senseFly, a company that develops, assembles and markets autonomous mini-UAS, is using Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets for humanitarian missions.The UAS are, according to Adam Klaptocz, head of Hardware and Mechanical Engineering at senseFly: “Basically, just an automatic map-making tool. They have an interface, you say I want a map of the area, you draw a rectangle around it and the rest is automatic.”
The first missions where the Swiss company used the Surface Pro devices was to Haiti after the earthquake where the company teamed up with the International Organisation of Migration.
Klaptocz, who is also co-founder of Drone Adventures, a company which does mapping missions around the world for humanitarian aid, explained: “What was amazing was I could walk around and look at the drones and be at the field while holding a powerful tablet computer in my hand.”
He is also using the tablet in his latest mission in the Philippines after Typhoon Yolanda.
Klaptocz said: “Surface is the most beautiful marriage of a tablet and a powerful computer in one small, lightweight device. When I’m out in the field, I need something in my hand that is a tablet I can easily work with. Once the drone comes to the ground, I need a powerful computer that can easily process the data into a model.”
“Surface allows us to bring our drone technology to the four corners of the planet to make the world a better place,” he added.
Source: OnWindows