A significant American drone platform supplier is able to boldly go the place few drones have gone earlier than.
North Carolina-based PrecisionHawk launched a report right this moment that can mark a brand new period in Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
The report, gathered and analyzed by PrecisionHawk and printed in partnership with the FAA by way of the Pathfinder Program, caps a three-year journey effort to higher perceive the burgeoning area of BVLOS.
The firm calls the brand new report a “blueprint for enterprises to conduct Beyond the Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations.” The report offers “a comprehensive safety case and standards to fly drones BVLOS and has yielded critical information to the FAA regarding drone operations.”
“2018 is going to be the year of BVLOS,” PrecisionHawk CEO Michael Chasen stated. He added that the analysis derived from the report will enable additionally assist drone customers detect cooperative and uncooperative plane throughout flight missions. Chasen expanded on the innovation as a keynote speaker at AUVSI’s Xponential present.
“The final report determined that there are three necessary components for BVLOS flight operations: detection, safety, and drone operator training,” Dr. Allison Ferguson, PrecisionHawk director of airspace analysis stated. “Technology must be integrated to identify cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft, pilots must be aware of existing airspace classes, temporary flight restrictions, and no-fly zones, and pilots must receive BVLOS-specific training to ensure a safety ecosystem around BVLOS drone flight.”
The FAA calls for stringent security requirements of BVLOS drone customers – of the 1,200 BVLOS waivers requested, the company has denied round 99 p.c of them. Chasen stated the report’s finest practices will assist candidates higher perceive methods to meet FAA requirements.
Chasen added:
“PrecisionHawk has spent the past three years conducting BVLOS safety research to demonstrate a corporate commitment to research activities that support the data-driven growth of safe unmanned air systems operations. We believe that the ability to fly drones BVLOS represents the next big opportunity for commercial drone operators across such industries as energy, agriculture, insurance, construction and government, and with the proper assistive technology, training and hardware, BVLOS operations can be conducted safely.”