ResilienX Announces Phase IIE / III SBIR Contract with NASA

TruWeather, Longbow Group, Spright & PABLO AIR to Join ResilienX in Research Investigating the Impacts of Urban Winds on UAS Operations

Syracuse, NY – ResilienX, Inc. announced today that they have been awarded Phase IIE and Phase III contracts by NASA to advance cutting-edge research addressing the impact of winds on uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) operations in urban environments. The research will be centered around NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC) and the Hampton, VA region where NASA is hosting their High Density Vertiplex (HDV) effort, which feeds into NASA’s larger vision for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

Under a Phase II effort, ResilienX and TruWeather Solutions (TWS), researched scalable methodologies to close the weather gap for low altitude weather in urban environments. Phase III expands that research and demonstrates its scalability by extending from downtown Hampton, VA to the LaRC. With this expanded focus, the team will evaluate commercial implications of closing the wind data gap, to help maximize safety and efficiency of drone operations.

This research will produce a scalable method to monitor weather sensor performance, which in turn will help enable deployment of cost-effective weather sensors around urban environments. The data from these sensors will inform urban wind models, which have utility for both flight safety and efficiency. Low altitude urban wind data will assist operators in avoiding areas of high turbulence exceeding the UA performance envelope and assisting with contingency management.

A key element of the Phase III research is examining the effects of wind on battery life. By performing R&D in an instrumented environment where the wind profile for an operation can be measured, research will contribute to predicting battery usage. The resulting capability will help drive efficiency of high-density commercial operations by predicting required recharge times and enabling more multi-stop delivery routes. These efficiencies will help drive higher margins for operators who need to maximize the time the drone is in the air to make money.

“Scaling infrastructure deployments of weather sensors is a hard, but necessary, task to enable scaled, urban drone operations. With UAS weather standards moving to data performance quantification rather than certified equipment, we can exponentially reduce sensor network costs,” said Andrew Carter, CTO of ResilienX. He added, “our partners are then able to use that data to inform vertiport wind conditions, flight routes, turbulent areas, safety, and battery implications. This is made possible, in part, through the ResilienX FRAIHMWORK^® monitoring the health, performance, and data integrity of these sensors and informing and assisting with down-stream decision making.”

Nancy Mendonca, Deputy AAM Mission Integration Manager for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) at NASA, said “ResilienX is testing a critical safety element for performance-based weather; the ability to monitor and assess the quality of the weather observations. Determining that a sensor is providing accurate data without sending a person out to validate the sensor’s data will be essential to cost effective, reliable sensor networks informing uncrewed, automated advanced air mobility (AAM) operations along with today’s emergency medical evacuation, general aviation, and helicopter flights.”

TWS, a global leader in UAS low altitude weather and urban wind modeling is driving disruptive weather innovation for mission-critical decisions and operations. “We need to augment weather satellite and radar data sets to improve low altitude weather accuracy by collecting high density wind, cloud ceiling and visibility measurements where drones and air taxi’s fly,” said Don Berchoff, TWS CEO and former Director of the Office of Science and Technology for the National Weather Service. “Only then can we reliably provide the operational picture required to safely navigate the urban airspace.”

The Longbow Group, LLC will support ResilienX by coordinating the local planning and establish a cybersecurity architecture with NASA LaRC to get weather sensor and radar data from the NASA CERTAIN Range to Longbow’s PEGASUS Data and Operations Center. This activity will establish a secure IoT data exchange point in Hampton, Virginia, as part of a build up to a sustainable AAM ecosystem in Hampton Roads. “We are excited to work with ResilienX and its partners in this SBIR to assist in laying the foundation of a scalable and secure IoT data exchange infrastructure” said Marco Sterk, CEO of The Longbow Group.

As part of the Phase III effort, ResilienX is also partnering with two leading industry operators, Spright and PABLO AIR for flight testing and validation of the research in live commercial environments. “Having the right information at the right time is what allows our decision-making to be both predictive, and if necessary, reactive, in all phases of our flight operations,” says James Rector, VP of Operations at Spright. “From mission planning to real-time monitoring in Spright’s Remote Operations Control Center (ROCC), weather is one of many associated elements we monitor using FRAIHMWORK, to ensure resiliency across our operations. Spright looks forward to working with ResilienX, NASA, and other SIBR partners to further the research and understanding of boundary layer weather and the associated effects on UAS endurance.”

“This is a great project to bolster the UAS industry with a proven set of market leaders. We are excited to work with the NASA and ResilienX team to enhance the safety features of our UAS operations,” said Kim Young-Joon, PABLO AIR CEO. “This effort represents an excellent opportunity for PABLO AIR to serve as a bridge and enhance cooperation between the U.S and South Korea and set the bar for safe UAS environments globally.”

“With our world-class team, we are together pushing the boundaries of the possible. It is not an exaggeration to say that the research undertaken in this project is key to unlocking the future of AAM in urban settings. The SBIR program and NASA support makes this possible,” said Ryan Pleskach, CEO of ResilienX.

About ResilienX

ResilienX is a software company developing safety assurance solutions for highly automated and autonomous ecosystems. Their FRAIHMWORK software platform monitors the heath, integrity and performance of the systems involved in scaled BVLOS operations, enabling organizations meet the FAA's requirements around associated elements (i.e., …in-service monitoring criteria to detect out-of-compliance performance and initiate corrective action…). Founded in 2018 in Syracuse, NY, they ensure the safe integration of UAS into existing airspace systems and transforming mobility globally. www.resilienx.com.

About TWS

TruWeather Solutions is a leading innovator in micro-weather sensing, modeling, and decision insights for weather-sensitive government activities, industries, and companies. TruWeather's V360 data analytics platform is one of the few, if not only, micro-weather platform that can plug and play new sensor data, government data and crowd-sourced data on a single web application platform or API. They lead with full spectrum low altitude weather data and are changing the paradigm for how micro-weather is used to optimize UAS flight ops. www.truweathersolutions.com

About Spright

Spright is the drone division of Air Methods, created to help solve for many of the toughest challenges facing communities across North America. This innovative, drone-based solution is tasked with leveraging emerging aeronautical technology to create operational solutions that can be implemented locally. Based in Gilbert, AZ, Spright as a stand-alone Part 135 Operator with a leadership team that touts more than 70 years of aviation operational experience.

About PABLO AIR

Since its first step into the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market in 2018 in South Korea, PABLO AIR has provided a wide array of integrated drone solutions, including UAV control system, aircraft development, and drone delivery platform and service. In addition, PABLO AIR is continuously carrying forward research and development, and commercialization at home and abroad to become a pioneer of the global UAV industry. Furthermore, with the establishment of the U.S. branch as a starting point in 2021, it has been recognized for its technological prowess in the global UAV market. https://pabloair.com

About Longbow Group, LLC

The Longbow Group LLC is a privately-held, international aviation services company based in Hampton, Virginia. The company has a multi-year Space Act Agreement with NASA to develop BVLOS UAS flight corridors in Hampton Roads and over the Chesapeake Bay reaching across to Eastern Shore. It operates the Unmanned Systems Research and Technology Center (USRTC) on Fort Monroe to conduct and support UAS and UAM/AAM research flights. www.USRTC.org