SRC, Minnesota energy firm working on drone-detection program for “critical infrastructure”

The firms will share this data with federal, state and local security partners, SRC said.

“This is a unique and exciting partnership with two companies that are on the cutting-edge of innovation,” Paul Tremont, president and CEO of SRC, said in the firm’s news release. “Together with Xcel, we will find the best solution to the problems posed by drones around critical infrastructure; and provide accurate, reliable, and secure systems, using our Gryphon Sensors drone detection and tracking technologies.”

SRC is a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Cicero that focuses on areas that include defense, environment, and intelligence.

SRC and Xcel Energy will use both organizations’ “unique” footprints in the UAS industry to “help define the magnitude of the problem” posed by small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). They’ll also invest in research and development to identify the best options for “particular environments.”

SRC is involved in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) BNSF pathfinder and drone detection pathfinder programs; NUAIR’s UAS secure autonomous flight environment (U-SAFE) project; and NASA’s UAS traffic-management (UTM) program.

NUAIR Alliance is short for Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, a Syracuse–based nonprofit “coalition of more than 200 private and public entities and academic institutions working together to operate and oversee unmanned aircraft system (UAS) testing in New York, Massachusetts and Michigan,” according to its website.

BNSF is short for Burlington Northern Sante Fe, a railway operator working with the FAA on the challenges of using drones to inspect rail-system infrastructure, according to a description on the FAA website page about its pathfinder program.

SRC will install its Gryphon Skylight system to “monitor and collect actionable” data. The Gryphon Skylight system “delivers a comprehensive, low-altitude airspace picture, with accurate and long-range detection of sUAS,” SRC contends.

Xcel Energy will use this data to develop use cases in security and beyond visual line of sight operations (BVLOS) for U.S. utilities.

SRC designs, manufactures, and supports the Gryphon Skylight system, the Cicero firm added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com