ING Robotic Aviation will receive nearly $349,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) to develop its next generation of unmanned aircraft systems that are used for mapping and data collection.
The Ottawa-based company’s main clientele are in the oil and gas and mining industries, and utility companies. ING’s drones are also used for precision agriculture, forestry, defence and public safety.
The funding will be used to hire staff at the company’s new Ottawa office.
This marks the sixth time ING Robotic Aviation has been involved in IRAP projects dating back to 2012.
NRC-IRAP provides a range of technical and business-oriented advisory services, as well as necessary financial support, to qualified innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada. In 2012–13, NRC-IRAP said it worked with over 11,000 SMEs – 8,000 benefited from expert advisory services and close to 3,000 received financial assistance.
Source: Plant