Skypersonic – a division of Purple Cat Holdings – has been employed by NASA to supply know-how for simulated Mars mission
Skypersonic, which in 2021 signed a five-year contract with NASA to supply drone and rover software program, {hardware} and assist to NASA’s simulated Mars mission, has validated its software program and {hardware} on Mt. Etna, an energetic volcano in Sicily the place the panorama is much like Martian geology.
Skypersonic’s “Skycopter” drone might be piloted nearly anyplace, from nearly anyplace, because the Skypersonic workforce demonstrated on Mt. Etna throughout a 15-day take a look at. Utilizing Skypersonic’s ground-breaking Lengthy Vary Actual-Time Distant Piloting System, the drone and rover on the energetic volcano in Italy had been managed by personnel in Houston, Texas, in actual time. Whereas most drones can’t be piloted with out connecting to the GPS community, Skycopter makes use of know-how that is ready to management and observe the drone in areas – similar to Mars – the place GPS is just not obtainable.
“This was a grueling take a look at that we handed with flying colours,” mentioned Skypersonic CEO Giuseppe Santangelo. “We stay up for the last word take a look at – on Earth, at the very least – when our know-how might be used throughout NASA’s upcoming yearlong simulated Mars mission. We’re assured of additionally passing this take a look at. In the course of the simulated Mars mission, 4 crew members residing and dealing in a 1,700-square-foot module on Earth, known as Mars Dune Alpha, will perform a sequence of missions – together with remotely guided exploration and assortment of specimens from rugged terrain elsewhere on Earth, as much as 1000’s of miles away.”
The outcomes of the profitable take a look at on Sicily’s energetic volcano – which included the gathering of samples by the rover, a vital functionality for Martian robotic exploration – had been demonstrated to Italian media throughout a July press convention on Mt. Etna close to the Catania Astrophysical Observatory. Available for the demonstration had been Santangelo and Dr. Salvatore Caffo, government volcanologist at Etna Park. As soon as once more, the pilot was in Houston. The challenge was a collaboration between Skypersonic, the College of Turin and Etna Park.
About Skypersonic
Headquartered in Detroit with a European workplace in Turin, Italy, Skypersonic is a pacesetter in the usage of drones for industrial inspections and first response emergency conditions, in addition to in “Remotely Flying Drones Anyplace™” through its ground-breaking Lengthy Vary Actual-Time Distant Piloting System. Skypersonic’s flagship is the Skycopter: a drone with a tiltable video digicam that’s designed to work in excessive situations and ultra-tight areas. It’s enclosed and guarded by an exterior aerodynamic, ultra-light and ultra-resistant cage to make sure security and keep away from injury to inspected constructions and to the airframe itself. Additionally it is fitted with an ultra-bright 360° LED lighting system for purposes in full darkness, and sensors to detect gases and radiation may also be added. Skycopter makes use of Skyloc know-how: a real-time location and monitoring system capable of management and observe with extraordinarily excessive accuracy the actions of the drone in indoor situations or the place GPS is just not obtainable. Skypersonic additionally invented the first-ever worldwide civil real-time distant piloting system that enables piloting in FPV (first-person view) any drone (not simply the Skycopter) positioned anyplace from a generic web station positioned anyplace.
About Purple Cat Holdings
Purple Cat Holdings is a publicly traded firm (NASDAQ: RCAT) that gives drone merchandise, applied sciences and companies to the fastest-growing market segments within the drone trade via 4 working subsidiaries: Skypersonic (offering drones for industrial inspections and first response emergencies that may be piloted from anyplace on the earth), Teal Drones (military-grade drones), Fats Shark (headsets for FPV drones that enable for an extremely immersive expertise) and Rotor Riot (a pacesetter in offering product, companies and assist to the high-performance drone market).
