Tag: SORA-Mate

Automated Risk Assesments

Automated Operational Risk Assessment, Enabler or Hurdle?

The most recent ANRA Huddle webinar provided a deep dive into one of the most critical components of safe and scalable drone operations: automated operational risk assessment. As the global unmanned aviation ecosystem continues to evolve, understanding how to effectively assess and manage operational risks has never been more important.

The Role of Automated Risk Assessment Tools

A major focus of the webinar was the transformative role that automated operational risk assessment tools are playing in the future of drone operations. With these tools, safety evaluations are becoming more efficient, accurate, and scalable. By automating the risk assessment process, operators can more easily integrate the JARUS SORA methodology into Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems, ultimately linking operational planning with real-time airspace management.

As drone operations scale, manual assessments can become time-consuming and prone to human error. Automated tools address this by streamlining the process and allowing for quicker, more consistent risk evaluations. The integration of automated assessments is helping operators stay compliant while also adapting to the dynamic nature of shared airspace.

Key Takeaways from the Webinar

  1. Faster Approvals & Scalable Operations
    With automation, risk assessments can be done more quickly, allowing for faster approvals. This is especially crucial in an industry where time is of the essence and scalability is a top priority.
  2. Improved Safety Metrics
    Automated tools are enhancing safety by ensuring that risk assessments are consistent and reliable, even as operational conditions change.
  3. Addressing Challenges
    The discussion also touched on the challenges of standardizing automated assessments and ensuring system interoperability. While automation offers numerous benefits, there are still hurdles to overcome, especially in terms of ensuring that different systems and platforms can communicate effectively.
  4. Dynamic Adaptation to Changing Conditions
    The ability for automated assessments to adapt to real-time changes in airspace conditions was highlighted as one of the major advantages. This allows for a more flexible and responsive approach to managing risk, which is critical in a fast-evolving industry like UAS.

Expert Panel Insights

The webinar featured an engaging panel of experts, each bringing their unique perspective on operational risk management and the role of automation:

  • Jackie Dujmovic, Founder & CEO of Hover UAV, shared her vast experience in uncrewed aviation safety, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Julie Garland, Founder & CEO of Avtrain, discussed her work in drone training and compliance across Europe, emphasizing the importance of operational safety.
  • Joerg Dittrich, Senior Expert in Drone Regulations and Leader of the JARUS WG-SRM, offered invaluable insights into how safety and risk management frameworks like JARUS SORA are shaping the future of drone operations.
  • Jarrett Larrow, Policy & Rulemaking Lead at the FAA, shared his vision on how evolving policies are impacting operational risk management and the future of drone regulations.
  • Amit Ganjoo, Founder & CEO of ANRA Technologies, moderated the panel and guided the discussion, offering his perspective on the role of automation in driving UAS integration.

Conclusion: Are Automated Risk Assessments the Key to the Future?

The panel concluded with a thought-provoking question: Are automated operational risk assessments the key to unlocking the next level of UAS integration, or do they pose new challenges that need innovative solutions? While automation certainly holds promise for faster approvals, scalable operations, and improved safety metrics, the need for standardization and interoperability is still a significant barrier.

As drone operations continue to grow and become more complex, integrating these tools effectively will be crucial for ensuring both safety and efficiency in shared airspace.

If you missed the live webinar, you can watch the full recording here to gain further insights into how automated operational risk assessment tools are shaping the future of drone operations.

Advisory Circular AC102-1 Unmanned Aircraft – Operator Certification

Advisory Circular AC102-1 Unmanned Aircraft – Operator Certification, New Zealand CAA

The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has recently released an updated version of the Part 102 Advisory Circular (AC) – AC102-1: Unmanned Aircraft – Operator Certification. This marks the first revision since its initial issue in 2015, bringing the guidance up to date with how the Part 102 rule is currently applied by the CAA and utilised by operators. At Hover UAV, we are committed to supporting operators across New Zealand in navigating Part 102 applications with the CAA.

What is AC102-1?

This Advisory Circular (AC) describes an acceptable means of compliance to meet the requirements for certification of unmanned aircraft operators under Civil Aviation Rule Part 102. It:

  • Outlines the requirement to assess risks in Part 102 operations, including developing procedures to manage those risks and achieve safe outcomes.
  • Advises on the development of risk management plans as part of an operator’s exposition, to demonstrate to the CAA that risks to aviation safety are being adequately managed.
  • Describes widely used risk management methodologies and other tools to help operators meet the intent of this rule.

What’s Changed?

The AC has been completely rewritten to ensure it is providing relevant guidance and information for RPA operators in New Zealand. 

Key updates include:

  • Streamlined Content: Removal of the FAQ section, with crucial information rewritten to clarify when Part 102 certification is required.
  • Updated Provisions: Removal of out-of-date transition provisions.
  • Performance-Based Rule Guidance: Enhanced advice on working within a performance-based framework.
  • Submission and Assessment Process: Clearer information on the application and review processes.
  • Risk Management: Comprehensive guidance on managing risks in RPAS operations, including how to develop effective risk management plans.
  • Appendices:
    • Appendix I: Guide to ISO: 31000 – Risk Management. This international standard outlines a widely used methodology for creating and managing risk management plans.
    • Appendix II: Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA). Developed by JARUS (Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems), SORA provides technical, safety, and operational requirements for the safe execution of specific RPAS operations, making it especially valuable for complex and higher-risk operations.
    • Appendix III: Examples of exposition documents tailored to various scenarios, illustrate how an exposition might look based on the privileges and risk level of an operation.


SORA

The inclusion of SORA in the updated AC highlights its value as a key tool for supporting operators in securing Part 102 certification. This internationally recognised risk assessment methodology allows operators to:

  • Conduct detailed risk assessments focused on ground and air risks.
  • Define operational safety objectives.
  • Develop mitigations tailored to the environment and operation’s complexity.

SORA enables operators to balance safety with innovation, facilitating the development of more advanced UAV applications. By following SORA guidelines, operators can demonstrate regulatory compliance while fostering operational excellence.

SORA-Mate

Navigating the regulatory requirements of SORA can be challenging, particularly for operators new to the methodology. That’s where SORA-Mate comes in. This tool simplifies the SORA process by offering:

  • Step-by-Step Guidance: Clear instructions for completing SORA assessments.
  • Customisable Templates: Pre-built templates aligned with CAA-recognised SORA methodology.
  • Built-in Data Integration: Automated processes that pull required data from recognised data sources to minimise errors and save time.

SORA-Mate

SORA-Mate is especially valuable for operators new to SORA, providing an intuitive interface and robust support to streamline compliance and operational excellence.

At Hover UAV, we’re here to support you through these changes. Whether you need assistance with risk assessments, compliance documentation, or developing a SORA, our team is ready to help. Click here to get in touch with one of our team today.

For more information about AC102-1, Revision 1, visit the CAA website.

SORA-Mate

SORA-Mate Automating Drone Risk Assessments

Hover UAV and ANRA Technologies Launch SORA-Mate for Automating Drone Risk Assessments for Safer, Compliant Missions

Streamlined Compliance and Enhanced Safety for Drone Operators in Australia and New Zealand

SORA-Mate, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia – September 24, 2024  – ANRA Technologies, a global leader in airspace management solutions, and Hover UAV, a leading drone regulatory consultancy, today announced the launch of SORA-Mate, an innovative automated risk assessment tool for drone operators in Australia, New Zealand, and the wider APAC region.

As drones become a vital part of daily operations, they transform industries such as agriculture, public safety, and critical infrastructure. Farmers now use drones to monitor crops, while police and fire services deploy them to enhance public safety. In the utility sector, drones help restore essential infrastructure more efficiently after disasters. However, as organisations seek to expand drone usage, they often face regulatory hurdles. Complex and inconsistent application processes frequently lead to lengthy approval wait times from aviation authorities, slowing the adoption of advanced drone operations.

To address these challenges, SORA-Mate was developed to automate the Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) process. By streamlining submissions and ensuring compliance, SORA-Mate simplifies the regulatory journey for both operators and regulators. This automation improves application accuracy, reduces delays, and makes it easier for operators to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights. The platform walks users through risk analysis, mitigation strategies, and report generation by aligning with Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) guidelines. SORA-Mate enables operators to scale efficiently and conduct safe and compliant flights in controlled airspaces.

“SORA-Mate represents a significant leap forward in drone operation safety and efficiency,” said Amit Ganjoo, Founder and CEO of ANRA Technologies. “By automating complex risk assessments, we’re enabling operators to focus on their missions while ensuring the highest standards of safety and regulatory compliance.”

SORA-Mate

Key Features and Benefits of SORA-Mate include:

  • Simplified Risk Assessments: SORA-Mate guides users through the SORA process with an intuitive platform that automatically analyzes risks and recommends effective mitigations.
  • Time-Saving Automation: Generate comprehensive, regulation-ready reports in minutes, eliminating guesswork and reducing stress.
  • Compliance Assurance: SORA-Mate ensures complete compliance with JARUS standards, protecting operations from regulatory issues and enhancing safety.
  • Expert Support: With premium options, users can access the expertise of Hover UAV’s specialists, ensuring applications meet the highest standards and increasing the likelihood of regulatory approval.
  • Optional Aviation Authority Approval: Generate thorough and accurate submissions to aviation authorities, reducing delays and rejections.

“Designed specifically for the unique requirements of Australia and New Zealand, SORA-Mate makes it easy to assess risks, recommend mitigations, and generate detailed, compliant reports in minutes,” said Jackie Dujmovic, Founder and CEO of Hover UAV. “It’s all about flying smarter and safer. The days of tedious paperwork and manual calculations are over.”

SORA-Mate aims to standardize and streamline the risk assessment process for both operators and aviation authorities, potentially accelerating approvals to include Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

The platform offers both basic and premium options, catering to a range of operator needs and expertise levels. In addition to the application features, Hover UAV will provide SORA consultancy for operators that require more direct support. With SORA-Mate, operators can focus on flying, knowing that their compliance needs are met.

“SORA-Mate is designed with the operator in mind,” Jackie Dujmovic, CEO of Hover UAV, continued. “Our platform is not just about compliance; it’s about empowering operators to fly confidently, knowing that their missions are safe and meet all regulatory requirements.”

SORA-Mate will debut in Australia and New Zealand, with other countries planned shortly thereafter, with a rollout focused on markets whose regulatory bodies require SORA submissions to obtain permissions for more complex drone operations.

To showcase the full potential of SORA-Mate, Hover UAV and ANRA Technologies are hosting an exclusive webinar on September 26. Participants will have the opportunity to see live demonstrations, ask questions, and discover how SORA-Mate can transform their drone operations. Interested participants can register at:

To register for the webinar, Click Here

For more information or to subscribe to SORA-Mate, visit: https://www.soramate.co

SORA-Mate

About Hover UAV 

Hover UAV is a leading emerging aviation consultancy specializing in drone regulatory approvals and solutions. The team is committed to enhancing safety and compliance in the rapidly evolving industry. In partnership with ANRA Technologies, Hover UAV developed SORA-Mate as part of the Australian Government’s Emerging Aviation Technology Program, with a mission to standardize and automate drone risk assessments.

About ANRA Technologies 

ANRA Technologies is an international provider of end-to-end drone operations and traffic management solutions for unmanned aircraft operators and airspace managers. ANRA’s software platforms provide users with mission planning, flight execution, data analytics, and regulatory compliance tools.

SORA-Mate

SORA-Mate

Streamlining the SORA and BVLOS Approval Process: SORA-Mate

 

Background

SORA-Mate was developed with support from the Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships Program (EATP). The Australian Government implemented the EATP through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communication to support the growth and development of emerging aviation technologies. The EATP aims to enhance the competitiveness, efficiency, and reliability of the Australian aviation industry. Recognising the complexities and challenges associated with Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) approvals, the EATP supported leading regulatory consultant Hover UAV in partnership with ANRA Technologies, a top provider of unmanned traffic management, to address the critical need for streamlined and standardised risk assessment processes under the JARUS-SORA framework.

The primary goal of SORA-Mate was to create intelligent software for standardised, equitable, and repeatable risk assessments for drone operators and regulatory authorities in support of BVLOS applications. SORA-Mate was designed to facilitate an increasingly automated SORA process that doesn’t compromise safety, streamlining the workflow for both the drone operator and the regulatory authority. Drone operators will get approvals faster, regulators will receive standardised applications, and all stakeholders will have a common framework to assess risk and improve aviation safety. 

JARUS-SORA and SORA-Mate

SORA-Mate is based on the Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) framework, developed by the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS). JARUS is an international group that develops technical, safety, and operational guidelines for the certification and regulation of unmanned systems. The SORA framework provides a comprehensive methodology for assessing and mitigating risks associated with unmanned aircraft operations.

SORA-Mate builds on these principles, offering a user-friendly application that simplifies the risk assessment process. It enables operators to input various parameters of their operations and receive a structured risk assessment, helping them understand potential hazards and the necessary mitigations.

SORA-Mate is equipped with a comprehensive array of data sources integrated into its backend, making it a powerful tool for conducting thorough and standardised risk assessments. This includes detailed information on aerodromes, airspace designations, topography, and population density. By leveraging these data sets, SORA-MATE allows operators to quickly evaluate the specific characteristics of an operational area, accurately identifying both ground and air risks. 

 

SORA-Mate Benefits

SORA-Mate enables operators to easily add additional capabilities, such as BVLOS, to their operations. Due to the streamlined SORA creation process built into SORA-Mate, operators can also save significant amounts of money and staff time.

One of the significant advantages of SORA-Mate is the standardised risk assessments that are outputted. These assessments make it easier for aviation regulators like CASA to review and approve applications. This standardisation can lead to shorter wait times for approvals, increasing operational efficiency for operators. Furthermore, by adhering to a consistent framework, SORA-MATE enhances overall aviation safety, benefiting the entire industry.

SORAMATE

Thanks

We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with industry stakeholders, including the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communication, over the past two years. Their support and guidance have been invaluable in the development of SORA-Mate. As we approach the launch, we are excited to share this tool with the industry and demonstrate its potential to revolutionise drone operations.

Webinar

We will be showcasing SORA-Mate and its capabilities in an upcoming launch webinar. This event will provide an in-depth look at how the tool works, its benefits, and how it can be integrated into existing operations. We invite all interested parties to join us and learn more about how SORA-MATE can transform their approach to drone risk assessment and compliance. Registration can be found here.

More information on SORA-Mate can be found at www.soramate.co

Drone Risk Assesments

Hover UAV & ANRA Technologies Win Aussie Government Technology Grant for Drone Risk Assessments

Hover UAV and ANRA Technologies are excited to announce they are one of the recipients of the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, and the Arts,  $32.6 million Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships program. This two-year program aims to encourage the deployment of emerging aviation technologies to enhance the competitiveness, efficiency, and reliability of Australian aviation. Hover UAV and ANRA Technologies have partnered to design and test a prototype software capability to enable the safe and efficient integration of drones into Australian airspace. The software, SORA-Mate, is an app that can be used on mobile devices or web browsers to satisfy Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) requirements for complex drone operations by creating intelligent software for standardized, equitable, and repeatable Risk Assessments for Drone Operators and Authorities. 

 “We are thrilled to receive this grant and continue to contribute to the shared knowledge of RPAS technologies in Australia,” said Jackie Dujmovic, CEO of Hover UAV. She went on to say, “SORA-Mate is an enabler for BVLoS use cases that will expedite the approval process by streamlining and standardizing workflow while simultaneously reducing workload.”

Australian Specific Operational Risk Assessment (SORA) assessments are generated manually, with each submission assessed individually by the Australian CASA. The number of SORA assessments submitted to aviation authorities will increase as drone operators conduct more complex operations, in line with the growing need to fly Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLoS). To avoid delays and improve response times, the review of risk assessments needs to be prompt, uniformly applied, and scalable for different applications. As a starting point, presenting risk assessments in a standardised way allows CASA reviewers to make evidence-based decisions in a timely and repeatable manner.

“By making the process easier and known for both the aviation authority and drone operator, SORA-Mate will lower barriers to entry for BVLoS operations and increase productivity,” said Amit Ganjoo, Founder and CEO of ANRA Technologies. “We are thrilled to be partnered with Hover UAV to develop technology that we envision will help the Australian government and drone operators.”   

SORA-Mate uses the CASA-mandated Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) approach to guide both the applicant and the competent authority in determining whether an operation can be conducted in a safe manner. The project will incorporate an iterative process in which the risk of complex drone operations is systematically identified. Using an intuitive graphical user interface, operators determine where, when, and how they perform the operation without endangering people and objects in the air or on the ground. At the end of this process, there is a detailed description of the planned operation, the risks associated with it, and the measures required to mitigate the risks.

SORA-Mate will connect the operator’s submission with the aviation authority for assessment, expediting the feedback loop. Drone operators will get approvals faster, CASA gains access to more data for analytics, and all stakeholders will have a common framework to assess risk and improve aviation safety. SORA-Mate’s simplified process will greatly benefit the drone community, facilitating fair and equitable access to airspace for all drone operations. The envisioned solution will provide aviation authorities with a tool to measure and assess risk using an internationally recognized methodology while simultaneously providing drone operators a known path for getting safely airborne. 

 “Safety in aviation relies on getting the basics right. SORA-Mate provides that platform for drone operators to achieve their safety objectives in a structured and understandable way,” said Nicola MacPhail, Emerging Aviation Lead at Hover UAV.

The SORA is critical to ensuring safe complex drone operations such as BVLoS. The process of developing these risk assessments can be cumbersome and overwhelming to some drone operators while increasing the workload on aviation authorities. SORA-Mate will help accelerate the early adoption of emerging aviation technologies by dramatically improving the decision timeline and instilling standardization. The project’s expectation is to create a nationwide framework, based on SORA approvals and information technology, enabling drone operator submissions for thorough aviation authority reviews at scale. 

Hover UAV

As one of Australia’s leading drone consulting companies Hover UAV’s extensive knowledge of the Australian airspace ecosystem and experience in developing BVLoS applications will support the SORA-Mate project by providing expertise for CONOPs development, risk assessments, and stakeholder liaison.  Additionally, Hover UAV will lead the management of live flight trials, leveraging their experience as drone operators for BvLoS operations. www.hoveruav.com.au

ANRA Technologies

ANRA Technologies is an international provider of airspace management solutions for autonomous aircraft operators and airspace managers. ANRA offers intelligent and modular traffic management software capabilities for UAS Traffic Management (UTM)/U-space and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. For organizations that need an enterprise-class drone operations solution, ANRA offers Mission Manager, and for delivery solutions, ANRA offers DELIVERY. Learn more by visiting www.flyanra.com

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