New Approach to Drone Fleet Management
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A new long-term approach to unmanned aerial vehicle fleet management will help US government agencies update and streamline their diverse and growing UAV fleets.
Auterion Government Solutions recently launched Skynav Gov, a scalable handheld ground controller designed to easily manage autonomous flights, live video streaming and data collection. The rugged lightweight controller controls any unmanned system communicating over MAVLink, a protocol for communicating with small unmanned vehicles.
It features an operator-friendly design that reduces the controls and data needed for mission planning and deployment, as well as an interoperable, open-source platform that can control any type of UAS — whether it’s a quad, multi-rotor, VTOL, fixed-wing, or even ground vehicle — with a single unit.
“Most controllers on the market are proprietary to some degree,” said Auterion Government Solutions CEO David Sharpin. “We based Skynav Gov on our open source software legacy because we wanted it to be as ubiquitous as possible. Putting open hardware, software and interfaces in our customers’ hands is important because it allows them to morph their programs over time.”
The approach is critical for customers who are preparing their fleets to meet the mission requirements of the future. “This isn’t just about drone control, it’s about how operators are able to manage the mission,” said Sharpin. “Skynav Gov displays what an operator needs to know without overloading them with information.”
That’s accomplished through Auterion’s Mission Control, which puts everything at the operator’s fingertips, including setting waypoints, surveying areas, scanning corridors and more. It streamlines the collection of data from a variety of sources, including day and nighttime full-motion video, high resolution still photos, and signals intelligence and metadata to reveal complex patterns and connections.
The technology allows users “to have access to data they wouldn’t have access to otherwise in a more proprietary system.”
