Autonomous Inspection Pioneer Percepto Scores Triple Drone Regulation Win
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Percepto, the global market leader for autonomous industrial drone solutions, today announced three regulatory milestones, completing the Type Certification and D&R test flight phase taking the company a step closer to the highly regarded US FAA Type Certification, countrywide EVLOS in Australia and BLOS in Norway, demonstrating the company’s commitment to safety and empowering its customers to avoid lengthy approval delays associated with most regulatory hurdles.
Completing the TC D&R testing phase is a major achievement in the Type Certification process for Percepto and for the Type Certification of UAS in general. Percepto is pursuing its second TC approval which will include full Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights, allowing remote operations for its customers. Receiving the first Type Certification for Percepto’s drone-in-a-box solution will prove Percepto Sparrow reliably airworthy by the FAA.
One of the first sUAS to join the exclusive FAA process, its rigorous D&R stage declared the system worthy of a Type Certificate, incorporating 150 hours of test flights under all weather conditions in the USA and Israel. The recently announced ASTM compliant integral parachute enabled the regular testing time of 375 hours to be reduced significantly.
“Percepto is honored to be taking part in the highly esteemed TC ‘gold standard’ alongside companies such as Amazon Prime Air, and Zipline. Our Fortune 500 customers, including FPL, Delek- US and Verizon will be able to deploy our technology with minimal regulatory processes to benefit from the improved safety and efficiency the Percepto Sparrow provides’” Said Neta Gliksman, VP Policy and Government Affairs.
The EVLOS waiver in Australia, granted by CASA allows Percepto’s Sparrow drone to fly at a total distance of 1500m from an observer with multiple visual observers. Full BVLOS approvals in the country are expected in Q1 2021. The waiver is in line with some of Percepto’s largest customers in Australia, seeking to remotely manage inspection missions, without needing a pilot on site.
“Percepto is proud to be paving the way with regulators to approve remote operated drones and other robotics, realising the value of automated inspection and monitoring for the future of the market. Our regulation and engineering teams are dedicated to advancing our global programme and US & Australia hosts some of our most important clients.” said Dor Abuharisa, Percepto CEO and Co-Founder.
“Percepto is at the forefront of Industrial Drone solutions in Australia. The regulation they are pursuing is trailblazing the use of remotely operated autonomous drones across the country” Said Joe Urli, Former President of UCOU and UVSI director
Other recent Percepto landmarks include:
Aeroview, a Norwegian BLOS certified drone company has been granted full BLOS certification without a visual observer for the Percepto Sparrow in Norway. This rare certification is the highest level of regulation in Norway and enables Aeroview to remotely operate the Sparrow from anywhere in the country. Aeroview is one of only a few companies certified, with most Norwegian drone companies still reliant on piloted drones only. It represents a shift in Norway towards greater utilization of autonomous drones for industrial site inspection and monitoring.
Percepto’s successful track record in FAA regulations includes FPL as the first utility in the US to gain a BVLOS approval, breakthrough approval to fly BVLOS remotely for Verizon, and Percepto’s customers were also the first to gain BVLOS approvals for autonomous drones in industrial sites in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Israel.
In November Percepto announced the launch of their Autonomous Inspection and Monitoring (AIM) platform harnessing third party remote robotics, which debuted Boston Dynamics’ Spot® as the first robot to be integrated with AIM alongside Percepto’s Sparrow Drone funded by a $45 Million Investment Led by Koch Disruptive Technologies
About Percepto
Percepto is a leading provider of autonomous drone-in-a-box solutions for monitoring and securing critical infrastructure and industrial sites. Our advanced, AI-based software provides real-time insights, aiding our customers to assess risk, minimize downtime, drive efficiency and reduce operational costs without human intervention. Tested in all weather conditions, it is the most rugged platform available today.
Percepto is the most deployed drone-in-a-box solution in the market with Fortune 500 customers in more than 10 countries.
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