Esri UK-heliguy partnership realises end-to-end drone solution for Emergency Services

Esri UK and heliguy will work on joint customer projects, aiming to introduce more efficient workflows and new capabilities, among them the rapid creation of Full Motion Video, real-time drone surveillance programmes, digital twins and 3D models of buildings.

New approaches will include both cloud and desktop data processing and storage, in turn enabling faster sharing of drone data and integration with other systems such as GIS. Esri UK’s current customers include the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service and the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, while heliguy counts the London Fire Brigade and Greater Manchester Police among its client base.

“From creating digital twins and real-time surveillance to emergency planning, asset inspections and fire risk assessment, the use of drones is increasing and, at the same time, becoming more complex,” explained Adrian Friend, head of defence, national security and public safety at Esri UK. “The end-to-end approach will give users sophisticated fleet management and remote flight planning workflows combined with geospatial analysis. This is vital in delivering drone data to teams on the ground or in operations centres so that faster decisions can be made. By providing a single source of hardware and software, the new partnership makes the procurement process more efficient.” 

Designed to streamline current processes, from drone hardware selection and management through to data capture, analysis and sharing, the partnership will make it easier and more cost-effective for customers to create tightly integrated drone programmes readily able to scale across an organisation.

“Defence and public safety organisations are now looking to maximise their drone investment as new workflows begin to emerge,” stated Ben Sangster, GIS and survey lead at heliguy. “New payload sensors recently launched will now enable high-fidelity mapping to be achieved much faster than before. Combining our hardware expertise with Esri UK’s software will reap new benefits for defence and public safety-focused drone programmes.”