This week, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is starting the testing phase of the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP).

One of KDOT’s partners for the program, Iris Automation, will focus on enabling new detect and avoid capabilities for UAS.

The winner of AUVSI’s 2018 Startup Showdown during XPONENTIAL 2018, Iris Automation will test its collision avoidance technology in the airspace above Gypsum’s farmlands. Using computer vision and artificial intelligence, the technology allows UAS to see the world the way a pilot does, which ultimately facilitates beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights.

Test flights will take place throughout the week, and the technology will be evaluated through controlled UAS flights against a manned aircraft. 

“The flights we will conduct this week are a crucial part of the overarching strategy to further UAS representation as an important economic contributor for Kansas,” says Bob Brock, KDOT Director of Aviation.

“We’re excited to continue our partnership with Iris Automation and our other IPP Team Members as we look forward into the future.”

Iris Automation’s detect and avoid technology has been thoroughly tested thanks to thousands of collision scenarios that have been designed and executed by the company’s flight test team in Nevada. A camera, processor and computer vision software allow the technology to see the airspace around the UAS in real-time, enabling collision avoidance.

The software not only classifies and tracks moving objects, but it also identifies their speed and direction in relation to the UAS it is attached to. The system acts as a “high-level supervisor” to the drone’s autopilot, as it instructs it to execute automated avoidance maneuvers where necessary, and alerts the remote pilot in command of emergency situations.