Readying for the Age of AAM

Founded in 2014, Salt Lake City, Utah’s Robotic Skies is the world’s sole global maintenance network for commercial Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The company’s field support infrastructure—which spans upwards of fifty nations—includes over 250 independently owned and operated FAA Part 145 repair stations and the international equivalents thereof.

Robotic Skies offers a comprehensive turnkey field service program devised to keep commercial UAS platforms safely and affordably aloft. The company’s services include airworthiness certifications assistance, routine and field maintenance, inspections, component distribution and installation, and upgrades.

In October 2022, Robotic Skies launched SPAN, a cloud-based software solution that facilitates the management and tracking of maintenance and repairs performed upon UAS and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) vehicles.

SPAN integrates information across Robotic Skies’ global Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) network, thereby enabling UAV operators, insurance underwriters, and regulatory agencies to contemporaneously track individual airframes, powerplants, avionics, life- and time-limited components, and command and control systems.

To better ensure timely network-wide dissemination of data germane to safety and regulatory compliance, SPAN allows UAV manufacturers to autonomously upload their respective products’ maintenance and flight manuals to the system’s database. What’s more, SPAN permits UAV OEMs to verify warranty status, confirm compliance with service bulletins, and monitor reliability data conducive to product improvement.

UAS/AAM manufacturers and operators are collectively cognizant of the fact their machines’ access to controlled airspace is contingent, in part, upon the development and implementation of standardized compliance practices—to include formalized maintenance programs and accurate, regulatorily-compliant recordkeeping. To that end, Robotic Skies’ SPAN software solution facilitates management and tracking of both scheduled and ad hoc maintenance and repairs conducted by Repair Stations within the company’s network of service providers. Robotic Skies customers may utilize maintenance and repair data compiled by SPAN to improve operational efficiency and establish optimal maintenance intervals.

Robotic Skies founder and CEO Brad Hayden remarked: “Reliable data collection, analysis and prediction will be essential to safe and productive remotely-piloted aircraft operations, and SPAN encompasses all aspects of service and maintenance activity across our global network.”

In January 2021, Mr. Hayden was appointed to the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee for purpose of helping the agency develop a viable strategy by which UAS/AAM platforms may be safely integrated into the United States’ National Airspace System (NAS).

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