Kongsberg Geospatial, an Ottawa-based geospatial technology company, has announced that as part of its continued partnership with the new Area X.O test facility (formerly known as Ottawa L5), it will be deploying its IRIS Airspace Management system for real-time tracking and display of airborne and land-based unmanned systems to the Area X.O Operations Center and in the Mobile Command Center vehicle. According to a company press release:
“Area X.O was officially launched today with an announcement of an initial investment of CD17 million dollars, which includes CD7 million from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and nearly CD10 million in in-kind contributions of technology, services and expertise from industry partners including Accenture, BlackBerry QNX, the City of Ottawa, Ericsson, Hexagon | AutonomouStuff, InDro Robotics, Kongsberg Geospatial, Microsoft, Nokia and TÜV SÜD.
“The Area X.O Operations Center and test track will be used for ongoing research and development, while the Mobile Command Center will tour Canada to demonstrate to first emergency responders how they can use private wireless and unmanned systems for increased situational awareness when responding to disasters in unsafe conditions. Kongsberg Geospatial’s IRIS Airspace Management system has been deployed both in the Operations Center at the Area X.O test track, and in the Area X.O Mobile Command Center.”
The company says Kongsberg IRIS was developed based on technology originally created for missile defence applications, and has been developed to provide drone operators with enhanced situational awareness while operating unmanned aircraft and land vehicles. The system fuses data from a wide range of real-time sensors to provide drone pilots with a precise real-time picture of their operational airspace when piloting one or more unmanned vehicles beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS).
“Area X.O builds on our inception as the Ottawa L5 Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Test Facility and establishes a bold vision: to unleash and realize the potential, power and impact of visionary technologies to improve our world and human lives”, said Michael Tremblay, President and CEO, Invest Ottawa and Bayview Yards. “Area X.O will enable diverse innovators and firms to develop, test, commercialize and export their solutions across many high-growth global markets. These include smart mobility, advanced communications, smart agriculture, defence and security, and smart cities. This critical federal investment will help us to achieve this vision, and increase the competitiveness of the companies we serve, and Canada’s economy more broadly.”
For more information
https://www.kongsberggeospatial.com/company/news/84-kongsberg-geospatial-and-area-xo-deploy-situational-awareness-command-center-for-unmanned-systems-autonomous-vehicles
