Toronto, Canada & Montreal, Canada
Aquarius Innovation announces research collaboration agreement with the National Research Council of Canada to use artificial intelligence in advanced air mobility
Aquarius Innovation Inc. (Aquarius Innovation) is pleased to announce its collaboration agreement with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to integrate the NRC’s cutting-edge work in artificial intelligence-based detect and classify systems into Aquarius Innovation’s fully autonomous drone traffic management systems, frequently referred to as RPAS Traffic Management (RTM).
Aquarius’s Unified Transport Protocol (UTP) technology has the potential to considerably advance the industry in the way RPAS (or drone) traffic is managed. Aquarius, a Canadian SME, is a member of Transport Canada-led RPAS Traffic Management Action Team (RTMAT), in which the NRC is also a participant. Through its outreach, Aquarius is taking an active role in helping to shape the RPAS industry in Canada and will be collaborating with the NRC on the first phase of this project entitled “Integration of the NRC’s Detect and Classify Module into Aquarius’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Traffic Management System.”
“The Aquarius team is excited to work with the NRC’s Dr. Iraj Mantegh, a leading UAS technology and RTM expert, and his team to develop systems that enable drones to impact both the environment and people’s lives positively,” said Sam Moon, CEO of Aquarius. “Dr. Mantegh has invaluable experience in technology developments and practical research for aerospace and robotics industry in Canada and brings significant experience to this collaboration effort.”
Dr. Mantegh is a Senior Research Officer and Technology Lead at the NRC- Aerospace Research Centre’s Integrated Aerial Mobility program, which works to overcome the technical and regulatory challenges of the next generation of unmanned aircraft systems. Dr. Mantegh holds a Ph.D. degree in Mechatronics and an MBA in General Management and has over 20 years of experience in technology developments and practical research for aerospace and robotics industry in Canada.
Aquarius, through their patented UTP technology, is the first company to develop a system that integrates detect-and-avoid with traffic management. The collaboration between the NRC and Aquarius creates a scalable platform for RTM that allows a single operator to control multiple drones supported by artificial intelligence-based detect-and-avoid systems.
Aquarius is currently working with an operating partner and a Canadian county to support emergency first responders to perform life-saving operations with their full-service autonomous drone fleet deployment model. Aquarius will first look to unlock their technology for lifesaving operations before enabling commercial and subsequently consumer operations as they deploy their traffic management networks across Canada.
About Aquarius: Aquarius is a Canadian-based innovator building a fully autonomous drone trafficmanagement system that operates on any industry-standard drone allowing for multiple and diverse applications across commercial, industrial, first responder, and defense sectors working in high-density urban areas. Our protocol-based approach is an innovative way for autonomous UAV flight. Aquarius is the first Canadian company to develop a system that will allow multiple operators and drones to share airspace safely and fairly.