WindShape, a Swiss company established in 2016, has been revolutionising the drone industry through research, development, testing, inspection, certification, and validation.
In an effort to extend its global presence, WindShape is announcing a strategic partnership with the Osage tribal nation, to open a cutting-edge indoor drone testing and validation facility at the Skyway36 Droneport and Technology Innovation Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Spanning an impressive 19,000 square feet, this facility will be operated exclusively by WindShape and will utilise its groundbreaking ‘Windshaper’ technology, to create an indoor free-flight laboratory, simulating natural wind & weather profiles for precise and reliable test results.
Tulsa a major innovation hub and technology influencer
Guillaume Catry, co-founder and CEO of WindShape, said: “After extensive exploration and engagement with the remarkable people representing the Oklahoma region, WindShape believes that Tulsa will become a major innovation hub and technology influencer in the emerging uncrewed aircraft and Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) industry.
“We are glad that our solutions, focused on enabling the industry through testing and certification, will contribute to consolidate the regional effort and strategy. Today, testing uncrewed aircraft, or ‘drones’, for commercial operations is often expensive and inefficient, with limited repeatability and inadequate digital tools for capturing data for compliance and validation.
“We will address these issues that are critical for this industry, with our exclusive ‘Windshaper’ technology to simulate any drone flight situation in a laboratory environment. The facility will house eight specialised labs, each designed to test and validate different drone systems, such as a climate lab for assessing weather resilience, a propulsion lab to validate propulsion units, and two free-flight activity labs equipped with motion tracking cameras, GPS generators, and other digital tools that simulate a drone’s flight mission.”
Testing and validation services
Craig Mahaney, CEO of Droneport Network, which oversees the Skyway36 centre, stated: “WindShape will provide unparalleled testing and validation services for drones at a single indoor facility. As a result of the BBB Regional Challenge and the $38.2 million federal grant, the TRAM Cluster has been established, forming a ‘super region’ for advanced uncrewed transportation systems in the Tulsa region.
“The WindShape test center will play a vital role in evaluating operational risks and validating safety for flights within the test corridor and the National Airspace System (NAS).”
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