UAV Inspections: Drone Company Partners with Canadian Tech Firm

Transport Canada’s Proof-of-Concept Trials for Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) Operations just approved a new drone partnership.

Fortem Technologies, Inc., described as an “innovator in airspace awareness and intelligence” is working with ING Robotic Aviation and the company’s detect-and-avoid technology to ensure safe BVLOS operations. Transport Canada – the nation’s airspace-regulation agency – is overseeing the process.

“Following our selection for Transport Canada’s BVLOS Pilot Project, we are extremely pleased with this opportunity to partner with Fortem Technologies in the execution of RPAS missions to support Canada’s oil and gas sector,” said Ian Glenn, CEO/CTO of ING Robotic Aviation. “Fortem’s TrueView radar is essential to the safety and success of the unmanned missions we conduct.”

The trials follow an earlier trial for first responders to evaluate drones in BVLOS at Canada’s two test ranges in Foremost, Alberta, and Alma, Quebec.

ING Robotic Aviation cited Fortem Technologies for its “TrueView radar in creating safe, autonomous flights during its trial operations over Canadian oil sands in Northern Alberta.”

TrueView radar can simultaneously track thousands of objects—each smaller than a soda can, traveling at high velocity, across a 360-degree field of view.

ING Robotic Aviation will deploy both multi-rotor and fixed-wing BVLOS drone systems. All the drones will feature a variety of sensors to – among other functions – detect leak detection of greenhouse gases as well as power grid/environmental monitoring.

“Transport Canada’s BVLOS trials will help validate the technologies necessary to facilitate the safe use of UAVs for everything from monitoring critical infrastructure for potential threats to search and rescue and so many other valuable services,” said Fortem Technologies CEO Timothy Bean. “We are excited to participate in this program as a provider of advanced radar solutions for ING Robotic Aviation.”

For Transport Canada, the partnership represents another enhancement for the nation’s drone landscape.

Last year, Transport Canada accepted Drone Delivery Canada’s Declaration of Compliance for the X1000 Sparrow cargo delivery drone.  This unmanned aircraft system (UAS) meets Transport Canada’s UAS standard.

This is the first of three regulatory components to the Transport Canada Compliant UAS Operator program, and mandatory for a Compliant UAS Operator Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC).