Mobilicom awarded Space Florida grant to improve drone ops

High-tech company Mobilicom has been awarded a new research and development grant under the Space Florida innovation project, reflecting its expertise in communication solutions for unmanned drones and robotics. The Space Florida R&D program is focused on improving drone operations beyond visual line of sight in the key areas of drone delivery, infrastructure inspection, security and law enforcement.

Mobilicom and US drone company Censys Technologies have together been awarded an R&D project with a gross value of $1.4 million, of which Mobilicom will receive $408,000 net grant funding for the development of a multi-link (MLU) communications system. The communications solution will address US civil drone regulations, catering to unmet market needs for long-range drone delivery and inspection operations with always-connected-anywhere capability.

The new solution will incorporate three concurrent transmitting transceivers (SDR/cellular/satellite) for auto redundancy capability. Development of the MLU will extend Mobilicom’s beyond visual-line-of-sight datalink functionality to include the use of satellite connections for redundancy, which will enable the operation of unmanned systems in areas with no or insufficient cellular network coverage.

“Our new Space Florida grant signals the increasing recognition of our capability and expertise within the US unmanned systems community,” said Mobilicom CEO Oren Elkayam.

“Mobilicom’s cutting-edge SkyHopper Datalinks already support line-of-sight and cellular network-based beyond-line-of-sight communication. The development and integration of satellite connectivity for auto redundancy capability will facilitate more effective use of drones in remote areas and target unmet market demand for nationwide operation with single solution.

“The project also expands our collaboration with Censys Technologies, a leading US-based commercial drone manufacturer for the agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, disaster relief and public safety sectors. Censys has been an early adopter of our smart solutions in the US, and we look forward to working closer with them as we increase our presence in the world’s largest market for both commercial and defence applications.”

The new grant will be accessible by mid-2023.

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