Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) solution provider OneSky and ARA Robotics, a Canadian drone company, have delivered a Remotely Piloted Aerial System (RPAS) test range solution for operations at the Qualia Test Centre, part of Quebec’s UAS Centre of Excellence.
The OneSky solution, backed by the company’s experience in the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) community in Canada, will allow operators to plan, simulate, and operate real-time flight monitoring and post-flight analysis for their drone flights.
The system provides integrated mission support with OneSky’s UTM and UAS Service Supplier (USS) capabilities to enable strategic deconfliction of operations and conformance monitoring, mission planning, and validation tools.
This localized UTM implementation provides tactical tools for the immediate streamlining of test range operations. The project also demonstrates RPAS functionality and a framework that could be connected to national RPAS Traffic Management Systems.
The Qualia Test Centre Solution
OneSky’s planning and operations tools enable test planners and flight test engineers to develop route plans for multiple vehicles simultaneously. The interactions between test systems and sensors can be precisely planned and efficiently executed.
The OneSky solution also integrates with surveillance assets, including the RTK GPS beacon provided by ARA Robotics. This functionality allows users to understand the airspace in 4D, delivering precise 3D positioning of aircraft while allowing for real-time, dynamic configuration of routing and flight paths.
“ARA Robotics has partnered with OneSky to deliver an RPAS test range solution for operations carried out at the Qualia Qualification Site,” Jean Philippe Cote, lead project manager, ARA Robotics, explained. “The solution combines a UTM tracking beacon designed to be mounted and compatible with a wide variety of RPAS and the OneSky UTM software solution that allows operators to plan, simulate and operate the drones. It also allows real-time flight monitoring and post-flight analysis for their drone flights.”
“The OneSky system easily connects Ground Control Stations (GCS) with mission planning environments, making it easier and more efficient for operators to work with UTM,” said Mike Hoodspith, Vice President, International Business Development UTM, OneSky. “We can integrate anyone’s GCS telemetry and flight data easily into the system. And, when conducting Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) flights, operators will need these advanced capabilities. We’re focused on making OneSky’s UTM services available to UAS and AAM operators across the board.”
Implementing the RPAS test range solution allows ARA and OneSky to plan and test complex UTM tools that enable advanced drone operations. The system also shows how drone operators may begin to utilize UTM solutions to prepare for future regulations and advanced procedures.
“As Quebec’s Qualia Test Centre solution demonstrates, OneSky is working to create versatile, architecture agnostic tools that will allow all air space participants to operate safely and effectively,” Hoodspith added. “Our philosophy is that UTM can benefit air traffic stakeholders, including both ANSPs, UAS, and AAM operators.”
