“As we get closer to the surface during landing, our software detects that with all
kinds of sensors and then avoids them autonomously and finds the safest place
to land.”
The system is particularly useful for site
preservation whether it be a crime scene
or the location of a large-scale calamity.
For example, if a train derails, the inves-
tigator has to reconstruct the scene. On
the one hand, the police want to assem-
ble the evidence and preserve the scene.
On the other hand, cleanup is required in
order to minimize chemical leakage. With
the drone-mapping system duo, a three-di-
mensional depiction with GPS can satisfy
both demands.
In regards to natural disasters, Dr. de La-
fontaine has proposed an idea to the Ca-
nadian government to observe and de-
tect forest fires using satellites. Initially
called the Platform for the Observation
of the Earth and Technology Experiments
(POETE), it became the CanadianWildland
Fire Monitoring System. It will eventually
consist of a constellation of satellites with
the objective of detecting and tracking for-
est fires mainly in Northern Canada. Once
the fire is detected, the directions of both
the fire and the smoke can be predicted
and danger areas can be foreseen, making
evacuations more efficient. The project is
presently in the planning phase and could
become a viable commercial system if
Canada decides to provide detection ser-
vices for other countries prone to forest
fires.
ngcaerospace.com
SEPTEMBER 2016
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