Multi-UAVs — Single Commander — Proxy Aviation Systems Technology Funded

Proxy Aviation Systems received $4.4 million in federal funding to advance their unmanned aerial systems and unique cooperative flight technology.
The new funding could lead to increased effectiveness of the current fleet of UAV's by enabling multiple the craft to share information and work together simultaneously in the same airspace. What differentiates Proxy is its unique software, the Universal Distributed Management System, which allows one ground station to manage as many as 12 unmanned aircraft at the same time. Proxy's technology offers an advantage over existing systems which require one pilot to direct each individual aircraft, as the system allows one pilot to control multiple aircraft, each flown by a virtual pilot. The money will be used to fund Phase 2 of Proxy's cooperative flight demonstrations that will take place in the summer and fall of 2009. Phase 1 was contracted by the U.S. Air Force and took place at Creech Air Force Base in July of 2007. At Creech, Proxy demonstrated the value of unmanned cooperative flight and the enhanced ability to identify more targets, such as IED's (improvised explosive devices). Phase 2 will take autonomous control and cooperative flight to the next level. Multiple tier II and tier III UAV's will be controlled by one mission commander from a single ground station.