Vigilant Aerospace Detect and Avoid

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

This week, NASA announced that the technology licensed to Vigilant Aerospace and leveraged in its FlightHorizon detect-and-avoid and airspace management product has been recognized with NASA’s Commercial Invention of the Year 2021 award.

The winning technology, invented by NASA Senior Research Engineer Ricardo Arteaga alongside a team at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, provides uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) with a means to automatically detect and avoid other air traffic. Detect-and-avoid capability is crucial for the growth of the UAS industry and the advancement of autonomous aviation. The patents following the technology’s invention were licensed to Vigilant Aerospace Systems, Inc. of Oklahoma City and Fargo, ND and serve as the basis for its proprietary FlightHorizon product…