Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS UAS Situational Awareness Application Provides BVLOS Airspace Management for Oil & Gas Pipeline Inspection in Africa
Kongsberg Geospatial's IRIS enables Aerial Robotix to conduct BVLOS Pipeline Inspection demonstration flights in the Niger Delta using Schiebel's CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS).
OTTAWA, Ontario, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Kongsberg Geospatial, an Ottawa-based geospatial visualisation software company, and Aerial Robotix, the leading UAS services provider in Nigeria, announced today that the Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS UAS situational awareness application has been utilized by Aerial Robotix to provide safety critical airspace deconfliction supervised by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to enable conduct of long range BVLOS operations.
Aerial Robotix are experts in drone operations for Oil and Gas Inspection and deliver UAV operations services to major Oil and Gas companies using professional certified UAV operators. The company's pilots are licensed and insured, and operate in harsh conditions using a variety of platforms ranging from small fixed-wing and quad-copter drones to large gas-powered rotary wing aircraft.
The Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Schiebel CAMCOPTER® S-100 UAS is an operationally proven capability that requires no prepared area or supporting equipment to enable launch and recovery. It operates by day and by night, under adverse weather conditions, with a beyond line-of-sight capability out to 200 km, over land and sea.
"Safe BVLOS unmanned flight operations require the very best in equipment and technology," said Kolapo Sodeinde, CEO of Aerial Robotix. "We would not have received regulator approval from the NCAA or the client company to conduct BVLOS inspection flights without the Kongsberg Geospatial airspace deconfliction application."
"IRIS provides an extremely cost-effective solution to deliver airspace situational awareness and significantly improve flight safety," said Tudor Moss, CTO at Aerial Robotix.
The Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS display technology enables multiple drones to be monitored simultaneously by a single operator and provides real-time calculation of aircraft separation, airspace monitoring and communications line-of-sight to enable BVLOS operations. IRIS integrates a variety of data feeds including ADS-B and radar to provide "detect and avoid" warnings. IRIS provides real-time 2D and 3D visualization of airborne track and weather data, as well as geo-fencing capabilities.
"We're very pleased to be working with an experienced UAS services provider like Aerial Robotix," said Ranald McGillis, President of Kongsberg Geospatial. "Their expertise in Oil and Gas logistics and their ability to manage large-scale projects provides an excellent and very unique use case for our technology."
To learn more about Kongsberg Geospatial, visit their website at http://www.kongsberggeospatial.com.
About Kongsberg Geospatial: Based in Ottawa, Canada, Kongsberg Geospatial (http://www.kongsberggeospatial.com) creates precision real-time software for mapping, geospatial visualization, and situational awareness. The Company's products are primarily deployed in solutions for air-traffic control, Command and Control, and air defense. Over nearly three decades of providing dependable performance under extreme conditions, Kongsberg Geospatial has become the leading geospatial technology provider for mission-critical applications where lives are on the line. Kongsberg Geospatial is a subsidiary of Kongsberg Defence Systems.
About IRIS UAS: IRIS UAS is an airspace situational awareness system developed to provide Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) operators with the necessary situational awareness to safely operate multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS). The platform presents users with 2D and 3D map and terrain data, aeronautical information such as aerodrome locations, obstacles and airspace, and real-time data from sensors, cameras, and weather data sources - all integrated within a single, common operating picture display.
About Aerial Robotix: Based in xx, Aerial Robotix (http://www.aerial-robotix.com) Aerial Robotix was created to provide UAV Inspections, Surveys, Surveillance and Mapping services in the West African region. Based in Nigeria, Aerial Robotix is a 100% indigenous Nigerian company that aims to be the partner of choice for clients who share our vision in promoting Nigerian content to the benefit of Nigerian economy.
About the CAMCOPTER® S-100: Schiebel's CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) is an operationally proven capability for military and civilian applications. The Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS requires no prepared area or supporting equipment to enable launch and recovery. It operates by day and by night, under adverse weather conditions, with a beyond line-of-sight capability out to 200 km / 108 nm, over land and sea. Its carbon fiber and titanium fuselage provides capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations up to a service ceiling of 5,500 m / 18,000 ft. In a typical configuration, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 carries a 34-kg / 75-lbs payload up to 10 hours and is powered with AVGas or JP-5 heavy fuel. High-definition payload imagery is transmitted to the control station in real time. In addition to its standard GPS waypoint or manual navigation, the S-100 can successfully operate in environments where GPS is not available, with missions planned and controlled via a simple point-and-click graphical user interface. The high-tech unmanned helicopter is backed by Schiebel's excellent customer support and training services.
SOURCE Kongsberg Geospatial
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