FlytBase and Iris Automation announce partnership to enable safe automated BVLOS drone-in-a-box operations at scale

Nov 14, 2022

San Jose, California (USA), Nov 11, 2022 – Enterprise drone autonomy platform provider, FlytBase, is excited to announce its partnership with Iris Automation, the pioneer in safety avionics technology. Through this alliance, FlytBase’s flagship product, FlytNow, will provide enterprises with seamless integration of Iris Automation’s Casia G ground-based detect and alert system, enabling safe BVLOS flights.

Mitigating risks in BVLOS operations

Flight safety is one of the most critical requirements in obtaining a BVLOS waiver. The ability to clearly demonstrate that one has identified both air and ground risks and taken the necessary risk mitigation measures for collision avoidance with other aircrafts, people, and property on the ground is critical in determining the waiver’s success.

This is where the Casia G system comes into play. The ground-based surveillance system from Iris Automation continuously monitors airspace to ensure UAS operations are safe from intruder aircraft. The sensors employ Iris’ patented AI and computer vision technology to provide a full optical, 360° field of view for detecting and alerting to any cooperative or non-cooperative aircraft within a 2 km radius of the sensor’s location.

Being ground-based, it also eliminates the need for additional payload on the drone, which could reduce flight time, and it is ideal for routine and repeatable operations. For instance, the sensor could be located alongside the drone docking station, reducing the need for a visual observer, otherwise necessary for BVLOS operations. Casia G’s monitoring range can also be expanded by adding additional units to form a network of detection nodes and a mesh.

How Casia G integration with FlytNow enables safe BVLOS operations

FlytNow is an intuitive, cloud-based software platform that allows drone operators to conduct fully automated BVLOS operations with drone-in-a-box systems from remote command centers. Through the integration, the FlytNow dashboard can display real-time Casia G system data, such as the type of intrusive aircraft, live telemetry, and its location on the map. 

Additionally, remote drone operators are able to see the location, status (online or offline), and radius of the Casia G sensor. They are also able to get real-time alerts if an unauthorized aircraft is found in their operating area.

In addition to complete integration with Casia G to power safe collision free BVLOS flights, FlytNow also provides an array of safety features to enable safe flight operations. In the event of an emergency, such as RC link-loss, low battery, or internet connection loss, multiple failsafe events and associated behaviors can be configured via FlytNow. If a failsafe action is triggered, the drone will return to the docking station automatically. The remote operator can also upload/create No-Fly-Zones (NFZ) to prevent the drone from entering restricted or prohibited airspace.

“As the drone industry propels forward, providing an enterprise-grade scalable platform for BVLOS operations has become more critical than ever,” says Nitin Gupta, Founder & CEO of FlytBase, Inc. “Collaborations between complementary technology providers will become increasingly important as we continue to add more safety features to FlytNow. The Casia G ground-based detect and avoid system fills a critical gap in enabling risk-free BVLOS flights.”

Iris Automation CEO, Jon Damush, states “The need for mitigating the risk of airborne collisions is as important as ever as drone operations become increasingly more streamlined and automated. With the integration of the Iris Casia G system into the FlytNow platform we are demonstrating a complete visualization of the airspace – including both cooperative AND non-cooperative aircraft. This opens the door for safe and efficient BVLOS operations for DIB platforms that remove the human from the loop – a critical step toward supporting operational scale and economic benefit.” 


About FlytBase, Inc.

Founded in 2016, FlytBase, Inc., a Silicon Valley company, has built the world’s first Internet of Drones (IoD) platform, providing drone-agnostic software solutions to automate and scale drone operations. FlytBase was a part of Cisco’s accelerator program and was recognised as the Grand Champion at the NTT Data’s Global Innovation Contest. Their flagship product, FlytNow, is a web-based software for automation of routine missions using drone docks. It supports the widest range of docking-stations and drones (DiaB) for various commercial applications.