When FlightWave Aerospace Systems, Inc. introduced its premier system, the FlightWave Edge UAS, back in August, the company highlighted its “Payload Partner Program,” which is an initiative to “open-source an integration kit for the Edge’s payload/nosecone.”

With the goal of the program being to give customers their own unique flight experiences and functionalities while using the Edge UAS, FlightWave will announce its first partner in the program, a company named MAPIR, during the Drone World Expo on Wednesday, Oct. 4.

“We picked MAPIR as our very first partner because their company shares our approach to serving the UAS marketplace,” says FlightWave CMO Edmund Cronin.

“We both see that customers need flexible, modular products that can be combined in innovative ways to help better achieve their missions.”

MAPIR, which launched in 2015 to address the growing demand for compact, affordable aerial sensors according to its website, offers arrays of fully customizable Kernel cameras, which give a pilot the ability to “configure a single payload specifically for each project's requirements.”  

At launch, the Kernel cameras will be offered in either a “14.4MP RGB color or 3.2MP monochrome sensor option with matching lens field of view for easy survey planning.”

Each camera has its own internal memory storage, and using the signal-distributing array link boards, each camera can connect to one another.

The highest accuracy is achievable using the Kernel cameras thanks to “professional level shutter triggering and exposure feedback, along with precise onboard geotagging,” and the newest GNSS platforms available.

MAPIR CEO Nolan Ramseyer says that the Kernel cameras are primarily used for aerial surveying in industries such as oil and gas, telecommunications and agriculture.