ISU, PrecisionHawk Team on Unmanned Systems

PrecisionHawk's services include aerial data collection and data management and analysis.

North Carolina-based PrecisionHawk, which has operations in Noblesville, has signed an unmanned aerial systems research and development partnership with Indiana State University. The collaboration will focus on safety, training and development of the company’s aerial data software.

Through the partnership, the university will provide access to unmanned aerial vehicles and flight crews, indoor flight facilities and airspace. PrecisionHawk will give the school access to its DataMapper software platform and algorithm licenses.

ISU College of Technology Dean Robert English says PrecisionHawk is a "strategic partner" for the school, saying the collaboration will result in a "strong team in research and development of flight crew training, UAS applications and data analysis." PrecisionHawk Vice President of Partnerships Patrick Lohman says the partnership will create a "perfect environment to explore the next frontier in aviation."

The school and the company say the partnership will focus on the following areas:

–Airspace deconfliction
–Advanced mission planning algorithm development
–Environmental monitoring
–Opportunities within PrecisionHawk safety initiatives, including LATAS, its low altitude traffic and airspace service platform.
–Development of analytics clusters and full-spectrum analytics support