ARLINGTON, Va., ― FLIR Systems, Inc. recently announced that it has acquired the intellectual property (IP) and certain operating assets of Aria Insights, Inc. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
Previously known as CyPhy Works, Inc., Aria pushed development of tethered small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). Founded in 2008 by iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner and backed by investors, Aria notably developed the Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance and Communications (PARC) tethered drone. The company ceased operations in March 2019.
Tethered drones connect to a base station or vehicle by microfilament wire, which provides both continuous power and secure communications. For certain applications, a tethered drone offers advantages over a free-flying UAS, enabling sustained operations on longer missions and persistent situational awareness so users can perform intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) functions.
The Aria assets will be integrated into FLIR’s Unmanned Systems and Integrated Solutions Division, augmenting the company’s technology portfolio built from its acquisitions of Prox Dynamics in 2016 and Aeryon Labs and Endeavor Robotics earlier this year.
