The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced $13.4 million in Title III investments as part of the national response to COVID-19, and to support the domestic small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) industrial base. The awards were provided under the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU’s) Commercial Solutions Opening.
“The investment will further enhance the U.S. warfighter’s situational awareness, improve human-machine teaming, and provide engineering support for aiding the integration of sUAS capabilities into DoD programs.”
Press Release from U.S. Dept. of Defense
Five (5) U.S.-based companies were awarded, representing a variety in the drone industry: unmanned traffic management (UTM), hardware, software, and sensors, which includes our embers ModalAI, AirMap, and Auterion as a subcontractor.
The grant will help save a total of 14 jobs and create at least 20 new positions in the 5-awarded companies. The D.I.U. expects the funding to support the domestic industrial base’s critical capabilities, which will continue enhancing the U.S. situational awareness.
Dronecode members receive U.S. DOD grants to support the domestic sUAS industrial base.
Silver Member AirMap
“We are proud to partner with organizations across the Department of Defense to rapidly prototype, deliver, and scale advanced commercial solutions,” said Larry Berkin, AirMap’s Executive Vice President of Global Business Development. “These innovations save lives, inspire new operational concepts, increase efficiency, and save taxpayer dollars.”
Larry Berkin, AirMap’s Executive Vice President of Global Business Development.
AirMap will be working with DIU to develop an Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) software platform. This technology supports the Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program and makes it possible for troops to maintain situational awareness, gather critical visual insights remotely without putting military personnel at risk, and conduct safe operations.
AirMap is working with the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, which strengthens national security by accelerating the adoption of leading commercial technology throughout the military, to develop an Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) software platform. This technology supports the Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program and makes it possible for troops to maintain situational awareness, gather critical visual insights remotely without putting military personnel at risk, and conduct safe operations.
AirMap is the leading digital airspace and automation company serving the drone economy. Airspace authorities and enterprises rely on the AirMap platform to safely operate drones in low altitude airspace and deliver critical business insights. AirMap offers best-in-class mission planning, flight and capture, and dataflow automation solutions to enterprises and third-party solution providers, who can connect their applications to AirMap’s open developer platform. AirMap’s UTM and U-space products are deployed in the Czech Republic, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, the United States, and available in over 30 countries. The company serves a global community of over 300,000 operators and 3,000 registered developers. AirMap is committed to advancing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) through ongoing standards development work, global research initiatives, and industry collaboration. Learn more at www.airmap.com.
Platinum Member Auterion
Platinum Member Auterion Government Solutions (Auterion GS) is under contract to ModalAI to integrate Auterion Enterprise PX4 into the Advanced Compute Flight Controller under the Blue UAS Architecture, for DIU.
We are very pleased to be working with DIU and ModalAi to integrate our latest flight control software and APIs with the latest in Edge computing and AI processing from the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Platform. We are committed to creating an ecosystem of capabilities and standards that will propel the US drone industry into the next decade of autonomous operations, at scale.
Dave Sharpin, CEO of Auterion GS
Silver Member ModalAI
ModalAI is delighted to be working with DIU to grow its roadmap of US-made autonomous flight controller products. This effort will accelerate the development of SWAP-optimized aerial AI computing platforms and improve PX4 support for Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM processors. Previous products that have come to fruition from the DoD’s support include VOXL Flight and Flight Core, which enable innovators to achieve autonomous drone flight using PX4, ROS, and MAVSDK.
Chad Sweet, CEO and Co-Founder.
ModalAI accelerates autonomy by providing innovators with robot and drone perception and communications systems that are manufactured in the U.S.A. From home and business security to retail and government applications, our highly-integrated AI-powered modules empower a variety of industries to utilize aerial and ground autonomous navigations systems that communicate on 4G and 5G cellular networks. We offer start-to-finish custom design services and plug-and-play computing platforms.
Based in San Diego, California, ModalAI spun out of Qualcomm® in 2018 and leverages more than five years of prior research and development in the drone and robotic markets. ModalAI helps manufacturers and independent builders get to market quickly and affordably. Find out more at www.modalai.com.
DIU, Defense Innovation Unit
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) was started in August 2015 to rebuild the department’s relationship with the commercial technology sector. As one of the first “experimental” innovation organizations, DIU connects its DoD partners with leading commercial technology companies. DIU is the only DOD organization focused exclusively on fielding and scaling commercial technology across the U.S. military at commercial speeds. DIU is primarily focused on five technology areas where the commercial sector is operating at the leading edge: AI, autonomy, cyber, human systems, and space. Learn more about portfolios and projects at www.diu.mil.
Source: DOD Announces $84.4 Million in Defense Production Act Title III COVID-19 Actions
** Qualcomm® and SnapdragonTM are registered trademarks of their respective companies.
