Utah Opens Drone Corridor to Encourage Industry Innovation

Drone corridors  – designated low-risk spaces for testing drone technologies – are a proven method of encouraging innovation in the industry.  One of the first corridors, opened in Malawi in collaboration with Unicef a few years ago, has brought an international community of drone researchers and innovators to the country to use the corridor for testing.  Others, in the U.S. and elsewhere have also proved to be magnets for the industry.

Last week, Deseret UAS (DUAS), a non-profit organization created jointly by Tooele and Box Elder Counties in Utah working in close collaboration with Ogden City, opened its doors.  Utah’s first drone corridor will support the state’s efforts to advance the industry.   Additionally, says ANRA Technologies, “DUAS provides a centralized source of information on Utah UAS fosters research and develops UAS flight test ranges to advance UAS commercial operations.”

While not part of the limited Integration Pilot Program (IPP), the Utah drone corridor provides a defined and low-risk space for testing and research.  Deseret UAS is headquartered at the Xperience Center in Tooele County: providing UAS simulations, viewing real-time test flights,  and training and meeting spaces.

Even before the first projects arrive, the corridor is materially assisting the industry in proving that unmanned traffic management (UTM) systems work to keep the airspace safe.  ANRA Technologies’ DroneUSS™ UTM Platform powers this corridor: and the company demonstrated the capabilities of the system during the opening ceremonies.

The ANRA team has been part of UTM testing since the beginning, participating in efforts across the globe to define a framework for a working system.  In this demonstration,  multiple drones were flown  – some within line of sight (LOS) and others beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS)  – in the same airspace.  Various scenarios were demonstrated to show how the platform is able to deconflict operations even for noncompliant aircraft; collision avoidance; NOTAMs, Remote ID, operational flights, and more.  Audience members were able to experience ANRA’s visualization and alerting tools.

“We are excited to support the UTM efforts in Utah and look forward to working with the Deseret UAS team in the years to come,” said Jim Begley, Director, Business Development at ANRA.