Asylon Robotics flies multiple drones simultaneously in new BVLOS tests

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—Asylon Robotics, a provider of automated security drones and robotics, announced that it has completed a series of multi-drone flight tests supporting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help define the next set of standards for safe beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations.

This significant development marks a major milestone in the company’s growth and reflects Asylon’s ongoing commitment to enabling drone operations at scale with its full-service drone-in-a-box solution.

The FAA program is managed by Anzen Unmanned, a developer of advanced drone safety engineering and approvals. As program lead, Anzen developed the safety requirements, test cases, and validation criteria. The company also conducted the human factors analysis to evaluate the minimum threshold requirements for safe, complex drone operations like this at scale. The FAA has tasked Anzen with helping define these standards with real-world operational test cases like this as part of their commitment to drone innovation and safety.

During the culminating flight testing event of the contract, a single operator in Asylon’s 24/7 remote operations center simultaneously controlled six drones – three of its automated DroneSentry drones and three simulated drones. The simultaneous test flights took place in controlled airspace at Griffiss International Airport with the NUAIR Alliance and at Asylon’s headquarters, located in Norristown, Pa. Despite being located in geographically disparate locations, the drones were all controlled by a single operator with Asylon’s cloud-based, open-architecture DroneIQ software. 

The ability to operate multiple drones simultaneously in controlled airspace adds to what Asylon has achieved to date, including approval of eight BVLOS waivers for operation at Asylon’s customer sites. 

These BVLOS waivers and one-to-many drone operations are keys to unlocking the cost and capability advantages that automated security drones can provide when compared to traditional methods like CCTV camera installation or manned guarding.

By enabling a single trained operator to simultaneously monitor multiple automated robotic assets, the industry can finally begin to unlock the true return on investment (ROI) that many have been seeking for the last decade, according to Asylon.

“The results of this flight test validated Asylon’s operational procedures, hardware designs, and software implementations that enable the safe operation of multiple, simultaneous BVLOS drone flights,” said Asylon co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Brent McLaughlin. “This is good news not only for Asylon and our clients, but for the broader industry as we work with Anzen Unmanned and the FAA to bring the requirements and lessons learned to the open-source community and aviation standards bodies.”

Asylon provides advanced security robotics solutions for U.S. commercial enterprises such as GXO Logistics, and the Department of Defense (Space Force) to create safer places for people and property. By providing customers with the most advanced American-made robotic security technology, Asylon helps to ensure that both government and private-sector companies can protect their people, assets, and profits against threats.