanned products, please visit: www.uavionix.com
CASA Approves Percepto for BVLOS flight, enabling fully autonomous drones.
by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby
Today, leading autonomous inspection and monitoring solution provider Percepto announced that it has received operational approval to fly its proprietary autonomous drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) at an Australian site. Granted by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), the waiver enables Percepto to carry out a completely remote inspection of the facility, paving the way for many similar waivers for Percepto customers nationally.
The achievement is particularly significant for the Australian market, as many facilities based in the country are in remote locations, prompting companies to increasingly introduce remote operations to manage, monitor and secure their sites. The approval will also allow mines, refineries and other high risk sites to more effectively manage safety and environmental risks, while at the same time raising productivity and decreasing downtime.
Percepto and BVLOS Flight
As the provider of the most widely deployed drone-in-a-box solution on the market, Percepto holds an industry leading track record of regulatory firsts. Having recently been invited to join the FAA BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee, the company has also been included among the first group of the FAA’s Type Certification (TC) process.
“Percepto applauds CASA for their efforts to safely integrate autonomous drone technology into commercial operations,” said Percepto CEO and Co-founder Dor Abuhasira. “We are confident that our customers will be able to receive similar approvals in just a few months, putting remote operations centers well into reach for any company building their autonomous drone program.”
“With Percepto gaining this regulatory approval, we see huge possibilities for how autonomous drones can improve remote industrial operations given Australia’s wide-open spaces,” commented Jackie Dujmovic, CEO of Hover UAV and a board member of Safeskies Australia and the Australian Association of Uncrewed Systems. “It’s a game-changer for how managers at critical infrastructure can inspect assets and monitor sites while gaining real-time insights based on collected data faster than ever before. The development is as significant as drones lifting off in Australia for the first time.”
Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies. For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
Mesa and Flirtey are initially focusing on the last-mile food delivery industry, enabling Mesa to expand beyond the global airlines market and into the global foodservice market. The immediate goal of the partnership is to conduct commercial drone deliveries in the last-mile food and beverage market in the U.S. The parties plan to expand the drone delivery service in the U.S. and New Zealand.
With this agreement, Flirtey, the aircraft designer and manufacturer, is supplying its best-in-class technology including the Flirtey Eagle, an electric-powered, advanced drone that conducts precision delivery to homes and businesses, and Flirtey’s autonomous software platform that conducts autonomous flight operations, for Mesa to operate commercial drone delivery.
The partnership will prioritize operational excellence and data collection, enabling rapid expansion with Mesa’s operational experience as a leading regional air carrier with approximately 450 daily departures across the U.S. and Flirtey’s technical experience having conducted over 6,000 drone delivery flights in the U.S. with its technology protected by over 1,000 patents claims issued and pending in the U.S. and worldwide. Flirtey recently expanded the production of delivery drones to meet growing demand. Flirtey’s aircraft are made in the USA.
“Mesa is excited to partner with Flirtey to become the first scheduled airline to launch drone delivery in the U.S. Drone delivery is a huge market and it’s here now. This is the future of small package last-mile delivery,” said Mesa Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein.
“Flirtey is excited to partner with Mesa to operationalize our best-in-class drone delivery aircraft and autonomous software platform. With Mesa’s operational excellence, we look forward to rapidly expanding drone delivery focusing on the trillion-dollar last-mile food delivery market,” said Flirtey Founder and CEO Matthew Sweeny.
About Mesa Air Group, Inc. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Mesa Air Group, Inc. is the holding company of Mesa Airlines, a regional air carrier providing scheduled passenger service to 114 cities in 39 states, the District of Columbia, the Bahamas, Canada, and Mexico as well as cargo services out of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. As of January 31st, 2021, Mesa operated a fleet of 160 aircraft with approximately 393 daily departures and 3,700 employees. Mesa operates all of its flights as either American Eagle, United Express, or DHL Express flights pursuant to the terms of capacity purchase agreements entered into with American Airlines, Inc., United Airlines, Inc., and DHL.
About Flirtey Flirtey is an aerospace technology company and U.S. drone delivery manufacturer that sells full-stack drone delivery hardware and software systems. Flirtey is the pioneer of the commercial drone delivery industry, with a mission to save lives and improve lifestyles by making delivery instant for everyone. The company first made history in 2015 when it conducted the first ever FAA-approved drone delivery. In the years that followed, Flirtey has gone on to become the first company to perform an autonomous drone delivery to a home, the first company to perform a commercial drone delivery, and the first company to pioneer AED drone delivery in the U.S. Flirtey has worked alongside NASA, the City of Reno, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, emergency medical services provider REMSA, and various commercial partners to create the best-in-class drone delivery system for last-mile delivery. Learn more at www.flirtey.com.
Industry Experts Speak – What Will It Take to Make BVLOS A Reality, Enabling Drones in the Oil and Gas Industry and Beyond?
Jon Damush, CEO Iris Automation Inc. – Drive Public Benefit
Trevor Perrott, CEO and Founder, Censys Technologies – Change Culture
Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Retired) is a licensed attorney with 28 years of combined active duty military and federal civil service to the U.S. Air Force. She is the CEO & Founder of P3 Tech Consulting and an internationally recognized expert on uncrewed aircraft system law and policy. Zoldi contributes to several magazines and hosts popular tech podcasts. Zoldi is also an Adjunct Professor for two universities, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2022, she received the Airwards People’s Choice Industry Impactor Award, was recognized as one of the Top Women to Follow on LinkedIn and listed in the eVTOL Insights 2022 PowerBook. For more information, follow her on social media and visit her website at: 
CASA Approves Percepto for BVLOS flight, enabling fully autonomous drones.
Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.
