Ultra reliable connectivity between drone and pilot is critical for safe BVLOS operations.

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In a recent case study, connectivity solution providers Elsight outline their relationship with drone service providers DroneUp.  Download the full case study here.

DroneUp is the drone delivery service provider for Walmart.  With delivery hubs in six states, including: Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Utah and Virginia and Texas, DroneUp has made drone delivery available at 34 stores in 23 cities across the U.S.

For DroneUp, representing Walmart and getting to the required level of safety to scale BVLOS delivery means operating to a standard of “six nines” of availability: 99.9999% uptime.  While drone delivery can be entirely automated, the DroneUp platform is designed with a remote piloting capability to provide an extra level of safety and redundancy.  That means a reliable connectivity solution to maintain a rock-solid connection between drone and pilot.

Elsight is DroneUp’s technology partner, providing the Elsight Halo platform to provide the connectivity required for 99.9999% uptime.  “The carrier-agnostic Halo can utilize up to four SIMs from multiple carriers and uses AI-powered bonding that aggregates all available bandwidth into one, automatically balances traffic, and allows drone communication systems to seamlessly switch to a backup link if network coverage is lost,” says Elsight.

Why not use RF or SATCOM for Connectivity?

“Traditional RF links are too limited in range, and SATCOM is too expensive,” says Elsight.  That leaves cellular as the best option.  While drone delivery doesn’t necessarily require the bandwidth of more than one SIM, Halo’s ability to carry multiple SIMs eliminates the danger of a single point of failure – and helps DroneUp get to the level of reliability required.  Halo is also carrier-agnostic, small, lightweight, and easy to integrate.

Drone delivery is just of the operations that DroneUp plans to offer from DroneUp hubs.  In the future, DroneUp could provide services for local first responders, or provide communities with mapping and surveying services.  For advanced drone operations of any type flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), a 99.9999% reliable connection between drone and operator is essential.  As DroneUp and Elsight continue to develop a communications ecosystem that works for the world’s largest largest retailer, new advanced BVLOS drone ops are emerging all the time .  Halo is part of DroneUp’s strategy of future-proofing their business to serve the needs of their customers now, while planning for innovative applications to come.

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