{"id":247858,"date":"2022-04-27T09:48:42","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T14:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=247858"},"modified":"2022-04-28T16:19:52","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T21:19:52","slug":"uas-technologies-to-help-restore-services-to-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=247858","title":{"rendered":"(UAS) technologies to help restore services to residents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bismarck \u00a0 (APRIL 27, 2022) \u2013 After another round of severe weather brought blizzard conditions, heavy snow and ice to western North Dakota this past weekend, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gretemangroup.com\/press\/north-dakota-utilizes-unmanned-aircraft-systems-network-to-assist-weather-disaster-recovery-efforts\/\">the state has enlisted unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technologies to help restore services to residents and assist recovery efforts<\/a>, Gov. Doug Burgum announced Wednesday in a joint release with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>North Dakota mobilized UAS to survey rural areas, locating and assessing damage to utility infrastructure, and to help prioritize resources for repairs and recovery.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The remote-pilot-operated drones, flown by ISight Drone Services and the NPUASTS, are able to operate beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights as part of the state\u2019s creation and implementation of Vantis, North Dakota\u2019s UAS network. The UAS flights have been supported and monitored through Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and officials.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorth Dakotans are known for their innovation and resilience,\u201d Burgum said. \u201cIn difficult times like this, our citizens and neighbors come together to find new solutions to challenging problems. We\u2019re leveraging the investment the state has made in this UAS infrastructure to help workers identify damage and repair ground-based infrastructure. Utilizing our strength in aviation will help citizens and communities on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The drones are assisting members of the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, complementing efforts with manned aircraft utilized by Montana-Dakota Utilities. As crews work around the clock to restore power, it\u2019s estimated that some western and northwest parts of the state will not regain service for days or weeks. After coordinating with the FAA, flights began Tuesday, April 26.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of the primary applications we envisioned in creating this UAS network,\u201d said Trevor Woods, NPUASTS executive director. \u201cWe hope this nimble response can help the state\u2019s residents in getting life-saving power restored, and benefit areas and businesses affected by the natural disaster. For such a massive undertaking in fixing lines and infrastructure, we know that locating damage in difficult-to-travel-to areas saves time and assets that can\u2019t afford to be wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The NPUASTS, one of seven FAA test sites, has been assisting UAS testing for nearly a decade, and has been a leading research facility in the United States. It has been building out Vantis, the state\u2019s BVLOS network that it administers, since the initial state investment in 2019. Vantis\u2019 primary test sites in the Williston and Watford City areas are in close proximity to the regions most heavily affected by the storms.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re proud to be part of a team that is helping North Dakotans in a significant and tangible way,\u201d said ISight CEO Tommy Kenville. \u201cThese flights highlight the real-world applications for drones and how critical they will be for services going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ISight and NPUASTS have also offered to help livestock producers to assess fence lines, do cattle counts and provide imagery of their property in the wake of storm damage. The spring blizzards come at calving season for many ranchers, meaning an added economic vulnerability for these businesses.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the Northern Plains UAS Test Site<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npuasts.com\">Northern Plains UAS Test Site<\/a> is one of seven Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test sites in the nation. The mission of the NPUASTS is to collaborate with FAA and industry partners to develop systems, rules, and procedures to safely integrate unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System without negatively impacting existing general or commercial aviation. NPUASTS is administering Vantis.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Vantis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vantisuas.com\">Vantis<\/a> is North Dakota\u2019s statewide unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) network, the first of its kind in the nation. Created by North Dakota with an initial investment in 2019, Vantis provides turnkey support to commercial and public UAS operators through infrastructure and regulatory approvals allowing applications and usability over a variety of industries. Visit VantisUAS.com for more information.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About ISight<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2011, <a href=\"https:\/\/isightdrones.com\/\">ISight<\/a> Drone Services provides remotely piloted vehicle operations to agricultural, critical infrastructure, wildlife management, insurance, and emergency services clients so they can unlock the value and efficiency of collecting data and imagery with unmanned aerial vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bismarck \u00a0 (APRIL 27, 2022) \u2013 After another round of severe weather brought blizzard conditions, heavy snow and ice to western North Dakota this past weekend, the state has enlisted unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technologies to help restore services to residents and assist recovery efforts, Gov. Doug Burgum announced Wednesday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":247861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=247858"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247862,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247858\/revisions\/247862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/247861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=247858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=247858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=247858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}