ANRA Technologies to spearhead drone based project at Port of Virginia

The Virginia Institute for Space Flight & Autonomy (VISA) and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) have chosen ANRA Technologies, a leader in integrated airspace, mission management, and delivery systems for unmanned aircraft, for their innovative proposal to the Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for Port Security and Emergency Response Unmanned Systems (UxS) Demonstration Project.

For this project, the team lead by ANRA Technologies, in collaboration with veteran-owned enterprise TRIAD Drones and non-profit AIRT, offers an UxS (Air, Sea, and Land) Port Mission Manager with an integrated and distributed common operating picture (COP).

The ANRA system is driven by a single software platform called SAFEport, which connects UxS missions for Port Security and Emergency Response (PS&ER). Users connect to their UxS with SAFEport using a mobile device to enable manual or autonomous operations for their UxS, transferring live video (RGB, IR) or serial data around the network. The positions of all participating UxS and crewed aircraft are combined to create a 4D (time/space) COP, which is then transmitted to authorised users.

UxS will be operated independently, cooperatively, and concurrently for the project utilising SAFEport software. This groundbreaking capability for the PS&ER community is based on ANRA's UAS Traffic Management (UTM) platform, which was created after years of study and testing by NASA and the FAA.

SAFEport, which is based on standards and has a modular design, serves as the framework for bigger port-wide applications, responding to new technology and developing laws to ensure durability, viability, and scalability.

SAFEport software and integration will be provided by ANRA, all operators and hardware will be provided by TRIAD Drones, and advocacy and workshop activities will be supported by AIRT.