Blog Post
Drone first responder: Hilliard police working with prototype 'game-changer'
A. Kevin Corvo - This Week News • Apr 26, 2021
CAL Analytics develops air traffic management system for DFRs (Drones as First Responder)
The Hilliard Division of Police is testing a prototype drone first responder being developed by Hilliard-based Converge Technologies in a collaboration that is "a game-changer in every response,” Deputy Chief Eric Grile said.
Hilliard police have been using drones since 2019, but they are deployed only after officers arrive at a scene. They also have limited applications because the Federal Aviation Administration requires drones to be visible at all times to operators or to a human in radio contact with an operator.
The goal is to do incremental testing to improve the capabilities of drone first responders, earn FAA certificates of authorization after each test and to eventually achieve the ability to operate DFRs using electronic visual lines of sight, Grile said.
“At this stage, it is a development partnership” and there is no pending contract for the lease or purchase of DFRs, he said.
Converge Technologies, 4621 Lyman Drive, with support from other companies housed there, is developing the means for drones to safely fly to emergency scenes, avoiding birds, trees, other drones, and any other obstacles, said John Bair, the company’s chief executive officer and chief technology officer.
He said Converge Technologies is building the platform for DFRs, but other companies are contributing to all the parts and pieces needed to achieve the goal of getting FAA approval for drones to fly using electronic visual lines of sight.
Andrew Merz, a mechanical and material engineer at Converge Technologies, holds a prototype of a drone first responder.
GhostWave is developing the radar system for the DFRs; Lighthouse Avionics builds the towers necessary for the autonomy of the drones and establishing an electronic visual line of sight; Cal Analytics is building the management system or “flight control” for the DFRs; Axis Communications makes ground-based or tower-mounted cameras for tracking the DFRs; and Ubihere will establish the protocols or the “brains” of the DFRs, Bair said.
“It’s a collaborative effort, (and) it’s a minimal one-year process,” he said.
The companies involved in developing the drone first responders have received grants from the Ohio Federal Research Network and other agencies, Bair said.
"There are a lot of moving parts to this project with a lot of support from a number of private, state and federal agencies," Bair said. "To complete the entire system will take more investment over the next couple of years."
Besides $2.6 million in funding from the OFRN, the project also has received funding from Small Business Innovation Research, Small Business Technology Transfer, and Technology Validation Startup Fund.
The OFRN grant allowed GhoseWave to invest $1.2 million to develop the radar-threat detection system and Cal Analytics to invest $1,4 million to develop the air-traffic management system.
The SBIR funded Ubihere $850,000 to develop an asset-tracking device that will be used in the towers and on the drone, and the STTR funded Ubihere $150,000 to develop the GPS-denied navigation technology to be used in the drone.
The TVSF funded Lighthouse Avionics $100,000 to develop the autonomous-drone technology.
Converge Technologies is investing an additional $500,000 to complete the DFR prototype aircraft, Cal Analytics is investing an additional $450,000, and Lighthouse Avionics an additional $500,000, Bair said.
While Converge Technologies brings the computer hardware and software to the table to perfect the DFRs, Grile said the police department brings the ability to obtain the certificates of authorization needed from the FAA to operate the drones.
Grile said the idea of using a drone in a more proactive way was born at the International Chiefs of Police conference that he and Chief Robert Fisher attended in Chicago in 2019. He said he learned that police in Chula Vista, California, use drones when responding to emergency situations, including car crashes, active breaking-and-entering incidents and in some instances, domestic disputes.
Grile said he can envision a multitude of ways in which a drone first responder could be used. For instance, he said, when a 911 is placed, an officer could deploy a DFR that could follow a direct path at speeds of up to 80 mph and reach any location in Hilliard in about a minute.
At that point, a dispatcher could choose to end the call with the person who first called 911 and begin relaying what the DFR “sees” to the officers responding to the scene.
The DFR “extends the learning curve,” for responding officers, Grile said.
The more an officer knows before arriving at a scene, the safer it is for the officer, those who called police, and the public, Grile said.
The use of a DFR also lessens the risk of vital information being missed, misunderstood, or “lost in translation,” he said.
The policies and protocols for DFRs – once finalized – must be able to be replicated so other law-enforcement agencies can use the technology, perhaps similar to how multiple police agencies began using radio frequencies, Grile said.
The collaboration between the city and Converge Technologies is an example of the benefit of having such resources in the city, Development Director David Meadows said.
“We’re always happy when the city can find ways to partner with companies like this because it shows that Hilliard is an attractive place for entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses,” Meadows said.
Source: This Week News
kcorvo@thisweeknews.con
@ThisWeekCorvo
Columbus, OH – CAL Analytics, in coordination with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), has launched a low-altitude air traffic management system for drones to support statewide operations. As the number of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, grows, a robust system for managing the low-altitude airspace where these aircraft operate is necessary to ensure safety. While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides air traffic control for traditional aircraft flying in certain airspaces, low-altitude traffic management for drones is the responsibility of individual operators. Currently, drone pilots are required to keep the aircraft within sight to avoid a collision. A UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system enhances safety by enabling sharing of flight details between UAS operators, providing a digital tool for flight planning, and allowing operators to eventually operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) while continuing to minimize the risk of collision. “The introduction of this vital capability continues Ohio’s tradition of innovation in the aviation community while prioritizing safety,” said Rich Fox, director of the Ohio UAS Center at ODOT. “As we collaborate with others at the newly opened National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence, we expect this to be the first of many industry-leading activities coming out of that state-of-the-art facility.” Following several state sponsored research efforts to determine the best way to develop and deploy traffic management for uncrewed aircraft in Ohio, this system, implemented by CAL Analytics, provides interoperability where any user can enroll to share and receive flight information. As drone technology continues to advance, traffic management will be a key enabler of BVLOS operations, which currently require special permission from the FAA once stringent safety requirements are met. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to continue our collaboration with ODOT by deploying this discovery and synchronization services to fully realize this first of a kind operational UTM capability throughout the state of Ohio,” said Dr. Sean Calhoun, managing director of CAL Analytics. “This realization is the result of a lot of industry development, including the essential work from The Ohio State University research team and sponsored research from the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN). We are looking forward to working with the various interested stakeholders throughout the state and the FAA to learn from this system and to start scaling UAS operations throughout Ohio.” ODOT and the City of Hilliard will be the first organizations to enroll in the system and begin exchanging information as they look to leverage UAS as a tool for everything from inspection and traffic monitoring to onsite situational awareness for first responders, such as police and fire department dispatches. “Hilliard is excited to leverage this and other airspace services that Ohio has established to enable our first responder drone operations” says Deputy Police Chief for Hilliard, Ron Clark. “These services will be critical for us to achieve FAA approval and operate our drones in a safe and effective manner.” In the coming years, more advanced and BVLOS drone operations will increase in Ohio, which means multiple operators may be flying in the same area to deliver medical supplies, perform emergency services, conduct infrastructure inspections, and even deliver commercial packages. For safe and successful scaling of commercial drone operations, it’s imperative that pilots have situational awareness for strategic deconfliction. While both private and public organizations can enroll in the traffic management system, this resource is particularly valuable for other state agencies and local governments across Ohio. These services are available at no cost to any operator or fleet manager that requests access and goes through the onboarding process. To learn more or request access, please contact CAL Analytics at info@calanalytics.com.
Columbus, OH – CAL Analytics has been selected by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to provide statewide Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) operation services using CAL’s UAS Service Supplier (USS) platform. This agreement is the culmination of a multi-year build-up of CAL’s UTM service platform that started in 2019 with a $1.4M award from the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN) to develop an interoperable and resilient contingency management system for Ohio UAS Operations. Through this work, Ohio continues its leadership in the innovation, research, development and utilization of UAS technology. CAL’s USS will provide ODOT a wide array of services, including a centralized monitoring and management capability of statewide infrastructure, such as communications, navigation and airspace surveillance equipment, critical for UAS Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight operations. Additionally, CAL will provide ODOT with enhanced operational planning and situational awareness for its extensive statewide utilization of UAS for Visual Line-of-Sight operations. “Ohio and ODOT in particular, has been on the forefront of embracing UAS technology, so we are very excited to have our USS platform provide the basis for statewide utilization,” said Dr. Sean Calhoun, Managing Director of CAL Analytics. “We have put a lot of our system development focus making sure our platform provides a host of performance and safety related features. Our work with NASA and integrating our health and integrity monitoring capabilities into our deployments will ensure statewide systems can scale in a robust and safe way.” “CAL Analytics technology will help us take support of our uncrewed aircraft operations to the next level. Not only will our remote pilots use it for situational awareness and safety, but we are exploring the ability to expand this service to first responders across the state to better coordinate air support during an emergency,” said Rich Fox, UAS Director – Ohio UAS Center for ODOT. This agreement between CAL Analytics and the Ohio Department of Transportation is big win for the State of Ohio and the state of UAS ecosystem growth. Ohio is a leader in the Advanced Air Mobility business development aspect of UAS operations and the individuals involved in the OFRN are proud to have played a part in supporting new technology and innovation development,” said Maj Gen (Ret.) Mark Bartman, OFRN Program Executive for Parallax Advanced Research.
Columbus, OH – CAL Analytics has been awarded a NASA Phase II-E Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award to deploy their Health & Integrity System (HIMS) to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM) system. This will be the first-time an In-time System-wide Safety Assurance (ISSA) system will be deployed and integrated into a functioning UTM environment for operations in an urban environment. This initiative is researching ways in which the resiliency and robustness of UTM ecosystems can and should be improved. The primary result of those activities was the formulation of a flexible, service-based architecture for Health & Integrity (H&I) monitoring, assessment, and mitigation of complex, federated System of Systems (SoS). This aptly named Health & Integrity Management System (HIMS) adds another dimension of capability to the UTM architecture wherein it is intended to holistically monitor and respond to the ecosystem, providing continuity between independent UTM services from a system reliability perspective “Being able to evaluate our ISSA implementation in an operational environment that Ohio offers will be a critical step for validating the our various HIMS safety monitors and system interactions what will be key to ensuring a robust UTM ecosystem for safe low-altitude operations,” said Dr. Sean Calhoun, Managing Director of CAL Analytics. “Our HIMS system not only provides various real-time monitoring of key systems, such as surveillance and navigation, but we also provide capabilities assessing the impacts to operations and how to relay that information to operators.” The CAL HIMS system builds off the Resilienx, Inc. FRAIHMWORK platform to realize a scalable ISSA system tailored specifically to UTM applications. The open architecture approach to the ISSA system enables seamless integration of future system monitoring and scalability. The effort builds off Ohio and NASA’s existing AAM National Campaign partnership, which includes System-Wide Safety, and The Ohio State Universities UTM development effort sponsored by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). “Safety is the number one goal at the Ohio Department of Transportation, operational assurance is the most important component in any aviation operation. As we continue to move towards highly automated and remote operations in the airspace, the health of systems and sensors providing information becomes crucial to maintain the safety for transportation on the ground and in the air,” said Fred Judson, UAS Director – Ohio UAS Center for ODOT. “Safety is the key to innovation in aviation. Learning how and when to automate our safety monitoring, assessment, and mitigation functions enables us to design air systems that benefit all of us.” said Dr. Misty Davies, NASA’s Project Manager for System-Wide Safety Project.
