November 8, 2022
The exemption will allow it to operate autonomous drones without eye contact with an operator at all of its customer sites in the US, without the need to obtain an individual exemption for each site. Perpasto is one of the leading companies that promotes the regulation of the drone market in front of the FAA
A significant regulatory development for the Israeli drone manufacturer Percepto. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) granted the company a blanket exemption, valid throughout the United States, to operate its autonomous drones even without eye contact with an operator (Beyond Line of Sight). Until now, the company, like other drone companies, was required to obtain an individual exemption for flying drones beyond the line of sight for each site and each customer. Now, its customers will be able to use Percepto drones without the need to obtain an exemption. According to Percepto, it is the first drone manufacturer to receive a nationwide exemption of this type from the FAA.
Percepto is considered to be one of the leading companies that promote the drone industry in front of the FAA. The lack of regulated regulation, which would define the rules and procedures regarding flying drones and the criteria for obtaining licenses, is one of the most significant barriers that currently limit the use of drones for commercial purposes. However, in recent years, significant progress has been made that brings the market closer to the settlement. In March, the FAA published, for the first time, the final “Airworthiness” criterion for 10 drones from different companies, including Percepto and two other Israeli companies – Aerobotics and Playtrax.
In the future, the FAA is expected to grant the drones of these companies global flight permits, similar to the approval currently given to manned aircraft, which, as mentioned, will relieve them of the need to obtain a permit for each drone.
Glider-out-of-the-box
Percepto’s drones are installed inside a closed case at the target sites (so-called drone-in-a-box), and leave them independently for reconnaissance and information gathering missions according to a pre-defined plan. The drones are equipped with Percepto satellites, which include 4K cameras, thermal cameras and a communication module that allows direct communication with the robot and real-time video streaming via a cellular LTE network.
The operation of the drone fleet is carried out through the Autonomous Inspection & Monitoring mission management system – AIM, which is based on artificial intelligence and allows the fleet to be managed and operated from a unified command and control platform, to assign missions to the drones as needed, to collect and share the information received from the drones and to derive insights from it about the infrastructure facility. The control and control system actually gives the drone independent capabilities of safely managing the flight route, including selecting the route, planning the time to return to the position for recharging, photographing and seeing the machine and flying even in difficult weather and visibility conditions.
In April, Perpasto reported that the largest electric company in the state of Florida, Florida Power & Light, which serves approximately 11 million residents, will deploy hundreds of autonomous Recepto drones for the purpose of monitoring and controlling its electricity network and power plants across the country. According to Percepto, this is the largest commercial project in the world for the deployment of autonomous drones, and the first in which the drones operate in an urban environment for infrastructure monitoring.
Percepto’s glider successfully passed durability tests even in the conditions of a category 5 hurricane, where the wind speed can reach up to 250 km/h. The high frequency of hurricanes, and the tropical weather that characterizes the region, lead to many disruptions in the electricity supply throughout Florida. The drones will help, among other things, quickly locate faults and maintenance problems and thereby reduce the number and duration of power outages.
Posted in categories: news, drones
Posted in tags: FAA , Perpasto
