A Skolkovo startup is training Russia’s Emergencies Ministry in the art of drone piloting as the government seeks innovative new ways of responding to disasters in hard-to-reach areas.
Aerob CEO Andrei Mamontov delivers the training package to the Emergencies Ministry. Photo: sk.ru
The ministry is creating a specially trained unit able to control all manner of unmanned aerial vehicles, not just those produced by Aerob, one of the country’s leading drone developers and a resident of Skolkovo’s space and telecommunications cluster.
Aerob CEO Andrei Mamontov recently delivered simulator software to the ministry's Civil Defense Academy for piloting the drones. The software is generic, meaning it is applicable to drones manufactured by Aerob and other companies across the world.
The Civil Defense Academy. Photo: sk.ru
“Working with Skolkovo residents like Aerob is an example of successful cooperation between government and private business,” said Sergei Shchukarev, the head of the training center. “We have equipped our labs with the unmanned aerial vehicles that the training is based upon. And we are planning to develop our links with Aerob further: the trainee corps is expanding along with the types of drones that we will be using,” he added.
Aerob is one of Skolkovo’s flagship resident startups, producing artificial intelligence drones for government and civilian use, one of the first Russian companies to do so. Its drones carry out a wide range of functions, including aerial photography and filming, online and offline video monitoring, cartography, and orthophotography for mapping that eliminates depth perspective.
Applications range from early detection of forest fires to other emergency situations such as disaster relief and response. Wildfires break out in Russia’s vast forests and peat bogs every year, causing widespread, though usually localized, damage.
Undergraduates of the Civil Defense Academy try out the simulator. Photo: sk.ru
CEO Andrei Mamontov told sk.ru that the training package included a model of the drone plus a software package for simulation purposes.
“Our main goal is to present a universal product that can be implemented at government ministries like the Emergencies Ministry,” he said.
Aerob plans to develop its training package to include the drones produced by all five Skolkovo resident companies that provide similar services, Mamontov said.
“That way, any trained operator of the Academy is able to use various types of drones in different areas,” he added.
The Academy is the main higher school of the Emergencies Ministry, a major research and methodical center for the development works in the field of civil defense and for scientific manpower training. It provides both undergraduate and postgraduate education for personnel and executives in the fields of civil defense, emergency prevention and elimination, economic mobilization activities.
The Academy consists of two institutes, six faculties, 27 departments, seven other centers, one sports and fitness complex, a training experimental complex, and a fire training unit.