GPS World

Tag: mission control

  • Parrot and High Lander enhance drone fleet automation

    Parrot and High Lander enhance drone fleet automation

    Photo: Parrot
    Photo: Parrot

    Parrot drones professional users benefit from an advanced control during complex fleet operations

    Drone company Parrot is partnering with High Lander, which provides drone fleets with autonomous flight, intelligent airspace control, and coordinated air continuity through its Mission Control platform.

    Combining Parrot ANAFI USA and ANAFI platform drones with High Lander’s Mission Control software, professionals can now access drone features through an easy-to-use dashboard.

    “Parrot is continuously striving to provide our professional users with extended capabilities — allowing them to rapidly adapt their drone operations to fit their changing and urgent needs,” said Jerome Bouvard, Parrot director of strategic partnerships. “Drone automation and intelligence are at the heart of our product and software developments. This new partnership with High Lander represents another step towards enhanced automation and control capability of our drones.”

    Using real-time device reporting and telemetry, first responders can autonomously manage their drone fleets while performing takeoff and landing, route-planning, and other crucial tasks — all from the intuitive comfort of the Mission Control Operations Center dashboard. The software’s seamless interface paired with the ANAFI USA’s ease-of-operation and rapid deployment provide more safety for responders and allow faster intervention during critical moments. Mission Control’s customized live link generation can also provide team-members onsite with an instant view of a drone’s video feed for fast assistance during search-and-rescue missions.

    For surveying and mapping missions, operators can use improved control modes including Path (which sets an automated plan including multiple waypoints, telemetric, gimbal and payload settings) and Modeling & Mapping (which allows operators to survey an area in detail) as they efficiently create 2D maps and 3D models using Parrot ANAFI’s precise GPS coordinates capabilities.

    Operators can also benefit from Mission Control’s Payload Sidebar, which enables switching instantly to thermal imaging, an invaluable tool for missions in search and rescue, police pursuits, or solar panel inspections. Parrot ANAFI USA’s integrated FLIR Boson Thermal sensor and 32x zoom make it easy to identify thermal anomalies and centimetric hot spots from an altitude of up to 40 meters.

    “As a hardware-free system, Mission Control is compatible with leading drone manufacturers’ solutions, now including Parrot, to provide our customers with the freedom of customizing their drone fleets with best-in-class UAVs,” said High Lander CTO Ido Yahalomi.

    High Lander is working with a number of prominent organizations including police departments, sheriff’s offices, fire stations, and forestry services, and has 12 active clients who will now be able to use Parrot’s ANAFI USA and ANAFI drones in their fleets.

    The High Lander Pilot app is available for download on Android and iOS systems for use with ANAFI and ANAFI USA platform drones.

    For more information about ANAFI USA, contact Parrot through the ANAFI USA contact form.

  • Spain and Australia commission Orolia for Sarsat

    Spain and Australia commission Orolia for Sarsat

    Orolia’s LEOSAR-GEOSAR-MEOSAR (LGM) Mission Control Center (MCC) solutions are now commissioned as Nodal MCCs in Spain and Australia, enabling global distribution of critical search-and-rescue information through the Cospas-Sarsat system.

    With the successful commissioning of their Nodal MCCs, Spain and Australia will now be able to share critical information with the U.S. and France, providing worldwide coverage for global search and rescue.

    In addition, since they will be authorized to commission other MCCs in their regions, they will also significantly advance the Cospas-Sarsat MEOSAR program.

    Orolia’s McMurdo PRISMA MCC features satellite search-and-rescue technology with full LGM capability. It is the commercial solution of choice for search-and-rescue authorities in Norway, the UK and many other countries.

    “We’re proud to support the world’s most critical search and rescue operations,” said Steve Ludwig, Orolia’s director of SARSAT Operations. “With Orolia onboard, you can rely on proven solutions in critical environments where failure is not an option. Our PRISMA Mission Control Center systems are the only successfully deployed, Cospas-Sarsat commissioned commercial solutions available, meeting the highest standard for search-and-rescue support.”

    The Orolia PRISMA Mission Control Center. (Photo: Orolia)
    The Orolia PRISMA Mission Control Center. (Photo: Orolia)

    Orolia has been developing global search-and-rescue programs for nearly 30 years, reaching a major milestone with the Medium-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) system in 2011, and completing all global MEOSAR system installations since.

    To date, 75 percent of the Earth’s surface is monitored by Orolia’s MEOSAR systems.

    Through its McMurdo brand, Orolia has equipped these systems with the latest search-and-rescue technology to increase response times and save more lives worldwide.