Red Cat Holdings, Inc., a leading brand in the drone industry, reports that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 10,877,162 on December 29, 2020 to Skypersonic Inc. Red Cat previously announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Skypersonic in February 2021 and expects to close the transaction in April.
Entitled “Terrestrial Based Positioning Systems and Methods,” the ‘162 patent is the first U.S. patent issued to Skypersonic. The patent covers terrestrial based positioning technology deployed in Skyloc, Skypersonic’s real time environmental monitoring drone system.
Skyloc is a stand-alone, real time, software system which enables a drone to record and transmit inspection data while being operated from thousands of miles away. It features absolute linear distance measure and inspection auto-reporting as well as on-board gas detection via a certified calibrated multi-gas sensor. The system uses existing hardware on a drone and has the potential to integrate with other UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) platforms.
Skypersonic technology emulates Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data utilizing Ultra Wide Band signals, allowing drones to operate where GPS signals are absent. This technology is currently being used in pipe and tunnel inspections, where it has been successful in providing the absolute linear positioning necessary to generate accurate and complete industrial reports without the use of GPS. Skypersonic is presently finalizing contracts for industrial inspections of many critical infrastructures across Europe and expects a significant increase in deployment in the coming years.
“This new patent demonstrates the progress and execution of our core business plan as we work to build and protect valuable technology in the drone/UAV market,” stated Giuseppe Santagelo, CEO of Skypersonic.
“We are excited to integrate our market leading FPV (first person view) drone headsets with Skyloc to enable drones to “Fly Anywhere” and “Inspect the Impossible,” stated Allan Evans, President of Fat Shark, a wholly owned subsidiary of Red Cat. “We look forward to welcoming the Skypersonic team to the Red Cat organization and working together to develop other drone products, services and software solutions.”