By Arie Egozi
Israeli company Simplex has integrated its OS-FlightOps flight operating system – developed to control several drones during beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations – in the Colugo ARC 1000 cargo drone.
The FlightOps system installed integrates automatic planning and updating of flight plans, close monitoring during flight, collision-prevention with ground and air obstacles and automatic synchronization with manned and unmanned platforms.
According to Simplex, FlightOps enables autonomous long-range operations of drones, and includes independent and intelligent decision-making capability on board the aircraft, increasing flight safety and dealing with malfunctions such as loss of communication and loss of GPS. The company says this is the first initiative of its kind worldwide, enabling drone deliveries up to 50km in range.
For the past two years, Simplex has been carrying out medical deliveries using drones inside hospital complexes, and between hospitals and nearby urban centers.
The Colugo’s platform is reported to be capable of 100 km flights, an endurance of two hours, a 56-minute hovering capability and operations in strong winds and severe weather conditions.
Simplex told Unmanned Airspace that the combination of Simplex technology and Colugo’s platforms is an important step at the national level, which will enable urgent medical shipments between logistics centres and hospitals – a vital need for hospitals to ensure rapid movement of equipment and medicines in a short time.
