It’s worthwhile to look back at the past—to never forget your roots and goals of becoming the best drone company in Florida. Back in November 2019, the FLYMOTION team was recognized as 1 of 50 Florida Companies To Watch through GrowFL.

GrowFL is dedicated to supporting and accelerating the growth of second-stage companies throughout the state of Florida. Since 2009, GrowFL has assisted more than 1000 companies through their strategic research and CEO Roundtable programs.

In November 2019, at Hard Rock Live at Universal CityWalk in Orlando, FL, FLYMOTION accepted GrowFL’s 2019 Florida Company To Watch Award! We were selected from over 500 nominees as one of 50 Florida Companies To Watch. Our entire staff was and still is thrilled to be recognized for not only our growth track and future success, but the impact we continuously make on the Florida economy. Our goal of Supporting Those Who Serve is only enhanced by the recognition as a drone solutions provider.

After being chosen as a finalist, our CEO, Ryan English, was interviewed and GrowFL featured our company biography and history on their site. Below is a snippet with a link to the full article directly below.

“Ever since he could remember, Ryan English was always an entrepreneur. From mowing lawns in the summer to snow blowing driveways in the winter, he always expressed the qualities of a business owner.

“I thoroughly enjoy innovation,” he said. “It’s important to continue trying to push the envelope which is what I like about entrepreneurship; it allows you to create your own destiny.” After spending over 15 years in public safety, English decided it was time to pursue his passion for innovation and entrepreneurship—and so, FLYMOTION was born.”
We are excited to announce we have added 9 jobs yielding a 60% job growth rate between 2017 and 2018. During that same time, FLYMOTION has yielded a 284% increase in revenue growth as we provide public safety, government, and defense clients unmanned systems and innovative technology solutions.

FLYMOTION has traditionally been seen as a company that provides the eco-system of drone technology solutions and services. It’s more than just drone technology. The eco-system encompasses training, mobile command centers, drone detection and more for public safety, government, defense, and critical infrastructure. While this is a core competency of our company, it’s only one part. FLYMOTION is very diversified in the end-to-end technology solutions we provide. FLYMOTION is much “more than drones.”

Connectivity is the foundation that holds technology stably in place today. FLYMOTION has organically grown into the connectivity vertical and provides multiple innovative technologies. Our team has done research and development to optimize the construction of networks, hardware, and devices for public safety, first responders, and critical infrastructure.

Network Accessibility

At the root of connectivity is 4G/LTE and the cellular providers. AT&T answers the call to connectivity with their priority, preemptive, first-responder only network called FirstNet. Verizon, another global network provider also has a dedicated network called Verizon Priority. FLYMOTION is fortunate to have partnerships with both of these providers to offer solutions and options to public safety.

Our goal is two-fold. The first is to provide state-of-the-art hardware solutions to critical first responders and personnel. Combining those devices with innovative software allows for easy streaming and accessibility in the field. Accessibility is only part of the software solution; connectivity is the other half.

An example of those capabilities is converting an incoming signal to usable WiFi. Wireless connectivity is an extremely valuable requirement by many of our clients. To fulfill this requirement, FLYMOTION has partnered with Cradlepoint, the leader in router technologies. Their multi-SIM technology allows end-users to join multiple carriers to create a singular, powerful WiFi source. FLYMOTION developed the Mission Case LTE to simplify this much-needed requirement for field operations. With an internal power source, solar connectivity, and a hard carrying case, this mission-critical solution is powered by Cradlepoint routers.

Cradlepoint’s Case Study

In a case study, Cradlepoint stated, “With public safety often at stake, FLYMOTION’s customers require their command and control vehicles and ruggedized communication kits to meet their needs 24/7. With all disaster response scenarios, constant wireless internet connectivity is essential. Capturing and sending real-time video expedites damage assessment and mapping of an affected area, but it also requires ample bandwidth.” (Credit: Cradlepoint)

FLYMOTION utilizes the Dejero portfolio of products because their focus lies within enhanced live-streaming. With that being said, connectivity is as important as live-streaming. Dejero’s systems blend diverse connectivity paths to deliver enhanced reliability, expanded coverage, and greater bandwidth. The various built-in satellite capabilities deliver low-latency reliable data. Field responders and/or organizations working remotely are able to experience the benefits firsthand.

Our partnership with Panasonic, the leader in ruggedized tablets and laptops, allows us to provide full-circle solutions for agencies and organizations. Our team can demonstrate which devices and services would benefit your team, given individual requirements.

“More Than Drones”

Additional devices we provide include the Samsung Galaxy series and Sonim products to allow our drone equipment to seamlessly blend into the ecosystem of connected technologies. With accessories for these like the nEar—the best in-ear and over-ear micro-speakers available—FLYMOTION will ensure you have everything necessary for ease of communication and emergency preparedness.

FLYMOTION takes pride in our diversified technology solutions. We design every solution with a specific purpose. That purpose is equipping the end-user with everything they need from training and operations to disaster and emergency response efforts.

Command vehicles have always been an asset in the field. Pairing mobile command vehicles with highly reliable connectivity makes disaster and critical responses easier. With confidence in your network, you can operate in any location and climate.

In the case study from Cradlepoint, “FLYMOTION was the world’s first provider of mobile drone command and control vehicles, which serve as home base for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, in the field. These products integrate technologies that enable live video acquisition, management, and distribution—all done in a mobile, centralized location. The company also extends its services outside the vehicles through ruggedized mobile communication and network kits, or the Mission Case LTE, which can be used to connect drones to command centers or to provide pop-up WiFi in remote locations.” (Credit: Cradlepoint)

Veteran-Owned; Supporting Those Who Serve

FLYMOTION is Veteran-owned and founded by public safety professionals. Our leadership team has the experience and fundamentals you would require, which gives us the innate ability to understand the requirements and provide end-to-end solutions that support those who serve. If FLYMOTION can assist your agency or organization with connectivity solutions, mobile device technology or training, please reach out to us.

Every day, the dangers of COVID-19 continue to threaten the health of  “essential business” employees, medical workers, and first responders as they serve their communities. We have seen the extreme efforts made by all through social distancing, contactless interactions, and sheltering in place. But the question remains- how do we further protect our public servants with jobs where exposure is inevitable?

The many solutions FLYMOTION provides are assisting agencies nationwide in their response to the coronavirus.

During a recent interview with Fox News, Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer, head of Daytona Beach Police Department’s drone program, spoke on how their program is keeping DBPD officers safe during this worldwide pandemic. In 2017, FLYMOTION assisted DBPD in creating a state-of-the-art drone program, ready to assist with their daily operations such as search and rescue, fleeing suspects, and accident reconstruction.

“When COVID-19 showed up, we tried to think, ‘How can we leverage this same technology to help keep our officers and the community safe?’,” commented Ehrenkaufer.

DBPD has been able to use the versatile drone fleet provided by FLYMOTION to preserve officer safety. At a distance, DBPD patrols can deploy UAS platforms, equipped with speakers, to instruct large groups to disperse in order to comply with CDC guidelines.

“We could fly them over these crowds, make an announcement, a nice gentle announcement; nobody wants to be yelled at, and ask them if they could please just disperse for their safety and ours.”

In general, the “talking drones” have surprised the public, but have proved to be a highly effective tool. DBPD has seen 100% compliance with the orders issued by their FLYMOTION drone solutions.

“[We] send the drone in there to make the same announcement and keep the officer safe, keep the community safe, and keep everybody happy.”

Some of the uses cases presented by drones during this pandemic are:

• Patrol Areas and Inform the Public
• Deliver Critical Supplies
• Disinfect Hospitals and Public Spaces
• Thermal Sensing

Looking at this list, many wonder how drones could be used to disinfect an area.

Sgt. Ehrenkaufer summaries this capability well, “Some drones that have been slated for agriculture, have the ability to add sprayers to the arms of them and you can load it up with whatever disinfectant you want to use, fly it over the area, let it mist out, and disinfect the area. You essentially could get a whole park within a matter of 5-10 minutes instead of sending in a crew of 20 people taking 2 hours to wipe everything down.”

Once the drone has disinfected the area, how would you disinfect the drone? FLYMOTION offers a one-of-a-kind solution for this as well, the DDK (Drone Decon Kit). Engineered by our resident HazMat specialist and firefighter for Southern Manatee Fire Rescue, Rich Gatanis, the DDK is a must-have for any organization looking to use a drone in a potentially infectious or contaminated area. Traditional decontamination methods can corrode or damage critical components. The Drone Decon Kit, developed by FLYMOTION in partnership with First Line Technology, includes everything needed to safely decontaminate your drone.

Advanced approaches are essential in our response to the coronavirus pandemic. As we work to flatten the curve, save lives, and protect those on the front lines, FLYMOTION can help your team have success stories just like Daytona Beach Police Department and Southern Manatee Fire Rescue. Our solutions continue to Support Those Who Serve, especially in times of crisis.

In case you missed it, one of our partners Cradlepoint profiled FLYMOTION and our connectivity solutions as a case study. The below article was taken from their website; credit: Cradlepoint.

Summary

FLYMOTION sends its drone command and control vehicles, along with mobile communication kits, into emergency response situations. Thus, its customers rely on high performance, always-on LTE connectivity through NetCloud Service for IoT, including edge computing, SD-Perimeter technology for device-to-cloud security, and cloud configuration and troubleshooting, all delivered via an IoT gateway, to keep reports, videos, mapping, and images moving between field forces and headquarters.

Customer Profile

FLYMOTION was the world’s first provider of mobile drone command and control vehicles, which serve as home base for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, in the field. These products integrate technologies that enable live video acquisition, management, and distribution—all in a centralized location that can be moved whenever necessary. The company also extends its services outside the vehicles through ruggedized mobile communication and network kits, or Mission Cases, which can be used to connect drones to command centers or to provide pop-up WiFi in remote locations.

“The Mission Case really is a ruggedized mobile connectivity solution for connecting anything requiring Internet access,” said Ryan English, FLYMOTION’s CEO and co-founder.

Beyond 110v outlet compatibility, Mission Case features the ability to be fielded during extended deployments. When generators are unavailable, field use can utilize internal battery power, with the minimum capacity of an 11-hour charge, which can also be augmented with solar panels for remote charging.

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, FLYMOTION builds custom technology solutions, mostly for government agencies and security organizations throughout the world. Agencies have hired FLYMOTION to deploy its own integrated technologies on their behalf as part of disaster response and security operations.

Organizational Needs

With public safety often at stake, FLYMOTION’s customers require their command and control vehicles and ruggedized communication kits to meet their needs 24×7. Especially in disaster response scenarios, constant wireless Internet connectivity is essential. Capturing and sending real-time video expedites damage assessment and mapping of an affected area, but it also requires ample bandwidth.

For flexibility in a wide range of locations, public safety agencies also need the ability to easily switch from one carrier to another — and even, when necessary, to use multiple carriers simultaneously.

Anytime potentially sensitive public agency information is being collected, stored, and sent, data security is another important box to check. Additionally, FLYMOTION required a small and highly durable network solution for its Mission Cases.

Solutions

In its mobile drone command and control vehicles. FLYMOTION integrated Cradlepoint’s dual-modem, enterprise-grade advanced edge routers, which fit nicely in the sizable equipment racks located inside each vehicle.

FLYMOTION’s Mission Cases leverage compact, ruggedized routers from Cradlepoint’s services, which enable multiple SIMs from different carriers in the same device.

To save money and man-hours FLYMOTION leveraged remote cloud management through Cradlepoint’s cloud management service, NetCloud Manager.

Benefits

HIGHLY RELIABLE & FLEXIBLE WIRELESS WAN

High-performance LTE-enabled solutions help FLYMOTION and agencies stay connected to drone-delivered videos and photos during emergencies.

In mobile command vehicles, dual-modem functionality enables load balancing and multi-carrier, wireless-to-wireless failover. Also, with Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) functionality built into Cradlepoint’s NetCloud Service, vehicles using multiple modems can have automated traffic steering between the two links based on preset metrics for latency, jitter, signal strength, and data usage. Mobile SD-WAN helps ensure optimal app performance and uptime.

In the communication kits, dual SIMs and Cradlepoint’s Auto Carrier Selection technology allow organizations to quickly — and remotely through NetCloud — switch from one carrier to another carrier that is offering better performance at that time. This level of flexibility is crucial during emergencies, as demonstrated post-Hurricane Irma in 2017, when crews for utility companies were using roving patrols in heavily damaged areas and needed to send data and messages to and from headquarters.

“To see these LTE-connected Mission Cases work in real-world operations as part of Hurricane Irma recovery efforts really proved the value,” English said.

While hundreds of cell towers were inoperable, FLYMOTION solutions — featuring high-gain antennas — ensured network access at a time when downtime would have been unacceptable.

SAVING TIME, SAVING LIVES

During the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, utility companies used constantly connected mobile communication kits and drones to streamline their disaster response and get services up and running as quickly as possible.

“With Cradlepoint’s help, FLYMOTION helped utility companies literally shave days off their Hurricane Irma restoration efforts, which in turn saved lives in facilities running low on generator fuel,” English said.

In the past, if a utility restoration crew came upon an inaccessible area, they would mark it and move on. After Irma, and with Cradlepoint’s LTE solution, FLYMOTION would deploy drones, get video footage and images of the remote sites and equipment, and send that data back to the customer immediately to enable timely and accurate prioritization of recovery efforts.

FLYMOTION was called upon by law enforcement to use its drones during search-and-rescue efforts when a 9-year-old girl was missing in Florida. She was found alive after an 18-hour search party.

“During an emergency, a solution that saves time is a solution that saves lives,” English said.

“As officials and volunteers searched for this missing child, we used our Mission Case with a Cradlepoint solution to live stream drone imagery to the command center,” English said.

LOCATION TRACKING FOR IMPROVED SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

Active GPS, supported by Cradlepoint solutions, enables geofencing and provides real-time information and alerts regarding the whereabouts of an agency’s vehicles and Mission Cases in the field. “Some agencies really embrace the active GPS functionality for location tracking, which boosts situational awareness in scenarios where real-time data is invaluable,” English said.

RUGGEDIZED FOR EXTREME CONDITIONS

FLYMOTION’s ruggedized Mission Cases, which meet the MIL-SPEC standard, include Cradlepoint’s ruggedized IoT routers that are able to withstand a vast array of conditions. The routers feature enterprise-grade operating specifications and protect against vibration, shock, dust, splash, and humidity. They continue working within a broad temperature range of -22 °F to 158 °F.

FLEXIBLE SECURITY OF SENSITIVE DATA

Cradlepoint’s all-in-one, enterprise-grade solutions provide the excellent security that agencies need for the sensitive data they gather.

“Information security is essential for public safety agencies. Cradlepoint’s inclusion of stateful firewall, VPN capabilities, content filtering, and other advanced security features in one solution has been a major benefit,” English said.

As needs arise, agencies can add Zscaler Internet Security for content filtering and CP Secure Threat Management for IPS/IDS, powered by Trend Micro.

SEAMLESS INTEGRATION

Cradlepoint’s open API makes it easy for FLYMOTION to unite a wide variety of technologies, devices, and applications into one system.

“That is our pipeline — our central core — for network management. It’s all being run through there. Cradlepoint has made this piece quite easy,” English said.

REMOTE NETWORK MANAGEMENT

Whether in a FLYMOTION vehicle-based command center or a compact communication kit such as Mission Case, Cradlepoint’s connectivity solutions can be remotely monitored and managed through a single pane of glass, which can greatly reduce time spent troubleshooting connectivity challenges.

“That network visibility to control anytime and anywhere is a significant opportunity for time and cost savings that agencies can take advantage of through NetCloud Manager,” English said.

Combating COVID-19 with Technology

Progressive technology has proven useful in multiple facets of public safety. The efficiency and overall safety these technologies offer to our first responders are unprecedented, transforming how daily operations are performed.

Law enforcement in Bellaire, TX has effectively been using drones for capturing wanted suspects. Search and rescue teams in Minnesota have had many successful cases expediting their search by directing ground teams from the air. Hazmat teams in Manatee County, FL have also been using this technology to identify and mitigate dangerous threats in their community. For more detailed information on these use cases, see the case studies below:

Bellaire, TX | Minnesota | Manatee County, FL

Why Should Our Response to COVID-19 Be Any Different?

As we face a worldwide pandemic, first responders and medical workers will be putting their personal safety on the line to help protect their communities. With an increased need for public services, putting progressive technology in the hands of our first responders is critical. Below are some basic ways progressive technology can assist in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assisted Surveillance

To expedite nationwide coronavirus testing, the federal government is mandating rapid drive-through testing centers in store parking lots across the country. At these pop-up sites, first responders anticipate an influx of vehicles and nervous crowds, warranting a need for enhanced situational awareness. Drones like the Matrice 210 V2 and the Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual provide aerial surveillance for responders on the ground. With a 30-minute flight time and tether capabilities for the M210, an eye in the sky is a simple and fast solution.

Field Connectivity

Working in unconventional places and conditions is a new reality for first responders across the country. Connectivity is key, especially for those in LTE-deprived communities. Given the urgency of the current situation, our technical teams have developed field-ready portable connectivity kits to create an instant network for your team in the field. From general communication to video streaming to data transfer; our field-ready portable connectivity kits are compact and easy to use. Take a look at the FLYMOTION Mission Case LTE as a reference.

Controlled Exposure

Drones and similar equipment can easily become contaminated with COVID-19 and other dangerous substances in an operational setting. For this reason, using progressive technology in the field, especially when it comes to HazMat and CBRNe response, can be challenging. FLYMOTION recently overcame this challenge with the Drone Decontamination Kit. This ruggedized, rapidly-deployable decon kit allows agencies to protect expensive equipment, like drones, and rapidly re-deploy technology without putting lives at risk.

Fulfilling our model of “Supporting Those Who Serve,” FLYMOTION is ready to assist your agency and your response to COVID-19.

We are prepared to deliver all products with fully-charged batteries and software updated and configured to meet your needs at NO COST.

In addition, we are opening our technical support line to ALL AGENCIES nationwide and internationally. The call to Support Those Who Serve goes beyond assisting our client base alone; we encourage ALL members of public safety to reach out to us.

How can FLYMOTION help you maximize your available resources? With our diverse catalog of versatile technologies, you can prepare your agency for an immediate response to COVID-19 while investing in your agency’s future response tactics.

Contact our team today for assistance as we support those who serve.

Thank you,
The FLYMOTION Team

Hillsborough County, home to the city of Tampa, FL, is located directly north of Manatee county where the towns of Bradenton and Sarasota are located. A few months ago, a rather distressful call came into the Sarasota County Fire Department (SCFD) regarding HazMat. A fire alarm tied to a chemical monitoring system triggered the call, informing first responders of an anhydrous ammonia leak at an industrial facility.

Upon arriving on the scene, the SCFD could not ascertain the source of the leak. Nearby, the Southern Manatee Fire & Rescue (SMFR) department was dispatched, specifically for their HazMat Team to join the investigation.

SMFR Firefighter, EMT, and UAS Coordinator Rich Gatanis along with his Lieutenant and another firefighter took action by putting their DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual and DJI Matrice 210 into the air to provide thermal imaging in order to detect the leak without compromising human safety.

Furthermore, it was about more than leak detection. Situational awareness was key here to resolve the leak and maintain integrity over the scene for the HazMat team during the decontamination phase of the call with the FLYMOTION Drone Decon Kit (DDK).

To inquire further about the Drone Decon Kit, email our team at sales@flymotionus.com. To go more in-depth, click here to finish the article.