Drone technology moves incredibly fast, but the speed of the industry itself has been keeping a consistent pace this year with changes and shape-ups happening all over the place. Recent news from senseFly and AirMap is proof that the pace of those shake-ups and changes shows no signs of slowing down.

The two companies announced they have partnered to help advance safety for commercial drones. It’s an important development as the two organizations are especially well suited to help enable and create autonomous drones and systems that are both safe and reliable. The partnership will enable operators to ask and answer key questions that arise throughout missions of any size or scale.

This development will enable senseFly’s eBee fixed wing drones and quadcopters to integrate AirMap’s airspace services, which allow operators to fly safely and communicate with others in low-altitude airspace. It will be much easier for senseFly customers to answer questions like, ‘am I allowed to fly this mission?’ and ‘how can I simplify the process of getting an authorization to fly when the area I’m mapping is close to an airport?’

What are the implications of the news for actual users though? Will this partnership make it easier for professionals who have never used or even considered how they can use drone technology to get up and into the air? That’s something Commercial UAV News asked senseFly CEO Jean-Christophe Zufferey.

“senseFly’s partnership with AirMap will remove the burden of checking airspace layout on an aeronautical chart before planning a mission in eMotion (senseFly’s flight planning software),” Zufferey mentioned. “The partnership will also provide an efficient way to get autorisation from airspace managers that are using the AirMap system.”

In the press release, Zufferey mentions senseFly’s drones are designed to maximize the operator's efficiency and minimize risk, and being able to integrate AirMap’s intelligence into their solution directly speaks to that endeavor. The short-term benefits are obvious, but it’s the long-term implications that are especially interesting to consider here.

Stakeholders within both organizations recognize how important it is to make sure drones can safely cohabit with existing sky users. In the future, the vision is that senseFly drones will automatically avoid entering restricted airspaces and automatically avoid incoming traffic, and one imagines this kind of development will be essential in the developments of a system that can intelligently allow drones to fly within manned airspace. More than 125 airports use AirMap’s airspace management dashboard to perform a number of tasks, including communicating with drone operators.

We’ll be keeping an eye on how this partnership between AirMap and senseFly will enable more powerful and further types of communication that will ensure everyone in the airspace and below it remains safe.