Sentera LLC, a Minneapolis-headquartered designer of sensors, software and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has been granted a Section 333 exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate multiple types of UAVs.
According to the exemption grant, the company is permitted to use the DJI Phantom 2, DJI Phantom 3, DJI Inspire 1, Lockheed Martin Indago and Sentera Phoenix for applications including crop survey, infrastructure inspection, geospatial mapping and other aerial imaging missions.
Eric Taipale, company CEO, notes, “While most exemption holders focus on providing revenue-generating flight services, Sentera flies primarily to demonstrate our products to customers and to gather and analyze aerial data, which helps us enhance our OnTop platform, a data management system designed specifically to support the thousands of images collected during a typical UAV flight.”
Sentera says its wide variety of authorized UAVs ensures the company can capture a range of data types relevant to customer applications, including very high-resolution visual, multispectral and thermal imagery, as well as specialized, non-image information.
Customers use Sentera input data to perform tasks such as developing planting and crop management advice for growers; building 3D models of buildings, structures and terrain for asset owners; and monitoring environmental regulatory compliance for public agencies.
