Near Earth Autonomy Secures NASA Award to Advance Safe UAS Flight

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Near Earth Autonomy, a leader in autonomy solutions for unmanned aircraft, announces the successful award through the NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to support NASA's mission to introduce unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace (NAS). Under this award, Near Earth will develop and demonstrate technologies that enable safe unmanned aircraft (UA) operation in the case of unexpected contingency situations. The SBIR award is in partnership with NASA Langley Research Center.

UAS have the potential to impact modern society by providing efficient solutions for tasks such as surveying crop fields, inspecting large structures, and delivering packages and cargo; as well as taking on dangerous tasks such as fire-fighting and search and rescue. Under the NASA award, Near Earth is developing an Autonomous Contingency System (ACS) that will provide the UA the ability to deal with wind disturbances, loss of power, and engine and sensor failures. The ACS will be a fully autonomous system that can discover and adapt to changes in unpredictable environments, while accomplishing the mission goals, with minimal or no human involvement.

"As unmanned aircraft are taking on these complex and hazardous conditions in low-altitudes, it is essential to have the technology onboard that will identify the contingency, adapt to the situation, and make the necessary modifications for a safe and successful mission," says Sanjiv Singh, CEO of Near Earth Autonomy.

The SBIR will build on Near Earth's prior NASA-supported research centered on the perception and planning for small UAS, including Near Earth recent award to develop Safe50, that enables safe and robust UA flight, particularly during the first and last 50 feet of the take-off and landing phases. Near Earth Autonomy will exhibit these developments at the UTM Convention 2016 at Booth 119.  Near Earth will provide a demonstration of the safe UAS flight without GPS during the UTM Convention reception taking place on November 9^th a 5:00 PM at The Oncenter, Hall A.

About Near Earth Autonomy:
Near Earth Autonomy is creating a future where unmanned aircraft are commonplace and safe. Our technology enables unmanned aircraft ranging in scale from sub-meter to full scale autonomously inspect, map, survey, and transport. We work on applications in infrastructure, maintenance, agriculture, mining, emergency response, and cargo delivery. Near Earth is a privately held, spin-off from Carnegie Mellon University. For more information, visit our website.

SOURCE Near Earth Autonomy

Related Links

http://www.nearearth.aero