Planck Aerosystems tests Shearwater at MCAS Miramar
Planck Aerosystems has received authorisation from the US Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, Air Traffic Control, to test its Shearwater UAS in controlled airspace during day and night conditions, the company announced on 7 February.
The Shearwater UAS duly performed successful autonomous take-offs and precision landings onto a moving, off-road ground vehicle with centimetre-level accuracy in complete darkness without the need for GPS or a pilot.
Night-time operations from moving vehicles mark a major step forward in demonstrating the maturity of Planck’s vision-based navigation solution.
Josh Wells, CEO and co-founder of Planck Aerosystems, said: ‘This type of testing is critically important to prove that small UAS can safely be operated in close proximity to a high volume of military air traffic, which will continue to be the case as small UAS become proliferate more widely with operating forces.'
The company aims to demonstrate that its technology can perform safe, autonomous missions from moving vehicles in national airspace as part of work to advance new solutions that enhance capabilities for surveillance, reconnaissance, real-time situational awareness and force protection for US Department of Defense applications.
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