In the Nevada desert at the Nevada FAA UAS test site managed by the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) on behalf of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development this week, TCL 3 got underway the week on March 5th .

The idea was to test a variety of aircraft – provided by research institutions and industry contributors – in a role playing scenario that demonstrates how drones flown beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and flying near each other (some directly over each other – in industry speak that’s “conducting altitude stratified operations”) can coexist safely. Project partners like ANRA Technologies working with NASA have developed UAS Service Supplier (USS) systems, ground control system interfaces, airborne and ground-based sensors, and networking solutions.

ANRA’s UAS Service Supplier (USS) platform was the central core component of managing all these operations. The ANRA USS platform integrated the UAS ground control system interfaces to locally manage operations, as well as ground-based sensors to provide data for situational awareness and de-confliction to the operators. The ANRA USS platform managed multiple drones including ones from Drone America as well as iLOT (Polish Institute of Aviation.) Significant for drone operators and the industry, unlike large commercial partners who will be developing proprietary systems for their own large fleets, ANRA’s solutions are available to all commercial operators and drone programs.

The ANRA Technologies USS platform will be used at multiple FAA test sites during this TCL3 testing.

“We’re so happy to be a part of this event with NASA, the FAA, and NIAS as it took us closer to a real UTM solution for safe integration of drones into the national airspace,” said Amit Ganjoo, CEO. “This was the first real world attempt where multiple USS platforms were integrated to manage and de-conflict UAS operations simultaneously in the same region. Achieving this is a significant accomplishment and we are excited to have played a central role in this exercise along with partners like GE and others.”

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