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55 AUVSI Xponential virtual 2020 | Report as well as daytime, to support maritime operations including counter-narcotics, anti-piracy, search & rescue, fisheries enforcement and force protection. “ViDAR is passive, which is key for covert missions such as illegal fishing surveillance, anti-smuggling, law enforcement, and military operations,” said Damien Tyrrell. “Radar is an emitting sensor, so its presence can be detected by tech-savvy criminals.” ViDAR has a 96% detection rate on first pass, a 180 º field of view and can cover a swathe of 3.2 nautical miles when searching for people in the water, whereas radar has difficulty detecting humans (as well as rubber rafts and wooden craft), which lack an adequate radar cross-section. It is proven in conditions up to sea state 6; traditional radar degrades above sea state 3. “Key among the technology’s latest functionality updates are AIS [Automatic Identification System] fusion to filter out objects that are not using maritime AIS; neural network-based deep learning for enhanced accuracy, performance, and enabling future capabilities; and our Mission Planning tool, which helps the operator to optimise the sensor and aircraft profile for specific missions,” Tyrrell added. ViDAR 2.0 also features a revamped GUI to optimise its layout and enable new user tools, as well as open-source intelligence inputs, and more advanced computational and deep learning algorithms. Aquiline Drones (AD) told us about its new Drone-On-Demand app, a mobile- based interface for ordering unmanned aerial photography and videography services across missions including utility infrastructure inspections, coastal monitoring and real estate surveys. The services are carried out by AD’s UAVs and pilots trained through its Flight to the Future online programme. The UAVs receive instructions from (and transmit all data to) the company’s proprietary cloud. This hosts end-to-end algorithmic modules for flight control, fleet management, geofencing, temporary flight restrictions, live video streaming, terrain modelling, data storage and other key functions. “At the forefront of the cloud’s tools is our AD Command and Control module, an FAA-compliant operations management application enabling UAS providers to plan, manage and execute their commercial drone operations,” said Barry Alexander. He also described AD’s technology platform and operations infrastructure as a complete UAV/S ecosystem. “Pilots, crew, drones and other assets such as sensor payloads and batteries can be managed from a single dashboard; an automatic, low-altitude authorisation notification capability [LAANC] is also being developed for this module. LAANC is vital to gaining UAS mission authorisations from the FAA.” Also, a preventive maintenance framework will use data from operations that UAV manufacturers and operators conduct via AD’s cloud to gather insights and set schedules for mitigating risks in flight operations. AI-based algorithms analyse this data to recommend appropriate service procedures before incidents occur. As well as manufacturing its own UAV models, AD has recently bought several exclusive production and sales and distribution licences from UAV Unmanned Systems Technology | December/January 2021 Setient Vision’s ViDAR is now in use by a range of maritime organisations