Elsight has unveiled a worldwide version of its Halo drone communications system which will allow operators to fly anywhere in the world without the need for equipment changes to accommodate different cellular systems.
Elsight Chief Executive Officer, Yoav Amitai, said the release of the universal Halo communications modem would advance the drone industry, improve efficiency, and cut costs, with operators now able to fly in different jurisdictions without having to change modems.
“Prior to our worldwide connectivity Halo, several of our customers who work throughout various continents brought this need to our attention,’’ Mr. Amitai said.
“Now they can save on the time and investment by not having to replace the Halo modems each time they have flights over areas using different cellular communications providers,’’ Mr. Amitai said. “We’re very excited about having solved this challenge for them.’’
Elsight also gives drone operators the option of using a universal SIM card rather than country-specific SIM cards.
The development would potentially enable Australian drone companies to operate in Asia, Europe or the United States and fly drones in these jurisdictions using the same modems.
The worldwide application of the latest Halo modem and the increased take-up of universal SIM cards is expected to benefit Elsight’s supply chains and reduce production costs.
“Gradually, the increased usage of worldwide SIM cards will expedite our supply chain reducing costs for greater productivity,” Mr Amitai said.
“Our Halo’s value is gaining significant traction in many vertical markets around the world. One recent example occurred during the widespread outage by Australian service provider Optus, when the Sphere Drones empowered by our Halo’s connectivity maintained their flight path continuously.”
Mr. Amitai said the new worldwide Halo would retain its low weight, power and size for optimised SWaP and portability.
Elsight’s Halo creates a single bonded tunnel of the available multi-links from LTE, 5G, SatCom and RF links to assure continuous uptime and connection between a drone (UAV or UAS) and the ground control stations.
In stationary, portable, or mobile positions, the Halo can hold up to 4LTE/5G modems and optionally RF and SAT links via an ETH/UART port.
This single bonded pipeline magnifies the connection’s reliability, while improving data transmission.
Elsight has also reported a significant increase in Halo orders.
In December Elsight reported that it had received more than $US350,000 ($A533,000) in orders for Halo units from new and existing Design-Win partners, including DroneUp, a leading autonomous drone company based in the United States which conducts deliveries for retail giant Walmart.
Almost all of the new orders for Halo units were on top of Elsight’s current business pipeline.
