by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb | August 2, 2023
The Optimus system, which is based on a network of drones centrally operated from an urban command center and is designed to replace the role of a helicopter for law enforcement and first responders, has been active in the UAE for some time, including as a joint venture with UAE-based SkyGo in Abu Dhabi, but this larger acquisition deal highlights the potential of fleet-based first responder UAV solutions in urban areas. The system has already completed thousands of successful missions without human intervention in the challenging environmental conditions of the Middle East.
The Optimus drone recently achieved an Airworthiness Type Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is the first small UAS (sUAS) developed for aerial security and data capture to receive a Type Certificate. While the technology is first being applied to the Public Safety and Security industry, future applications of the command-center based decentralized approach, which is built on individual, fully autonomous launch stations capable of routine preflight operations (like battery or sensor swaps) distributed around an urban area could include parcel delivery or other “smart city” operations.
Source: Drone Life