Case Studies Black Swift Technologies Creates Research Drones Tough Enough for Volcanoes

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	Black Swift Technologies Creates Research Drones Tough Enough for Volcanoes

Black Swift Technologies Creates Research Drones Tough Enough for Volcanoes

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries	Aerospace National Security & Defense
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Digital Twin Predictive Maintenance Remote Asset Management
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	Black Swift Technologies (BST) designs and manufactures unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for scientific missions in extreme conditions. The BST product development team faced significant challenges with their previous on-premise CAD system, particularly with version management. The inability to revert to earlier iterations of drone designs led to wasted time and effort, as engineers were forced to recreate previous work. This inefficiency was a major hindrance, especially given the demanding environments in which their drones operate, such as the Arctic, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and volcanoes. The need for a more efficient and reliable CAD system became evident as BST sought to improve their design process and better support their research missions. Read More
About Customer	Black Swift Technologies (BST) is a Colorado-based company specializing in the design and manufacture of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for scientific missions in extreme conditions. Their drones are used for monitoring and assessing environments such as the Arctic landscape, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and volcanoes. BST frequently collaborates with government agencies like NASA, NOAA, and USGS to build better models of turbulent environments, providing more accurate predictions of danger levels and event severity. The company's advanced aerial research platform, the Black Swift S2, has been instrumental in projects like the East Greenland Ice-Core Project, which studies the Greenland Ice Sheet and its impact on future sea-level changes. BST's commitment to innovation and safety in extreme conditions makes them a key player in the aerospace industry. Read More
Solution	To address the challenges with their previous CAD system, Black Swift Technologies switched to Onshape, a cloud-native product development platform. Onshape's built-in data management features, such as 'unlimited undo/redo' and comprehensive edit history, allowed BST engineers to revert to any prior stage of their drone designs instantly. This capability eliminated the inefficiencies and frustrations associated with version control in their previous system. Additionally, Onshape's Branching and Merging feature enabled the BST team to explore different design ideas in separate branches and merge the best ideas into one model. This encouraged more experimentation without the risk of impacting the original design. Onshape's portability was another significant advantage, as it allowed BST to run the CAD software on nearly any device or operating system, including Linux, which they use for software development. This flexibility eliminated the need for high-performance PCs dedicated to running CAD, further streamlining their design process. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Aerospace

National Security & Defense

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Digital Twin

Predictive Maintenance

Remote Asset Management

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

Black Swift Technologies (BST) designs and manufactures unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for scientific missions in extreme conditions. The BST product development team faced significant challenges with their previous on-premise CAD system, particularly with version management. The inability to revert to earlier iterations of drone designs led to wasted time and effort, as engineers were forced to recreate previous work. This inefficiency was a major hindrance, especially given the demanding environments in which their drones operate, such as the Arctic, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and volcanoes. The need for a more efficient and reliable CAD system became evident as BST sought to improve their design process and better support their research missions.

About Customer

Black Swift Technologies (BST) is a Colorado-based company specializing in the design and manufacture of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for scientific missions in extreme conditions. Their drones are used for monitoring and assessing environments such as the Arctic landscape, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and volcanoes. BST frequently collaborates with government agencies like NASA, NOAA, and USGS to build better models of turbulent environments, providing more accurate predictions of danger levels and event severity. The company's advanced aerial research platform, the Black Swift S2, has been instrumental in projects like the East Greenland Ice-Core Project, which studies the Greenland Ice Sheet and its impact on future sea-level changes. BST's commitment to innovation and safety in extreme conditions makes them a key player in the aerospace industry.

Solution

To address the challenges with their previous CAD system, Black Swift Technologies switched to Onshape, a cloud-native product development platform. Onshape's built-in data management features, such as 'unlimited undo/redo' and comprehensive edit history, allowed BST engineers to revert to any prior stage of their drone designs instantly. This capability eliminated the inefficiencies and frustrations associated with version control in their previous system. Additionally, Onshape's Branching and Merging feature enabled the BST team to explore different design ideas in separate branches and merge the best ideas into one model. This encouraged more experimentation without the risk of impacting the original design. Onshape's portability was another significant advantage, as it allowed BST to run the CAD software on nearly any device or operating system, including Linux, which they use for software development. This flexibility eliminated the need for high-performance PCs dedicated to running CAD, further streamlining their design process.

Impact #1	The BST engineering team can now instantly revert back to any prior stage of their drone designs, thanks to Onshape's built-in data management and 'unlimited undo/redo' feature.
Impact #2	Onshape's Branching and Merging feature encourages more experimentation with alternative design ideas without worries of impacting the original design.
Impact #3	The CAD portability of Onshape allows the BST team to design their drones on Linux, the same environment in which they do their software development, eliminating the need for high-performance PCs.

Impact #1

The BST engineering team can now instantly revert back to any prior stage of their drone designs, thanks to Onshape's built-in data management and 'unlimited undo/redo' feature.

Impact #2

Onshape's Branching and Merging feature encourages more experimentation with alternative design ideas without worries of impacting the original design.

Impact #3

The CAD portability of Onshape allows the BST team to design their drones on Linux, the same environment in which they do their software development, eliminating the need for high-performance PCs.

Benefit #1	The Black Swift S2 drone can perform vertical profiles up to 14,000 feet, aiding in the analysis of water evaporation above the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Benefit #2	The modular payload design of the S2 allows for the carrying of up to eight glass flasks, facilitating efficient sample collection and analysis.

Benefit #1

The Black Swift S2 drone can perform vertical profiles up to 14,000 feet, aiding in the analysis of water evaporation above the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Benefit #2

The modular payload design of the S2 allows for the carrying of up to eight glass flasks, facilitating efficient sample collection and analysis.

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Overview

Black Swift Technologies Creates Research Drones Tough Enough for Volcanoes

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit