Avidrone Aerospace, a manufacturer of long-range, cargo delivery and sensor payload aircraft and autopilot systems, has selected Iris Automation as its exclusive airborne detect-and-avoid (DAA) provider.

As a result of the partnership, Avidrone customers will be able to conduct Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) flights for commercial delivery operations.

Iris Automation’s Casia is the first onboard DAA platform to enable commercial BVLOS operations for UAS. Using the system, UAS can see and react to the aviation environment around the aircraft.

After detecting other aircraft, Casia classifies them using computer-vision algorithms, makes intelligent decisions about the threat they may pose to the drone, and then triggers an alert to the pilot in command and automates maneuvers to safely avoid collisions.

“Combining the capabilities of Avidrone and Iris Automation brings a new range of advanced DAA delivery operations that the industry is demanding,” says Scott Gray, CEO of Avidrone Aerospace.

“This partnership further removes red-tape to a host of new commercial operations desiring the full BVLOS capabilities that our tandem rotor, heavy-lift drones are specifically designed for.”

Avidrone Aerospace develops and manufactures complete aircraft and proprietary autopilot systems that enable aerial applications “that go to new levels of range, payload and capability.” According to the companies, Avidrone's fully automated tandem rotor is 10 times more capable than the average drone – with a payload of 25 kilograms, a range of 120 kilometers, a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour, and 1.3 hours of fly time.

The companies say that the partnership “opens a vast number of new use-cases to commercial airspace applications seeking new ways to move goods, resupply, and survey assets by drone.”

Avidrone will now provide the option of Casia integrated onto all of its drone platforms out-of-the-box. Combined, the two companies provide customers with an all-in-one package ready for advanced missions, including safe BVLOS operations.