Professional drone maker senseFly has teamed up with aviation app Air Navigation Pro to help launch Safer Together, a new software that displays the locations of drones and general aviation (GA) aircraft simultaneously.
The initiative is described as a world first, bridging the awareness gap between professional UAS operators – civil engineers, surveyors and agricultural professionals – and Air Navigation Pro’s community of GA pilots, making each aware of the other’s airborne activities. The joint initiative has been designed to address one of the biggest issues facing the GA and unmanned aircraft communities: the risk of mid-air collision.
By using the Safer Together app, drone users and aircraft pilots can change, pause or abort a flight to avoid a collision. Over the next few weeks, senseFly will introduce the functionality to its eMotion flight-planning program – it will relay information on height and type of drone to the Air Navigation Pro server, and receive details of nearby flights in real time.
Cryil Halter, COO at senseFly, said, “Many of our founders and team members are pilots, so we understand how crucial ‘see and avoid’ awareness is for operational safety. Since we approach the development of our drones from a safety-first standpoint, it was a logical next step for us to join forces with Air Navigation Pro on Safer Together.”
Johann Huguenin, CEO of Air Navigation Pro, added, “With the increasing number of vehicles in the air, it is essential that we focus on the improvement and awareness of mid-air safety. It all starts with communication between the drone operator and the pilot, which we are making possible with Safer Together.
“With senseFly’s aviation-style dedication to safety, and its global customer reach, it was the obvious partner for us to collaborate with first. However, we strongly urge other drone makers to get in touch too, so that together we can continue to expand the benefits that Safer Together offers by allowing GA pilots to view the activity of every drone operation, whatever the brand of UAS.”
