Auterion, the Open Source software (and hardware) company that uses its platform to help streamline the work of drone service providers, has some news. Auterion will partner with Workswell to integrate its thermal imaging cameras with Auterion’s Open Source platform.
We’ll get to the news in a moment. But first, we’d like to explain that using an Open Source platform means a single operator can operate a multitude of drones across the same platform, and with a single controller. As Enterprise and First Responder fleets scale, and often have several different drones in their fleet, there are definite advantages to this approach. Open Source also has some very positive implications for getting the data from those drones directly to the Cloud, without having to pull out Micro-SD cards in the field (which can be a huge hassle).
We’ve written about Auterion before, and recently did a longer video interview with Romeo Durscher, global drone ambassador and the company’s vice president of public safety. There was also an excellent, longer piece by @droneanalyst‘s David Benowitz, who recently took a super-deep and dense dive. His blog on the topic is one of the best explanations we’ve yet seen on Open Source, and we highly recommend you take a look if this topic interests you.
Auterion, thermal imaging company Workswell, partner
So the latest development – this partnership between Auterion and Workswell – came to us in a news release. Rather than rewrite it, we’re posting it below in its entirety:
We are pleased to announce our partnership with thermal imaging leader Workswell to provide state-of-the-art bispectral cameras on drones across industries. By offering an open standards software integration, Auterion makes it easy for any drone and parts manufacturer using its open platform to choose Workswell’s renowned WIRIS Pro and WIRIS Security thermal imaging cameras. The software integration will be available in August, 2021.
Research suggests that the global thermal imaging market for the mobility industry — to which drones are central — will reach $3.22 billion by 2025. “That market is driving intense innovation,” said Tomas Faitus, head of export sales at Workswell. “Our partnership with Auterion and participation in the open ecosystem will reduce time-to-market for OEMs trying to get innovations to customers faster. Through one integration with Auterion, all drone and payload manufacturers embracing standardization can leverage Workswell cameras in a plug-and-play manner for their drone solutions.”
Open Ecosystem for Drones Drives Partnerships, Expansion
“We’re thrilled to partner with Workswell to integrate their cutting edge thermal imaging systems,” said Thomas Gubler, head of avionics at Auterion. “Our open ecosystem is bringing together a wide range of companies across disciplines and industries to provide customers with the most comprehensive and flexible solutions on the market. A new payload partner like Workswell gives customers, both drone OEMs and end users, more choices. By integrating with Auterion’s software platform, Workswell systems become immediately compatible and available to multiple drone manufacturers. There’s no need to complete multiple integrations to scale their payloads across multiple platforms.”
Auterion is experiencing partnership growth as more companies experience the value of open source and open standards. “Whether a partner is a software vendor building applications for drones, or a payload or component manufacturer, Auterion’s open source approach lays the groundwork for them to effectively serve their customers, faster and better than with closed approaches,” added Gubler.
Across every use case, open ecosystem integrations support component upgrades and mixed portfolios of small, medium and heavy-lift drones carrying a wide variety of specialized payloads or cargo. The drone industry’s next phase of enterprise scaling, accelerated time-to-market and smooth workflow management is being driven by open-source standardization.
Next-Gen Integration Means Precision Search and Rescue, Inspections, Field Science
Both Workswell devices, the WIRIS Pro and WIRIS Security, are dual-sensor cameras, each featuring a full HD resolution visual camera (RGB) and a thermal infrared camera (IR) with unrivalled optical ultrazoom and a “super resolution” mode, as well as the ability to measure up to 1500 degrees Celsius.
These fully radiometric thermal cameras have been specially designed for use with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones. The plug-and-play, open ecosystem integration with Auterion means operators can see, trigger and download pictures and live video, both visual and thermal, as well as change any camera setting. Operators use the Auterion Mission Control ground control software to plan, execute and analyze their automated flights and real-time interventions.
The WIRIS Pro is leading a pack of next-generation thermal cameras built for intensely demanding applications, including industrial inspections, archaeology and precision agriculture. The WIRIS Security plays a critical role in life-and-death situations. In addition to helping teams search for missing persons, the WIRIS Security enhances building and perimeter surveillance, firefighting operations, field research and wildlife surveys.
Auterion’s expertise in developing complete drone software stacks with open standards for enterprise comes from its unique involvement with Pixhawk and the PX4 autopilot software, which has become the most used open-source flight control system for unmanned aircraft in the world. Auterion’s Skynode, manufactured in the US and marking a next-generation advancement for the Pixhawk standard, supports all different types of airframes, versatile payloads controlled via an SDK, LTE cloud connectivity and advanced onboard computation and apps.
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