The industry is moving towards autonomous operations that take advantage of the efficiency and cost benefits enabled by commercial drones. Moving towards full autonomy requires nearly every aspect of an operation to be interconnected. Advanced operations like BVLOS require an ecosystem of technologies that need to be both practical and cost effective to retain the efficiency of the mission, while at the same time placing safety above all else. 

When a Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) is managing up to 5 or 10 drones at a time for an infrastructure inspection mission, there is an enormous confidence placed on the reliability of the technology enabling this workflow. For example, critical technology like detect-and-avoid (DAA) needs to be proven to regulators so that those sharing the airspace and the people and property below remain safe. 

Today most BVLOS approvals are granted through a combination of DAA and human Visual Overservers (VOs) for air risk mitigation. Removing the human element is the next step towards full autonomy. How do we ensure this is done safely and effectively? 

In this presentation we want to share how to kick off your BVLOS program and how to navigate technological and regulatory challenges facing autonomous operations.