The French Government Defense procurement and technology agency, Direction Générale de l’Armement or DGA in French, has received 400 ANAFI USA delivered for its latest system intake.

 

The equipment in micro-drone systems meets an operational need of the three armies, both for the conventional forces and for the special forces.

 

The DGA announces that 60% of the systems will be allocated to the Army, 28% to the French Navy and 12% to the Air and Space Force.

 

Beyond the observation capabilities day and night, and an autonomy of about thirty minutes of flight, two qualities convinced the DGA:

<ul><li>Accessibility allowing users to master the tool after a short training.</li>
	<li>Compliance with DGA requirements in terms of cybersecurity and securing the data link.</li>
</ul>

News

The French Army just received 400 new Parrot drones

Parrot ANAFI USA has been chosen by the Flotilla De Aeronaves to equip its Eleven Squadron. The Spanish Naval Aviation explained its decision underlining that the UAS was the “only option on the market” answering all its requirements: manufactured in the USA by a European company providing “watertight and reliable” information security and operation system."

Parrot ANAFI USA chosen by the Spanish Naval Aviation

The US Customs and Border Protection awarded W.S. Darley &amp; Co to provide ANAFI USA for field evaluations to inform future Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) procurements.

 

CBP intends to seek competition in future acquisitions for sUAS by competing orders among the Blue sUAS BPA holders. By acquiring Blue sUAS through the intended actions with each vendor, CBP will obtain operational familiarity with each sUAS which will inform capabilities of the various brand name drones in different climates, environments, operational settings, conditions, and other settings for market research and future competitive acquisitions.

 

The BPA is worth up to $90 million over five years.

ANAFI USA evaluated by the US Customs and Border Protection to inform future Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) procurements.

American Coast Guards praised recently purchased Anafi USA Mil in an article published on September 27th, 2022, by Defense Daily, the leading daily publication for business leads and defense market intelligence in land, sea, air, and space initiatives.

 

The Coast Guard presented the product as the only device on the Department of Homeland Security list “that demonstrated a consistent and reliable capability to conduct underway take-offs and recoveries while in the marine environment. Further, the Parrot Anafi’s optics capability for both standard video and infrared meets the varied mission capabilities of the USCG, especially for SAR and LE.”.

ANAFI USA Mil receive acclaim from US Coast Guard

<h2 class="h4">The solution allows complex topography and vertical structure mapping missions with the pro-grade micro-drone designed for photogrammetry.</h2>

Paris and Zurich: October 14th 2022. Parrot, the leading European drone group, is very pleased to announce that the Parrot ANAFI Ai is now compatible with Drone Harmony.

 

This partnership combines Parrot’s top-of-the-line 4G connected professional drones with Drone Harmony’s Software to provide inspection and mapping professionals with automated data acquisition capabilities on the most challenging scenarios. The duo guarantees high quality and safe reproducible data collection.

 

Parrot ANAFI Ai’s 48 MP images captured at 1 frame per second provide the best photogrammetry solution of its category: mapping quicker for the same data quality / mapping larger surface for the same mission duration.

 

Leveraging Parrot ANAFI Ai’s outstanding photogrammetry characteristics, Drone Harmony’s Application allows inspection professionals to eliminate errors by optimizing the drone position to capture the most accurate data. The flight planner considers the ground level for large scale topography mission. Drone Harmony also allows flight planning for building facades mapping and inspection of industrial infrastructure. Coupled with the ANAFI Ai's 4G connectivity, the solution is particularly acute for mapping in interferences-ridden urban area where Wi-Fi might be very challenging.

 

The data captured with the Parrot ANAFI Ai and Drone Harmony Application can then be used by professionals to rapidly survey and / or generate precise 2D and 3D maps of buildings, telecommunications assets, power lines, industrial sites, bridges, railways, mines, mountains road, quarries, forests, cliffs...

 

The compatibility with the Drone Harmony Application is made possible by the Parrot openness strategy. Parrot actively promotes open source for development. Developers can freely use Parrot SDK to develop their own applications and embed their own code on the drone. Parrot ANAFI Ai is compatible with the open-source standard protocol MAVLink v1, exquisitely used by Drone Harmony to share their flight plans.

 

Once a flight plan is created by the flight planner, it can be shared through Parrot FreeFlight 7, the App designed to control Parrot ANAFI Ai. The flight plan then appears on the usual App interface. It can be run as any other FreeFlight flight plan mission.

 

Last but not least, this compatibility offers users privacy by design. Parrot does not monitor professionals and their business. Parrot ANAFI Ai natively takes off anywhere. Parrot and Drone Harmony are GDPR compliant. Flight logs and all sensitive data collected by Parrot ANAFI Ai can be stored locally, on Parrot’s GDPR compliant servers based in Europe and its users can choose not to share their information.

 

For more information visit: <a href="https://droneharmony.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener noopener" target="_blank">www.droneharmony.com</a>

The solution allows complex topography and vertical structure mapping missions with the pro-grade micro-drone designed for photogrammetry.

Drone Harmony extends Parrot ANAFI Ai open platform capability with its flight planner for complex missions

Drone Harmony x Parrot ANAFI Ai.mov

As part of our strategy to create the best open software platform for drones, Parrot continues to add new tools for developers to easily create their own flight missions. 
This new update allows the use of an ADB public key to enable ADB shell access to the drone. AirSDK mission logs can now be enabled. 
Olympe, the Python controller programming interface for ANAFI Ai and the simulation environment Sphinx are also updated to support developer settings commands and events.

This new version brings even more tools for developers.

FreeFlight 7 and ANAFI Ai 4th major update is now available. 
This new version brings even more tools for developers

FreeFlight 7 and ANAFI Ai 4th major update is now available

The Hoverseen automatic drone system for Parrot ANAFI Thermal is operated at Armor Group on the outskirts of Nantes (France). With a flight authorization without a remote pilot, it is used daily for surveillance and preventive inspection of the explosive atmosphere classified site at La Chevrolière.

Hoverseen automatic drone system for Parrot ANAFI Thermal use cases at ARMOR Group

<h3 class="h3">The site of La Chevrolière, explosive atmosphere classified</h3>

Armor is a world's No. 1 industrial group in thermal transfer technology. 
Its La Chevrolière site is dedicated to the manufacture of inked rollers for barcode printing and flexible photovoltaic films. With an area of 9 hectares for a workforce of 350 people on site, it combines a double explosive risk (ATEX) and environmental risk (ICPE). 
The company wanted to benefit from an automatic drone system to strengthen safety and security, and to further reduce the level of human, material, and environmental risks inherent in its activity. More specifically, it had formulated 3 main objectives: optimize the surveillance of the premises, strengthen the safety of people, and reduce the risk of fire. Installing an automatic drone system should also promote the responsiveness of security guards and their ability to anticipate. 
Conventionally equipped with a network of surveillance cameras, a Milestone video management solution and a team of on-site security guards, some parts of the site remained less well covered and the inspection of hard-to-reach areas was limited to a few annual interventions.

The first visit made it possible to study the site, and Armor’s human and technological safety installation. 
In order to reach the areas designated to be monitored Hoverseen has defined the shortest and safest paths in terms of human security and network accessibility. The privacy zones of the neighborhood have also been specified in the flight plan. 
On this basis, the application for authorization to fly without a remote pilot has been prepared and sent to the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC). It was obtained for day and night flights, even though the site is in suburban area, at 5km from Nantes airport.

 
The installation of the automatic drone on site took place in parallel with the request for flight authorization:

<ul><li>As the Hoverseen system is compatible with video management solutions (VMS), connecting to Milestone has been as easy as adding a new IP camera. Note that it is not connected to the Internet but only to the private and secure Armor network.</li>
	<li>The agents have been trained in the handling of the Hoverseen system, according to programs also validated by the DGAC: 1 day for the security guards and 1.5 day for their supervisor.</li>
	<li>A committee on “health, safety and working conditions” (CHSCT) has been held beforehand. The overall package was presented to the employees and well received. The drone, around 500g, has not been perceived as a worrying object.</li>
</ul>

<h3 class="h3">On-premises deployment process</h3>

<h3 class="h3">Use and benefit of the Hoverseen solution</h3>

Today, the La Chevrolière site carries out several automatic flights a day, without a remote pilot, and under the supervision of security guards. They launch the flights and observe in real time the video feedback on the security screens. In a few minutes they have a complete aerial view of the terrain. They can visualize areas that are not easily accessible or difficult to monitor such as the buildings’ roof or the delivery docks. 
Their movements on site are thus more limited, and the associated risk is reduced, in particular in the event of an intrusion. 
In an Industry 4.0 approach, Armor wanted the solution to carry out by the way a preventive inspection of the infrastructures. To do so, the drone is configured to catch for example an unusual temperature difference or an abnormal situation in an area that is difficult to access. Being able to identify risk situations well in advance of an incident makes it possible to quickly determine the right actions to implement. In addition to real-time vision by the guards, high-definition aerial images are also retained and available after flights. They can be consulted to analyze the evolution of the site over time.

Armor Group: <a href="https://www.armor-group.com" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.armor-group.com</a> 
The Hoverseen automatic drone system: <a href="https://www.hoverseen.com" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.hoverseen.com</a>

<h3 class="h3">More information on:</h3>

Partnerships

The ANAFI USA microdrone, specially adapted for Armed and Security Forces around the world, offers exceptional day and night observation capabilities in a 500 grams micro quadcopter. 
Thanks to its powerful 32x zoom, the ANAFI USA allows the detection of human-sized targets up to 2km away with a 13cm accuracy. 
Additionally, the zoomed images are fused with those obtained by the FLIR Boson thermal camera, which can spot hotspots day and night.

The ARASTELLE tethered station dedicated to the class of microdrones, offers the possibility of converting the ANAFI USA for captive flight without any modification or alteration to the drone. The ARASTELLE station is self-sufficient in energy allowing rapid deployment of captive microdrones everywhere. 
With this additional capacity, the Forces will be able to use the performances of the ANAFI USA without limit up to an altitude of 100m, and benefit from a continuous aerial observation solution at a lower cost.

In addition, ARASTELLE presents during Eurosatory 2022 its concept of a tethered microdrone solution that can be integrated into all types of vehicles, both for new and retrofitted vehicles. This innovative concept will provide land vehicles with an aerial capability for day and night surveillance and observation, to benefit from a vision capability beyond direct sight. This concept presented with a PARROT ANAFI USA microdrone is integrated on a VAB MK3 vehicle from the French group ARQUUS.

ARASTELLE and PARROT extend the capabilities of the ANAFI USA microdrone with tethered flight.

Arastelle is a French company specializing in energy storage, management and transmission for robotic and aerial applications. 
Our tethered solutions for microdrones makes it easy and quick to deploy to conduct  observation missions without limit of autonomy. 
Arastelle is part of the European Federation of Security Drones DRONES4SEC, and president of the “Tethered Drones” College. 
Arastelle is a company supported by BPI France and the New Aquitaine Region.

For more information: www.arastelle.com. Press contact: info@arastelle.com

<h3 class="h3">About Arastelle</h3>

PARROT, the leading European drone group, and ARASTELLE, a company specializing in microdrones tethered solutions – are collaborating to extend the capabilities of ANAFI USA with captive flight.

Partnership

ARASTELLE and PARROT extend the capabilities of the ANAFI USA microdrone with tethered flight

UAVIA and Parrot announce Technology and Marketing Partnership. The two companies and are democratizing 4G autonomous drones by interconnecting the Parrot Anafi Ai with UAVIA Robotics Platform.

 

The Anafi Ai UAVIA Inside can complement the fleets of drones accessible from UAVIA cloud platform providing an unbeaten characteristics mix regarding weight, autonomy and 4K video performance.

 

This product launch opens new perspectives streamlining routine and emergency use cases in complex environments, enabling ubiquitous collaboration and a better understanding of the situation in the decision making process. 
Such a light and affordable product with best-of-breed performances and features made available through the joint efforts of two technology champions is a game changer which will participate to the generalization of drone usages in many industries.

 

<blockquote>
“This collaboration with UAVIA is fully in line with the Parrot strategy regarding the open ecosystem we set up around the Anafi Ai. The UAVIA technology integration with our open software architecture is the perfect example of how a partner can complement efficiently the Anafi Ai capabilities to address new market segments", says Chris Roberts, Parrot’ Chief Sales &amp; Marketing Officer.
</blockquote>

 

<blockquote>
“This collaboration natural as UAVIA and Parrot share a similar vision of the connected drones and the way users expect to interact with them”, adds Pierre VILPOUX CEO of UAVIA. “This convergence was reinforced by the compatibility of the architectures of our respective products, and this full integration takes the autonomous drone to the next level.
</blockquote>

 

Attention to cybersecurity and data sovereignty are focus points for both companies who’s teams are working closely to insure customers on a worldwide basis benefit from this integration for more and more use cases.

<h2 class="h2">The two companies and are democratizing 4G autonomous drones by interconnecting the Parrot Anafi Ai with UAVIA Robotics Platform.</h2>

UAVIA is a software company providing a standardized collaborative platform to handle autonomous drone operations : “UAVIA Robotics Platform”. Multiple users across the world can access UAVIA’s AI to control heterogeneous drones fleets, while having data processed and shared in real-time for a wide range of value-added applications.

UAVIA’s teams focus on delivering the best and secured product to customers, by merging the company innovative patents with the latest advanced technologies behind an effortless UX interface. UAVIA Robotics platform is designed to match the industrial operators expectations in terms of cybersecurity and data sovereignty, and natively engineered to perform in any complex environment. Easy to use. Easy to integrate. Easy to deploy.

<h3 class="h3">About UAVIA</h3>

The  two companies and are democratizing 4G autonomous drones by interconnecting  the Parrot Anafi Ai with UAVIA Robotics Platform.

UAVIA and Parrot announce Technology and Marketing Partnership

As Parrot tested out the mapping capabilities of ANAFI Ai with the tremendous technological challenge of making the Digital Twin of Positano, Olivier Revon, Parrot's product leader, and Erwan Renaudin, Head of Geomatics at Logiroad, explained in a <a href="https://dronelife.com/2021/11/03/3d-drone-mapping-inside-parrots-impossible-mission-over-positano/" rel="noreferrer noopener">DroneLife.com interview</a> how we passed it with flying colors in the picturesque but hard-to-map city.

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