InDro’s Kate Klassen gives briefing to lawyers on drones and AAM

InDro’s Kate Klassen gives briefing to lawyers on drones and AAM

By Scott Simmie

 

Want a quick overview on drones? One with a specific emphasis on the state of Canadian regulations and where things are headed – including Advanced Aerial Mobility?

Well, the bad news is that you missed an excellent presentation by InDro’s Kate Klassen February 7th. Klassen was invited by the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC), to present on precisely that topic. The event was a meeting for the CBABC Air Law Section and was titled: Drones, Robotics and Advanced Air Mobility Confirmation. CBABC Members gathered in Vancouver, and broadcast the meeting live to an online audience.

The good news? We watched it. And, because Klassen works for InDro Robotics, she kindly passed along the deck used in the presentation. By simply reading this story, you’ll get the high-level low-down on the following topics:

A BIG TOPIC

 

That’s a lot of information to go through, but Klassen is a pro. Plus, we’re not going to dive into absolutely everything she talked about – just the highlights for a busy person like you.

Kate Klassen was one of those people who could see the potential of drones quite early. That’s not surprising, given that she was already a professional in traditional aviation. She’s a Flight Instructor and commercial pilot with ratings for multi-engine aircraft, as well as flying by instruments only (IFR) and at night.

That’s a lot of experience, and her expertise is widely recognised in the aviation and drone worlds. In fact, Klassen has has been consistently active in the sector-at-large: She’s been on the Board of Directors of the Aerial Evolution Society of Canada (formerly Unmanned Systems Canada) since 2018. She’s also served as co-chair of Transport Canada’s Drone Advisory Committee, also known as CanaDAC, as well as with COPA (Canadian Owners and Pilots Association).

“I got into drones about 10 years ago, and it was a pretty traditional route into drones,” she said. “At the time, you were either a really excited hobbyist, you came from (a sector) like defense, or you were working in traditional aviation and then made the jump over to the ‘unmanned’ – that’s what we called it at the time – side. 

“I like to joke that everything that I’ve flown has been unmanned,” she quipped.

She also promised “There are some really exciting things on the horizon for the drone industry.”

And when it comes to that…she’s definitely not joking.

Below: Kate, just after completing her seminar

 

THE BASICS

 

Klassen quickly jumped into the current regulatory space, outlining the existing rules in Canada. She explained that regulations covering Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS, or drones) are covered in legislation under Part IX of the Canadian Aviation Regulations.

“It’s really regulating three things: The pilot, the product and the procedures,” she explained, adding “Drones are regulated based on risk…it’s the weight of the drone and where you intend to operate it.”

There are currently three classes of drones: Those weighing 249 grams and less (micro-drones), those from 250 grams to 25 kilograms (small drones), and 25.1 kg to 150kg (medium).

Under current regulations, a Transport Canada-issued RPAS Certificate (an operator’s license for drones) is not required if you’re flying a micro-drone. They can be flown over people and even in dense urban settings (pending local bylaws) – providing you use common sense.

“So really there’s only a few rules for micro-drones. There’s the Part VI regulations that apply to all aircraft that say ‘don’t fly in restricted areas like over forest fires’. And then in Part IX there’s only one regulation, and it’s the ‘don’t be an idiot rule’. Don’t be wreckless or cause a hazard to other airspace users or people below you. And those are really the only rules that apply.”

Operating anything 250 grams or heavier requires either a Basic or Advanced Certificate from Transport Canada. A Basic certificate allows you to fly in uncontrolled (Class G) airspace up to 400′ above ground level (with some restrictions that keep you a safe distance from people on the ground). An Advanced Certificate permits flights to the same altitude in controlled airspace – where aircraft are subject to NAV Canada’s Air Traffic Control system – albeit with fewer restrictions. For example, you can fly closer to people.

Under current regulations (subject to change in the not-so-distant future), special permission from Transport Canada is required if you want to fly your drone Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS, or farther than you can see it with the naked eye), or if you are flying a drone weighing more than 25 kilograms. If you’re flying anything heavier than a micro-drone in controlled airspace, you also need to notify and receive the green light from NAV Canada, which is a snap with the NAVDrone app.

There’s more, of course. If you’re interested in learning the rules in greater depth, we recommend you take a read of RPAS 101, created by the Aerial Evolution Association of Canada in conjunction with Transport Canada. Klassen was one of the key contributors to the document, which you can find (in both official languages) here.

Below: Kate Klassen, in her element.

 

TRENDS

 

Remember those micro-drones? They’ve become not only exceedingly popular, but also increasingly powerful. With extended flight times, high resolution cameras – and the ability to fly pretty much anywhere, including dense urban environments without additional permissions – Klassen says they’ve rapidly become an unexpectedly important part of the drone sector.

She specifically pointed to how a company called Spexi Geospatial is leveraging this technology – along with the ability for pilots to fly without a Transport Canada RPAS Certificate – with a specialized software platform. The Spexi software allows pilots to fly pre-programmed flights that capture imagery at scale. The software carries out the flight, including capturing photos at precise intervals so they can be stitched together into a hexagonal ‘Spexigon’. This ability to capture imagery at scale has already been used to create orthomosaics of entire cities in just days. Depending on the mission, pilots who complete certain missions can be paid cash or points (which act as credits for their own Spexi missions) – with potential plans for crypto tokens down the road. In fact, Spexi just announced plans for what it believes is the largest ever drone imagery capture attempted (details here).

“They’re kind of maximising this regulatory structure, the ability to operate micro-drones in environments that would be a lot more challenging if the aircraft were heavier,” explained Klassen.  “Someone can take an $800 drone and turn it into a business.”

 

AI AND MACHINE VISION

 

With the growth of powerful software, including AI and Machine Vision libraries (where objects can be detected, identified and classified), Klassen said drones have been finding new use-cases. For example, a drone can be sent on a mission where it’s looking for change detection in infrastructure. Do these power line insulators look the same as they did on the last flight? Is there corrosion or cracks in critical infrastructure like bridges? Are any of those bolts sheared or damaged? Is that component too hot?

Drones with the right software and sensors can now detect such anomalies automatically. They can even forecast routes that a missing person is most likely to have taken during Search and Rescue missions based on last known location, heat signatures, path detection, etc. There’s also the business of building inspection, where a drone can automatically detect everything from poor insulation to missing shingles or other damage. There are even specialized drones equipped with sensors for Non-Destructive Testing, where a probe is physically applied to a surface during flight to detect for rust, paint thickness, weld integrity – and more.

So as AI has increasingly been applied to drones, their capabilities and utility have greatly expanded. They’ve also made the job simpler.

“So erecting scaffolding and shutting down sidewalks and preventing work from happening while the inspection’s taking place – you can cut down on a bunch of expenses that way as well,” she says.

 

MULTI-STAGE ROBOTICS

 

This is where ground robots and aerial robots work in concert. And it’s one of the coming trends identified by Klassen.

“This is where you see ground robots and aerial robots working together to achieve different tasks. You can even have a drone…moving through a warehouse scanning tags and giving you live inventory management of that warehouse, which is a job that it turns out humans really hate to do,” she said.

“So it’s a great way to increase the retention of employees they want to keep, and give those dull, dirty, dangerous jobs to a robot.”

Below: Ground robots, like the InDro Robotics Sentinel, can work in conjunction with drones as a force multiplier

THE FUTURE

 

The ability to routinely fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight without the need for a Special Flight Operations Certificate from Transport Canada is something the industry has been focussed on for years. Such flights (and there are many carried out with SFOCs currently), permit drones to take on long-range tasks like delivery, inspection of railroads and pipelines – and much more. There’s great demand for such services, but the SFOC process slows things down.

Transport Canada understands this. But, as the federal regulator, it’s rightfully concerned about avoiding conflict with traditional aircraft, as well as people and property on the ground. But newer technology, including specialized Detect-and-Avoid sensors and software (along with parachutes), is paving the way for such flights to become routine.

In fact, Transport Canada is looking at revising Part IX of CARs in 2025 to permit many BVLOS flights without the need for an SFOC. There will also be provisions for drones up to 150 kilograms, meaning significant cargo could be delivered.

“I think it will be a while before you get your pizza delivered or Amazon deliveries via drone,” she says. “But routine BVLOS will be included in a regulatory package that we’re anticipating in 2025.”

 

AAM

 

Another big piece of the future of aviation – globally – is the coming world of Advanced Air Mobility, or AAM. This is where transformative and largely carbon-neutral aircraft will be capable of shuttling people or cargo between locations that have until now been poorly served (or not served at all) by traditional aviation. For example, there are remote communities that do not currently have airports because the economic model just isn’t there. AAM could change that; the goal is for such services to be accessible and affordable – and the vast majority of these aircraft won’t require runways or the other infrastructure (fuel depots, control towers) typical of small airports.

Perhaps the most well-known coming application is that of an air taxi – a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft that can transport people (or equivalent cargo). Such aircraft (many are currently in development and testing) would transit between Vertiports, small pads that will start appearing in major cities and nearby regions in the years to come. Though the regulations have not yet been ironed out, it’s anticipated (and the US Federal Aviation Administration is planning for) such vehicles to fly within specific corridors that keep them safely separated from the routes of traditional aircraft (including helicopters). Initial flights will be carried out by a human pilot actively piloting onboard (Human In the Loop), followed by a human pilot monitoring the flight onboard (Human On the Loop). Eventually, it’s anticipated that these aircraft will be fully autonomous (Human Out of the Loop), with a person simply monitoring the flight – still with the ability to intervene should a problem arise – from the ground.

In fact, we wrote recently that BC’s Helijet has placed the first orders for some of these aircraft – a signal that we are definitely on the cusp of this future. So remember that AAM acronym; it’s coming.

“This is a huge term…and it’s going to be very much the future of aviation,” said Klassen.

Below: The ALIA 250 eVTOL (electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft, manufactured by US-based BETA Technologies, has been ordered by Helijet International. The vehicle transitions to forward, fixed-wing flight for greater efficiency once a sufficient altitude has been reached

BETA ALIA Helijet

THE PRESENT

 

We should mention that AAM is not solely about these larger aircraft; drones will be part of the AAM world, with a high degree of automation coordinating flights between these various automated aircraft.

In the meantime, the drone sector continues to grow, with many successful businesses across the country – ranging from large service providers like InDro Robotics right through to smaller one- and two-person operations. There are plenty of opportunities, with proper training and even a small investment, to start a company.

And that’s where FLYY comes in. Though Klassen only mentioned it in passing, she runs a successful online training operation that takes potential pilots with zero or minimal background with drones or aviation through all of the knowledge requirements to obtain their Basic or Advanced RPAS Certificate (including arranging the Flight Review required by Transport Canada to obtain that Advanced certification). We’ve previously written about this program here.

Klassen is the instructor of the course, which is arranged in logical, bite-sized steps (interspersed with her trademark humour) to keep aspiring pilots engaged. Klassen is passionate about sharing her expertise, and it shows in these courses. If you’d like to take the next step, you can check out her many course offerings here.

There are plenty of online offerings out there. But there’s only one we’re aware of where the person behind it has trained more than 10,000 drone pilots in Canada. Though Klassen doesn’t like to promote herself, we can state with authority that she is immensely respected in the field – both by professional drone operators and by the many people who’s worked with at Transport Canada.

“Our zero to hero package is $599 and includes both ground school, prep for your Flight Review, and the Flight Review itself. A DJI Mini 3 Fly More combo is like $850,” she said.

In other words, it won’t break the bank to gain the right knowledge and get flying. Plus, Klassen is currently working on Micro-Credential courses for students to pick up skills using specialised sensors and data analysis – the kind of skills that can land a job, but are difficult to obtain without one.

Below: Kate Klassen in a screengrab from her FLYY course

Kate Klassen Drone Training

INDRO’S TAKE

 

Kate Klassen is the Training and Regulatory Specialist at InDro Robotics. So you’d expect we’d have good things to say about her. The reality is, we’d have good things to say about her regardless of where she worked. She is a the very definition of a subject matter expert, and she loves nothing more than sharing her knowledge and helping to shape the future of aviation in Canada. (Well, that’s not quite true: She has two young children and a husband who collectively make aviation and drones her second love.)

“As expected, Kate covered a lot of ground in her presentation – and did a fantastic job of providing a clear look at the state of the industry, along with where it’s headed,” says InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece.

“Klassen is a true professional in every sense of the word. We feel fortunate that she’s on Team InDro, where her vast regulatory knowledge of both traditional aviation and drones is immensely helpful both to our team – and the drone sector at large.”

If you’d like to download Kate’s presentation, you can do so here. And if you’re an educational institute, or a business considering training with multiple students, Klassen is always happy to discuss a break on price. You can contact her directly here.

CBC HIGHLIGHTS YOW DRONE DETECTION SYSTEM

CBC HIGHLIGHTS YOW DRONE DETECTION SYSTEM

By Scott Simmie

 

If you follow InDro Robotics, you’ll likely be aware that we were a co-founder and core technology partner of the YOW Drone Detection Pilot Project.

The system has been operating since the fall of 2020, and detects drone intrusions not only at the Ottawa International Airport, but as far as 40 kilometres away in the National Capital Region. Data from the project helps to inform airport protocols and is shared on a regular basis with Transport Canada and law enforcement.

Back during the “Freedom Convoy” protests in downtown Ottawa, the system got onto the mainstream radar after we published this story, which outlined the high number of unauthorised drone flights taking place in downtown Ottawa. The Ottawa Citizen covered that story here and it was also a cover story for WINGS Magazine.

Now, the system is back in the news for a different reason: The recent visit of US President Joe Biden to Ottawa.

President Biden

AIR FORCE ONE

 

Prior to the actual visit, advance teams from the Secret Service and Air Force One wanted to check out security and logistics at the Ottawa International Airport. And one of the first questions? Whether YOW had a drone detection system.

The answer, as you know, is Yes. We interviewed Michael Baudette, YOW’s VP of Security, Emergency Management and Customer Transportation. The resulting post garnered a lot of attention, including a lengthy interview by CBC Ottawa.

To view the segment on the Drone Detection Pilot project, check out the video below.

Breaking drone regulations can be expensive

Breaking drone regulations can be expensive

By Scott Simmie

 

Drone regulations exist for a reason. Actually, multiple reasons.

Probably the most important is to keep airspace safe and avoid any potential collisions or interference with crewed aircraft. That’s why altitude is limited to 400′ above ground level (AGL), and why flights in controlled airspace must be cleared through NAV Canada’s NAV Drone app. (If you’re a drone pilot and don’t have this app, you can get more details and links to download here.)

And, just as a reminder on that front, drones carrying out basic operations must be at least 5.6 kilometres (three nautical miles) from airports and 1.9 kilometres (one nautical mile) from heliports.

One of the other key reasons is to protect people and property on the ground. If you’re flying a drone weighing more than 250 grams and less than 25 kilograms, you’ll need to ensure that you’re separated horizontally from bystanders by at least 30 meters – though drones with an RPAS Safety Assurance declaration can fly closer in Advanced operations.

There are, of course, other rules. No flying over outdoor concerts, parades or other special events. Some of you may recall that a drone pilot paid a hefty price during the victory parade for the Toronto Raptors in 2019. The person in question flew over the event and was fined $2750 by Transport Canada. (We actually were at that parade and saw the pilot take off; he was flying a DJI Mavic Pro.)

Breaking drone rules can be expensive.

Below: A 360° shot taken during Raptors celebrations. The illegal drone flight took off about 15m from where this image was taken.

Drone Regulations

There’s a reason behind every rule

 

The laws that govern drones in Canada are written up in a section of the Canadian Aviation Regulations, also known as CARs. Specifically, they reside in Part IX. We recommend that everyone flying a drone in Canada – particularly drones weighing more than 250 grams – has a read through this section. It lays out the rules very clearly.

And if you break those rules? Well, there’s a price to pay. Fines for individuals include:

  • up to $1,000 for flying without a drone pilot certificate
  • up to $1,000 for flying unregistered or unmarked drones
  • up to $1,000 for flying where you are not allowed
  • up to $3,000 for putting aircraft and people at risk

So it’s worth knowing the regs, because violating them can both create risk and be very costly.

 

Forest fires

 

Wildfires in Canadian forests cause major problems every year. Significant resources are allocated to try to control and extinguish these fires – which often occur in remote locations. Aerial firefighting techniques are a big part of the equation, with water bombers and helicopters routinely deployed. (You can get a snapshot of the current wildfire situation in Canada with this interactive map. At the time this article was written, a significant Alberta fire – north of Banff and east of Lake Louise – was out of control. That fire started August 31 and has been burning for three and a half months.)

Helicopters are used to transport crews, and occasionally drop fuel retardant on small hotspots. Water bombers come in low to take on water from lakes and also drop that same water on fires from low altitudes so that targeting is accurate and there’s minimal dispersal of the fluid on the way to the ground.

And both of those scenarios? They mean these aircraft are often flying below 400′ AGL.

Drone regulations

Keep your drone clear of forest fire operations

 

With that context, you no doubt have guessed where we’re going with this. Rules in CARs Part IX prohibit flying drones near forest fire operations. In fact, you must keep drones (and other aircraft not involved with the operations) at least five nautical miles (9.3 kilometres) away from the scene. There is also a mechanism within the Canada National Parks Act that allows for the prohibition of activities – including the banning of drone flights.

Recently, a drone pilot found out just how seriously regulators take flying drones close to a wildfire. A Canadian Press story published December 9th says that Rajwinder Singh was found guilty in an Alberta provincial court of the offence and fined $10,000.

In fact, Singh was one of four people charged for flying too close to the Chetamon wildfire in September. Four drones were also seized by authories.

 

InDro’s role

 

 

InDro Robotics played a role on the technology side. The company supplied drone detection equipment capable of identifying models, location and trajectory of drones in proximity of Alberta wildfires.

InDro is also involved with the Ottawa International Airport Authority’s ongoing Drone Detection Pilot Project at the Ottawa International Airport. Early in 2021, during the convoy blockade that took place in Ottawa, that project detected a very high number of illegal drone flights taking place over sensitive areas in the capital’s downtown core.

In fact, a sister company of InDro Robotics – Bravo Zulu Secure – specializes in drone detection and mitigation systems. InDro Founder and CEO Philip Reece is the Chief Technical Officer of Bravo Zulu. Here, he explains some of the company’s proprietary systems:

InDro’s Take

 

We’ve been in this business long enough to remember the early days. The drone space was often called The Wild West, because many people were either unaware of regulations or chose to willfully ignore them. This was particularly true of rogue pilots, usually recreational operators, who would carry out reckless flights. Those flights often (and rightfully) received negative press coverage and caused regulators to take an even more cautious, incremental approach with opening up the skies. Understandable.

Since then, the drone community has done a great job of educating and even policing itself. Flights like the four that took place near that Alberta wildfire are now, fortunately, very rare.

But, as we’ve seen here, they still happen. Not only is it wise for drone operators to become fully familiar with Part IX of CARs, but also to be aware that hefty fines can and will be imposed on those who violate the law. It’s also worth remembering, regardless of location, that the technology exists to detect these flights, along with the location of the operator.

Thankfully, the vast majority of drone pilots know the regulations – and abide by them.

Spexi announces “Spexigon” – a global fly-to-earn platform

Spexi announces “Spexigon” – a global fly-to-earn platform

Vancouver-based Spexi Geospatial has some news – and it’s big.

The company has announced a plan, and a platform, to capture high-resolution aerial data of the earth with drones. Drone pilots will be able to fly to earn crypto currency – or even dollars.

The long-term goal? Well, picture crystal-clear data sets of cities, infrastructure, and even rural settings. With each individual pilot capturing data from different locations, Spexigon will assemble it over time to form a global jigsaw puzzle – and sell parts of that dataset to clients.

We’ll get into more details shortly, but Spexi’s plan has some strong backers – including InDro Robotics.

 

News release

 

News of Spexigon came in the form of an announcement. The company revealed it had secured $5.5 million USD in seed funding “to pursue our vision of collecting Earth’s most important data with drones.” The funding round was led by Blockchange Ventures, with other investing by InDro Robotics, Protocol Labs, Alliance DAO, FJ Labs, Dapper Labs, Vinny Lingham, Adam Jackson, and CyLon Ventures.

The same team that built Spexi – an easy-to use system for automated flight and data acquisition – is developing Spexigon. This brief video gives a “big picture” look at how it will work when it’s rolled out next year.

“Fly to earn”

 

A big part of what makes Spexigon’s plan so intriguing is what you might call incentivised crowd-sourcing. Anyone with a drone can download the forthcoming Spexigon app and fly an automated flight. The images will be uploaded to Spexigon to build the database – and the pilot will be rewarded.

“With our new Fly-to-Earn model, people who own consumer drones will be able to earn $SPEXI tokens and dollars while building a high resolution base layer of the earth,” reads the Spexigon announcement. “It is our hope that soon any organization or individual will be able to use the imagery collected by the Spexigon platform to make better decisions.”

 

Business model

 

You could think of this over time as like Google Earth, only with really sharp aerial imagery. Every time a pilot carries out a flight for Spexigon, that map will continue to fill in, building Spexigon’s database. Clients will purchase imagery online.

“This new base layer will enable governments and organizations of all sizes to make better decisions about real world assets like buildings, utilities, infrastructure, risk and natural resources, without requiring people on the ground,” continues the announcement.

“By using Spexigon, organizations that require high-resolution aerial imagery will no longer need to own their own drones or hire their own pilots. Instead, they’ll use our web and mobile app to search for and purchase imagery. Data buyers will then be able to use a variety of internal and external tools to put the imagery to use.”

 

For pilots

 

Spexigon says it will have online training when it launches. Pilots will learn how to use the app to carry out their flights – which, obviously, the pilots will monitor. Depending on the location, pilots can earn crypto currency or actual dollars. Some locations, obviously, will have greater value to Spexigon and its clients than others.

“The app will contain a map of the earth overlaid with hexagonal zones called ‘Spexigons’. Spexigons that are open and ready to fly will be easily visible so pilots can choose an area close to them and begin collecting imagery,” says the company.

“To ensure that imagery is captured in a safe, standardized, and repeatable way, our app controls each pilot’s drone automatically while they supervise the flight. Although our app will do the flying, pilots will always be in command and will have the ability to take back manual control at any time if need arises.”

Spexigon is now starting to build the app, and already has a small community emerging. You can join its Telegram channel here – and there’s also a Discord channel.

As for those ‘Spexigons’, the image below gives you an idea what those pieces of the puzzle might look like.

Spexi

InDro’s take

 

Since InDro Robotics is one of the backers of Spexigon, we obviously feel the plan is a good one.

It comes from the outstanding team that built Spexi from scratch into a user-friendly, automated system for capturing and crunching aerial data. We also believe drone pilots will embrace this unique “fly to earn” model – a global first.

“The Spexi team has already created an excellent and proven Software as a Solution product and clearly has the expertise in this space,” says InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece. “I’m genuinely excited about the potential for Spexigon to become the ‘go-to’ database of high-quality aerial imagery from around the world.”

So are the rest of us.

Indro Robotics provides live drone video feed at Montreal Marathon in pilot medical project

Indro Robotics provides live drone video feed at Montreal Marathon in pilot medical project

By Scott Simmie

 

The Montreal Marathon, 2022 edition, was held over the weekend. The main event, the signature 42-kilometre run, took place early Sunday. And three InDro Robotics engineers were there.

They weren’t running, but were instead providing a live feed from drones. Those live feeds were being monitored on large video monitors by dedicated research assistants. They were assessing the quality of the feeds and their usefulness in detecting runners who might be in need of medical assistance.

Below: Team InDro, wearing safety vests, with Montreal Marathon runners on the right

Montreal Marathon

Research project

 

InDro became involved with this through Dr. Valérie Homier, an Emergency Physician at McGill University Health Centre. She has long had an interest in how drones can be used in the health care sector, and has collaborated with InDro on two previous research projects.

One of those projects evaluated whether drones or ground delivery could transport simulated blood products more efficiently to a trauma facility – the Montreal General Hospital. Drones were faster.

The second project studied whether drones could help identify swimmers in distress at an IRONMAN event in Mont-Tremblant. You can find that research here.

With the Montreal Marathon coming up, Dr. Homier knew there would likely be medical events. There generally are.

“In these long-distance sporting events there are usually some significant injuries, including cardiac events and heat strokes,” she says.

These tend to be more likely in the later phases of events like marathons, after the athlete has already been under stress for an extended time. The thinking was that perhaps drones could be a useful tool.

Dr. Homier was particularly interested in whether two drones in the air, covering two critical segments toward the end of the marathon, could provide useful data. Specifically, would the live video feed be consistent enough in quality and resolution to be a useful tool?

This pilot aimed to find out.

Below: An uphill segment near the Montreal Marathon finish line. This is was the target area for one of the Indro Robotics drones 

 

Montreal Marathon

InDro’s role

 

There was a lot of planning required for the mission to ensure the drones could provide continuous coverage and be safe for flying in an area with so many people. Project Manager Irina Saczuk (who happens to also be an RN) worked closely with Dr. Homier to help figure out the nuts and bolts of the InDro side of things.

InDro assigned three employees from the Area X.O facility to the project: Software developers Ella Hayashi and Kaiwen Xu, along with mechatronics specialist Liam Dwyer. All three hold Advanced RPAS certificates and took part in planning meetings to understand the mission and their roles. They also looked into optimising the drones’ video feeds to ensure the best quality would reach those monitoring remotely on large screens.

“At big-scale events such as this marathon, lots of people could go down with injuries,” says InDro’s Ella Hayashi. “But it can be hard to get timely support because roads are blocked. So drones have the potential to really help with sharing the precise location and other information when a person may need help.”

Worth noting here: The InDro engineers/pilots were not to be actively ‘looking’ for people in medical distress. Their role was simply to pilot the drones at the assigned locations and maintain a video feed that offered those watching the large-screen monitors with good situational awareness. In the event of an emergency, the pilots were to follow instructions, including moving in closer to a runner in distress.

 

Sub-250 grams

 

The team took four DJI Mini 2 drones to Montreal. Though InDro has a fleet of much larger and sophisticated drones the company has built, these consumer drones were perfect for the job. That’s because the Mini 2 is a sub-250 gram drone that can be flown near and over people. In the exceedingly rare event of a failure, the small device is unlikely to cause any substantial injury to someone on the ground. They’re also capable of very good video quality.

The team also used a third-party app – Airdata – to carry the video streams. The app created secure links for each drone’s feed that could be shared with those who would be monitoring the feed. Three drones were to be used in rotation so that two drones were always in the air providing live video at any given time. A fourth drone was onsite for backup.

“We modified the parameters and were streaming in 720p,” explains Dwyer. “We selected a lower resolution because on the bigger screen it didn’t have to be crystal clear but it needed to be smooth.”

There was, initially, some concern over whether the local LTE network would be able to handle the feed due to the large number of people using cellphones to capture and stream from the finish line.

“The night before the mission, a medical person told us there were going to be 20,000 people around the stadium,” says Xu. “We were worried about network connectivity, it was possible that our video streaming would not work. But actually the network was pretty good that day.”

Below is a drone selfie of the InDro team: From left to right, Kaiwen Xu, Ella Hayashi, Liam Dwyer

 

Live Drone Video Feed

A useful exercise

 

Remember: This was simply a pilot project to determine if drones could provide a clean video stream that might be useful. The pilots were to focus on hovering the drones in two specific adjacent locations, with some overlap in their video to ensure they were not missing a spot of this critical part of the marathon.

“Our job was 100 per cent flying the drones,” says Dwyer. “Just straightforward, wide-angle shots with all runners in the field of view.”

We should mention here that InDro also took part in a simulated cardiac event prior to the marathon reaching this area. A medical dummy was placed in a location and one of the drone pilots was instructed to get closer for a better look. A small electric vehicle – think a large golf cart adapted for First Responder use – was dispatched. Chest compressions were performed on the dummy, which was then loaded into the vehicle. A drone followed as the vehicle drove to a nearby stadium and the victim was transported inside to the treatment area. The feed gave others on the Medi-Drone team an opportunity to see, in real-time, the progress of the patient’s arrival.

“The drone response really gave them an active timeline of when they should expect to receive this patient,” says Dwyer.

So the drones proved useful during a simulation. But how would they perform with runners during the actual marathon?

Below: The downhill segment monitored by InDro Robotics

Montreal Marathon Drone Video

From simulation to real-world

 

As the lead runners came in, the field wasn’t crowded. But, of course, it would become more congested.

When athletes are moving together en masse like this, Dr. Homier says there’s a certain flow that can be observed from the drone. Because that flow is consistent and smooth, a runner in distress literally pops up as looking out of place.

And it happened. Those watching the live feed spotted someone who appeared to be in distress. They had stopped, were hanging on to a railing on the side of the course. Then they fell over the railing, dropping to the grass. A drone pilot was asked to move in for a closer look. It was clear this runner needed help.

In fact, while the pilots were intended to simply hover their drones, Dr. Homier had anticipated such a scenario, and built it into the protocol for the pilot project. Suddenly, an InDro pilot had become part of a First Responder team, providing much-needed situational awareness.

“It was embedded in the research protocol, that eyes on the event becomes what is required,” she explains. “It was called into dispatch and pilots were able to provide eyes on the incident. That was amazing; dispatch came down after and brought us a radio.”

 

Lessons learned

 

For Dr. Homier, there’s still work ahead and a lot of data to be analyzed.

“There’s a lot to learn from this project, and there’s a way forward for multiple surveillance methods,” she says.  “And the drones are way up there. The view from above when monitoring moving crowds is just incomparable.”

Plus, says Dr. Homier, the project sparked a tremendous amount of interest from other healthcare professionals on site.

“The interest was incredible, coming from the drone pilots, the students, the medical directors, the medical staff – they all thought it was so cool,” she says.

“We’re talking about 250 people involved in the medical team. Many came to see the viewing station, so in terms of letting people know about this new use of the technology – that was also a great success.”

Below: Mission accomplished! Team InDro is joined by key members of the marathon’s medical response team for this post-race drone selfie

Montreal Marathon

InDro’s take

 

We’re proud to be involved with this project – just as we’re proud to have collaborated previously with Dr. Valérie Homier on other research projects involving drones. In fact, we find this kind of research particularly meaningful.

“For us, using drones for good is much more than a catchy hashtag,” says InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece. “Aerial and ground robots can perform so many useful tasks. We’ve helped securely deliver prescriptions to remote locations, COVID test supplies, and more. But playing a role in helping to ensure that someone in medical distress receives timely assistance is up near the top of the list. We look forward to the next project with Dr. Homier.”

And nice job, Ella, Kaiwen and Liam.

PS: We’ve issued a news release about this project. You can read it here.

 

 

Meet InDro Pilot: A powerful 5G hardware and software suite for Enterprise drones

Meet InDro Pilot: A powerful 5G hardware and software suite for Enterprise drones

By Scott Simmie

 

Nothing turns our crank quite like developing something brand new; something that’s never been done before. That’s really the heart and soul of R&D.

And that’s also why we’re so excited about InDro Pilot – a new hardware/software solution created by InDro Robotics that will give Enterprise drones and their operators the equivalent of superpowers.

Okay, perhaps there’s some slight hyperbole in that statement. But there’s no question that InDro Pilot will dramatically expand the capabilities of drones using the Pixhawk flight controller, the standard in many Open-Source drones.

InDro Pilot enables operations over 4G and 5G, meaning you could pilot a drone from across the country (providing you have a visual observer with eyes on the flight or a Beyond Visual Line of Sight Special Flight Operations Certificate). It also enables the secure transmission of even highly dense data (such as 4K streaming video) directly to the ground or the cloud with minimal latency. No more pulling out MicroSD cards and waiting for uploads. Realtime data, while you’re flying the mission, sent where it’s required.

Needless to say, this didn’t happen overnight. Getting here required an immense amount of effort from our Area X.O R&D facility. And, in particular, the project’s lead engineer Ahmad Tamimi – seen here on the right. When this photo was taken in the fall of 2021, Ahmad was in the thick of developing the 4K streaming component of the system and integrating it on our Wayfinder drone (foreground).

 

Canada Robotics

There’s a backstory here…

 

The catalyst for InDro Pilot was a technology challenge. The Ontario Centre for Innovation, in conjunction with Ericsson and the ENCQOR 5G testbed, put out a call to Canadian technology companies to enable drone flights over 5G. What’s more, the challenge required the successful transmission of uncompressed 4K video – which will help enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights because it provides the pilot with greater situational awareness. There were other bits and pieces, which we’ll explore at a later date. Point is, being the successful applicant in this technology challenge is what started us down the InDro Pilot road.

As we explain what InDro Pilot is all about, we’re going to get into a few names of various components. But big picture? It’s a combination of hardware and software that collectively brings about both enhanced capabilities for the drone itself (ie 4G, 5G, dense data realtime uploads etc.) as well as enhanced options for the drone operator to further customize drone sensors and peripherals for any given missions via dashboard. 

Ahmad Tamimi pulled together this nifty graphic, which provides a high-level view of the system:

Drones Canada

The basics

 

In this post, we’re going to focus on InDro Captain and InDro Capsule.

Let’s start with the latter.

InDro Capsule is hardware, integrated into a capsule. Think of it as a box that can be easily attached to any Enterprise drone using a Pixhawk flight controller, because that’s what it is. That hardware includes:

  • A high-speed Quectel modem for transmitting even dense data to the ground and the cloud in real-time
  • A Jetson-based Edge processor
  • Specialized antennae for both data transmission and Command and Control
  • More IP-protected secret sauce we’ll unveil soon, which has significant implications for Detect and Avoid scenarios

InDro Captain, meanwhile, is the onboard software. It enables communication with the InDro Base (our ground station), secure data transmission to the ground or cloud, and can easily integrate peripherals like a winch or additional sensors.

And what does it look like? Well, the magic is contained within that hexagonal dome – and we’re currently making that dome smaller and lighter. Check out those wild antennae, chosen after a detailed calculations and simulations. And that white one with the InDro logo? We can’t wait to tell you what that one does.

Canada Drones

Another look

 

These pix were taken during the R&D phase of InDro Pilot, so they’re just quick phone grabs. But we have a feeling you’ll probably like to see at least one more:

Canada Drones

By the way, that’s a high-end mirrorless camera on that gimbal. With InDro Pilot on board, transmitting its uncompressed 4K output at minimal latency is a breeze.

When flying over 5G, the feed from this sensor (or any other) can be captured on the ground and simultaneously uploaded to the cloud. Our new InDro Link software (more on that later), securely integrates with third-party cloud services such as AWS, Azure, Google and more.

As 5G networks expand across North America and globally, this has significant implications for not only remote teleoperations and missions on private 5G networks, but also for realtime capturing of dense data. Providing there’s a 5G network at each end of the mission, a drone equipped with InDro Pilot can be controlled from across the country – with the pilot (and others) watching the data acquisition and all other aspects of any given mission in real-time.

 

Interface

 

InDro Pilot is an entire ecosystem for 4G and 5G drone operations, including complex missions involving LiDAR, thermal sensors – even winches. The user interface reflects that, with “modules” (ie winch, etc.) that can be added to customize for each mission. Here’s a look at just one of many modules, offering granular control and at-a-glance monitoring.

Canada Drones

“The InDro Pilot system is going to truly expand the capabilities of many Enterprise drones,” says InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece. “Just as our InDro Commander module has made ground robots more powerful and customizable, InDro Pilot will do the same for UAVs.”

InDro Robotics has already delivered Wayfinder drones equipped with the InDro Pilot system to clients from the regulatory world. Commercial sales will commence shortly.

Interested in learning more? Feel free to contact Peter King.

InDro’s Take

 

As we said at the outset, nothing gets us revved up quite like creating new solutions. InDro Pilot has a myriad of powerful capabilities not outlined in this story – including some features that will definitely contribute to the safety of Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights though a proprietary system that will alert nearby private aircraft to the drone’s proximity during missions. So we’re excited about this product, much in the same way we were excited when we released InDro Commander for ground robots.

And while all Indro Robotics developments are team efforts, there’s often an individual who really takes the lead and owns the project. In this case, Ahmad Tamimi truly took charge, often working on it alone during those dark and early days of the global pandemic. InDro Pilot is a huge accomplishment, and we applaud Ahmad and the rest of the InDro team.

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