Unmanned Aerial Systems and Drones (UAVs)

The DARTT Zone

Area X.O is the go-to Canadian site for testing drone and robot capabilities and elevating piloting skills in a controlled environment. Developed in partnership with InDro Robotics, the leading Canadian robotics R&D company, the Drone and Advanced Robotics Testing and Training (DARTT) Zone, is the first centre of its kind in Canada to integrate National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) criteria into both its site design and training operations. The DARTT Zone helps technology companies test and evaluate the capabilities of aerial and ground robotic technology.

The DARTT Zone is a designated outdoor area at the private Area X.O R&D facility consisting of varied surfaces, such as gravel, sand, and water, ramps, sidewalks and other objects that abide by the National Institute of Standard Technologies (NIST), providing a challenging environment for testing ground robots and their operators. The DARTT Zone will allow organizations to test and evaluate how ground robotic devices handle mixed terrain and different weather and test specialized capabilities such as autonomous detect-and-avoid (DAA) technology and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). The Zone also includes a netted enclosure for the safe testing of drone failure scenarios as well as a NIST training course designed to improve precision piloting and gimbal skills.

Interested in testing through the DARTT Zone?

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Area X.O has created a 3D model of The DARTT Zone to support clients with remotely testing robotic systems in a controlled urban environment. With the help of Ansys, the DARTT 3D model captures the optical and dielectric properties of the test site. This allows us to use physics-based simulation of cameras, lidars, and radars in the digital environment with various robotics simulators, such as Webots. These sensor simulations can be complemented with communication infrastructure, such as radio and cellular networks to determine their performance and optimize their design. Contact us for more information about remote testing opportunities using the DARTT 3D model before you experiment on-site

View the model

DARTT+ (Killaloe site)

Area X.O now features a class G airspace site where companies can test larger aircraft and advanced robotics applications beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) and at higher altitudes. The DARTT+ site, identified as a Transport Canada Aviation Test Centre, is a drone and advanced robotics testing and training site, located at the rural Killaloe aerodrome, near Killaloe, Ontario. The site offers new opportunities to test, validate and demo a greater array of emerging technologies in aviation and drone technologies including remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The uniquely situated site features critical infrastructure and equipment including 4G/5G and is available to support SMEs, academia, municipalities, Provinces and Territories, Transport Canada and other Federal government departments.

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Discover Simulation

Drones are increasingly becoming an integral part of our modern world. These uncrewed aerial vehicles can provide surveillance, deliveries, boost in communications and more. Testing drones is expensive and arduous without a proper plan. Ansys STK is the solution to develop various scenarios in its digital mission engineering software. Ansys Speos and HFSS finite element analysis products help cut cost in the development of drone sensors and communication antenna. In addition, Ansys Icepak simulates thermal management of batteries in drones.

Training and Certification

In partnership with InDro Robotics, DARTT Zone clients can now access Basic and Advanced RPAS Certification. Participants will gain the knowledge and skills to safely operate their drones in compliance with Transport Canada regulations. Flight Reviews (required for Advanced RPAS Certification) are offered on-site. All instruction is provided by InDro Robotics, a company that has a long and respected tradition of providing training to drone professionals in adherence with Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs). InDro Robotics, a company with a deep experience instructing Law Enforcement, First Responders, and Search and Rescue teams, will soon be adding specialised instruction for more complex drone operations, along with Micro-Credential courses.

To learn from one of Canada’s most experienced drone pilot instructors with instantly available, online training for all experience levels click here.

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Emergencies

Search for missing persons with thermal cameras and a fleet of drones
Deliver first aid kit and medical gear
Map and route guidance after earthquakes and floods
Provide situational awareness for police and other responders
Preplan data and EOC over watch

Extinguishing

Video streaming improves the situational awareness and supports resource planning, risk evaluation and decision making
Sensors and analytics can warn about hazardous gas
Edge analytics can map at risk areas, smoke and gas plumes and assist in set back and evacuation areas and routes.

Prevention

Find fire points in forests/dry areas to prevent a larger fire
Monitor fire in cities
Detect hot spots
Break monitor floods and fire
Conduct digital elevation modeling for rapid risk assessment and modeling
Do pre and post mapping of disasters to direct rescue and provide lessons learned

Street and Border Safety

Police drones patrolling at-risk areas
Crowd behaviour monitoring and analysis
Border inspection
Inspection of closed or industrial areas
Gunshot listening and alert
Accident reconstruction and reporting
On scene situational awareness feed to operators on the ground over connected feed

Surveillance and Inspection

Road inspections
Railroad surveillance
Harbor management
Shore line inspection
Traffic mapping
City planning use
Pattern of life analysis

Sensing the Air

Monitoring of air pollution through scheduled flights with sensors
Meteorological measurements
Gas detection
Pipe and other static infrastructure inspection for fugitive emissions
Cloud and plume mapping

Water Quality

Analysis of water colour
Detection of oil leakages
Monitoring of vegetation
Habitat health and temporal change monitoring and reporting
Hyper/Multi spectral analysis of vegetative health
Precision monitoring and fish counting

Event Management

Live video streaming
Controlling borders of event, detection of movements
Event analytics (counting people, most crowded places)
Route finding and planning for choke and traffic points
Asset tracking and allocation of responders at appropriate points in space and time

The place to harness potential

“InDro Robotics is the leading Canadian expert in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Drone technology. Our UAV expertise enables us to operate in unprecedented ways, use commercial UAVs to monitor and collect data, and provide a wide range of services to industries, including fire and rescue. We have accumulated thousands of flight hours and are proud to collaborate with leading bodies such as Transport Canada, Canadian Space Agency, NASA, and now Area X.O. We look forward to working with Invest Ottawa and the many firms they serve to harness the potential of UAVs to better our society.”

Philip Reece, CEO, InDro Robotics

“We’re proud to be part of the important research and technology development being conducted at Area X.O. Our IRIS UxS ground control station for unmanned systems was created to help safely operate drones and autonomous vehicles beyond visual line-of-sight. Area X.O is working with first responders to help effectively integrate unmanned systems into a variety of emergency operations, including search and rescue.”

Ranald McGillis, President, Kongsberg Geospatial