Sentient’s AI-enabled ViDAR optical sensors soar on Edge Autonomy’s VXE30 “Stalker” UAS in successful live demonstrations

“Entire communities are gone. It’s horrific up there,” says Jeremy White, an Edge Autonomy Program Manager in North Carolina who has witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Helene up close.

Jeremy is part of a small group of volunteer pilots, mostly Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, using private planes to deliver crucial supplies to communities in western North Carolina devastated by last week’s historic storm. Operation Airdrop—a Texas-based nonprofit that organizes aviation assets after natural disasters—is one of the primary organization these pilots have partnered with to deliver relief.

After serving in the Special Forces, Jeremy retired from the Army and joined Edge Autonomy. As a contract pilot with Sovereign Aerospace, a USAF Veteran-owned company, he also flies with the All-Veterans Group (AVG) comprised mostly of former Army Golden Knights. AVG is a demonstration parachute team that does flights over high-profile events like Carolina Panthers football games. Jeremy was flying over one of these games hours before they heard their neighbors in the western part of the state were in trouble. For the past week, Jeremy and other aviators associated with Sovereign Aerospace have been allowed to use their airplane to support relief efforts post-Helene.

When Helene made landfall and it became clear it would take days for FEMA, the National Guard, and North Carolina Emergency Management to reach many of the smaller mountain communities outside of Asheville, these Veteran pilots decided to take action.

“There’s no communication in the mountains,” Jeremy explains. “Beginning Saturday, September 28, we started flying to these stranded communities with the intention of parachuting bundles of supplies to local fire chiefs and other emergency responders who don’t have any way to get in touch with the outside world.”

Initially, poor weather conditions made it impossible to airdrop the bundles, but these volunteer pilots still delivered supplies to nearby relief stations.

“There is still a ton of need up there, and a lot of what I’m doing is connecting people. The rain hasn’t let up and there are places where supplies are just sitting there because there’s no way to transport them,” Jeremy explains.

“The terrain is very difficult to navigate; the roads are all gone. We’re continuing to coordinate airdrops into communities west of Asheville that nobody has gotten to yet, where there are hundreds of stranded people who desperately need water and fuel.”

Preparing these communities for federal emergency relief is a major way these pilots are helping out during this ongoing crisis.

“The group of people I’m working with are former military, mostly former Special Operations, who are going into areas the government hasn’t gotten to yet. They secure it and get ready to receive the National Guard when it comes in, then move on to help the next community that needs support.” 

The loss of life and level of destruction are tragic, but Jeremy has been inspired by the generous response of average people who have no background in emergency services.

“There’s a business owner from Hickory who’s been orchestrating relief efforts alongside his daughter,” says Jeremy. “They have no experience in emergency response, but this young woman who has no formal emergency response training has been sourcing supplies, finding helicopters to put them on, and telling them where to go. came in to help give their relief efforts a little more structure, but she’s been managing this all on her cell phone and in her head. She’s running the show – it’s super impressive.”

Edge Autonomy is proud to have Veterans on our team like Jeremy who continue to serve where they’re needed most. Interested in supporting these relief efforts? Please consider donating to Operation Airdrop or Transylvania County Rescue Squad.

ViDAR – Sentient’s AI-enabled wide area motion imagery deployed for real-time maritime surveillance at the edge

Virginia Beach (Aug 28, 2023) – Sentient Vision Systems (Sentient) has successfully completed live demonstrations of its AI-enabled ViDAR (Visual Detection and Ranging) payload deployed on Edge Autonomy’s VXE30 UAS. The VXE30 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) solution is the latest and most advanced version of the “Stalker” series of small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS) from Edge Autonomy. When coupled with Sentient’s ViDAR, the VXE30 provides a passive, wide area search capability, enabling it to serve a myriad of maritime operations. The joint capability will be on display at DSEI 2023, 12-15 September in London.

ViDAR, developed by Sentient, utilizes AI, Computer Vision, and Machine Learning integrated with Electro-Optic and Infrared (EO/IR) sensors to passively detect objects that are difficult to spot by the human eye or recognize on a conventional radar. With these enhanced capabilities, Stalker will be more capable of accurately detecting and locating people, objects, and vessels (day and night) far from the operator.

ViDAR has been deployed on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions (ISR), maritime patrol and border protection, as well as search and rescue missions since 2015. ViDAR is proven to be effective in challenging maritime conditions up to Sea State 6 (very rough with waves 13 to 20 feet high).

Sentient has successfully evolved ViDAR into a compact, lightweight, low power form factor—low SWaP (size, weight, and power) — suitable for deployment on small Group 2 / NATO Class 1 UAS such as the VXE30. Its successful integration onto the VXE30 demonstrates its broad operating envelope and ability to provide unprecedented long-endurance imaging capability in contested environments all around the world.

Joshua Stinson, Edge Autonomy’s Chief Growth Officer said, “The integration of ViDAR onto the VXE30 is an essential part of our UAS deployment program. ViDAR’s passive detection system will further the VXE30’s capabilities to remain undetected in a contested environment while carrying a powerful maritime detection sensor that provides a real-time picture of the maritime domain. This capability could make all the difference in a mission’s success.”

Paul Harris, Sentient’s VP of Business Development agreed and said, “We are delighted to be working with Edge Autonomy to demonstrate how effective ViDAR is at increasing the utility of the small and agile VXE30 for the challenges of the modern battlespace. We look forward to displaying our joint capabilities at DSEI.”

With close to 4,500 systems deployed, Sentient’s AI-enabled sensor edge solutions for wide area motion imagery are proven for detection in missions worldwide.

About Sentient Vision Systems www.sentientvision.com

Sentient Vision Systems specializes in passive, modular optical sensors for persistent, wide area motion imagery. Sentient’s artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled edge solutions better detect and identify small objects in real time, on land and at sea. With more than 20 years of development in moving target indication, AI computer vision and machine learning, Sentient has deployed thousands of systems worldwide in the field of Intelligence, Surveillance, Search and Rescue, enhancing situational awareness, accelerating informed decisions, and saved numerous lives. Follow Sentient on LinkedIn , Vimeo, YouTube and Twitter

About Edge Autonomy www.edgeautonomy.io

 Edge Autonomy is a leader in providing innovative autonomous systems, advanced optics, and resilient energy solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies, allied governments, academic institutions, and commercial entities. Edge Autonomy draws on a 34+ year history of aerospace engineering, advanced manufacturing expertise, and technologically advanced manufacturing. With headquarters in San Luis Obispo, CA, and key production capabilities abroad, Edge Autonomy’s 400+ team members deliver results in multiple markets. Follow Edge Autonomy on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

For further information:

Sentient Vision Systems

Edge Autonomy

Maurice A. Raaijmakers

Regional Director of Business Development

E: [email protected]

Philip Hicks (Media & PR)

T: +44(0) 7467510339

Susan Hoffman

Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Communication

E: [email protected]

T: +1 571-531-9634

 

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