Unprecedented Achievement in Autonomous Marine Landing

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A Spanish helicopter UAV manufacturer, Alpha Unmanned Systems (AUS) has exposed a new technology partnership with Planck Aerosystems, of San Diego, California (USA). Its system will accelerate many new uses of UAVs in maritime and land environments, including shoreline mapping, fishing, surveillance, and humanitarian operations.

Planck has selected the Alpha 800 as its “Preferred Helicopter UAV Platform”. The gasoline-powered helicopter is particularly resistant to wind and rain and has flight duration of 2.5 hours. When the Alpha 800 helicopter gets close to the ship thanks to updated GPS coordinates sent by the Planck system, its camera detects the landing pad and automatically guides the auto-pilot to land, calculating, speed, altitude, etc.

“The Alpha 800 helicopter platform fits well with our technology. It’s range and flight autonomy can map ocean spills, help with emergency rescues, and be applied to many other uses” states Josh Wells, CEO of Planck Aerosystems.

According to the announcement Alpha website, the Planck Aerosystems technology also provides real-time situational awareness, object detection and tracking while on the go.

Marine biology, climate research, and physical oceanography all benefit from aerial assets while at sea. The geo-referenced data and imagery is instantly overlaid on maps and charts. Data-based decision making is now more accurate than ever.

Alpha Unmanned Systems is a market leader in gasoline-powered helicopter UAVs for professional use. Its Alpha 800 helicopter platform flies with a 3kg payload and cover a 30km range.  The Alpha 800 is used by clients from Asia to the Middle East and Europe for many professional, security and research purposes.

Planck Aerosystems is the world’s first autonomous drone company to focus on use cases operating from moving vehicles. Its specialized drone systems and intelligent computer vision software provide a safer, faster, and more efficient way to perform real-time situational awareness, inspection, and object detection tasks from moving vehicles, such as work boats and trucks.

“The UAV marketplace is evolving quickly and customers demand world-class technology ready to address real-world problems” says Eric Freeman, CEO of Alpha Unnmanned Systems. “Planck’s technology enables our Alpha 800 helicopter UAV to land autonomously on moving vessels, making it easier to fly and land than ever before. It is a world-class solution that will be a great feature for ship-based Alpha helicopter UAV users.”