WindShape develops indoor weather simulation technology to test and certify drones under controllable and repeatable flight conditions to enable autonomous and scalable drone applications. The company is a GENIUS NY finalist and won $500,000 in the startup accelerator competition in October of 2021. 

WindShape was founded in 2016 in Geneva by two alumni from the Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse occidentale (HES-SO). The WindShaper technology was conceived as a solution to many drone testing problems, including management of the testing environment and experiment replicability. This revolutionary solution facilitates free flight testing and provides an alternative to traditional wind tunnels. The partnership with like-minded Tyto Robotics aims to expand the availability of this technology to the aerospace sectors in Canada and the USA.

The WindShaper itself can be flat or curved, small or large, tiltable, and can include add-ons such as motion tracking, weather effects and turbulence filters. Each individual fan in a WindShaper is independently controlled through an online GUI or custom scripting through a Python 3.x control API. 3D wind flow programming allows the user to simulate any wind environment, including turbulence, obstacles, gusts and landing conditions. 

As the exclusive North American distributor, Tyto Robotics will help clients to conceive and design their wind testing facility, a highly customized task due to the modular construction of the wind generators.

The partnership comes at an ideal time as more countries commit to supporting drone innovation and infrastructure. WindShape wind facilities will play an important role in this evolution for research institutions and private businesses alike, with increased growth thanks to this new distribution agreement.

About Tyto Robotics

Tyto Robotics is a Canadian aerospace company specializing in the development of professional testing tools for drone characterization. Founded in 2014, the company manufactures several varieties of test stands that fully characterize brushless motors and propellers for drones and eVTOL aircraft. The test equipment and software precisely measure thrust, torque, power and efficiency so that drone designers can optimize their propulsion systems for maximum performance. Thousands of companies across the globe have benefited from Tyto Robotics’ products, including NASA, Airbus, Volansi and numerous prestigious research institutions. https://tytorobotics.com/

About WindShape Ltd

WindShape develops indoor weather simulation technology to test, validate and certify drones under controllable and repeatable flight conditions. Founded in 2016 in Switzerland, the company invented an innovative wind generator, called WindShaper, capable of generating an infinite variety of wind profiles through thousands of wind pixels (fans). With its open test section design, this technology allows for the study of drones in free flight, while monitoring their behaviour and evaluating their performance in a variety of conditions, including gusts, rain and even snow. WindShape’s goal is to enhance current drone testing and certification capabilities to enable autonomous and scalable applications. www.windshape.com

Airial Robotics: Airial Robotics develops commercial UAVs for surveillance, logistics and agriculture modeled after gyrocopter/helicopter hybrid that are challenging industry performance limits for safety, payload, range and speed.

Airtonomy: Airtonomy's push-button software automates uniform collection, packaging and analysis of data acquired by autonomous vehicles and sensors, specifically targeting critical energy infrastructure.​

Circle Optics: Circle Optics develops high-resolution, wide field-of-view imaging systems that enable real-time capture without the time and expense of post-processing required by other multicamera systems.​

Fotokite: Fotokite builds actively tethered situational awareness tools for first responders to help them save lives and preserve property.​

ResilienX: The ResilienX software platform monitors the health and integrity of a system and will facilitate fault recovery if a problem is encountered.

TruWeather Solutions: TruWeather delivers custom decision intelligence for drones and eVTOLs via micro-weather dashboard for multi-mission awareness or API service for deep C2 integration.

Windshape: WindShape develops indoor weather simulation technology to test and certify drones under controllable and repeatable flight conditions to enable autonomous and scalable drone applications.

NUAIR and the New York UAS Test Site have received authority from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) across 35 miles of airspace within New York’s 50-mile Drone Corridor. Current regulations require drone operators to always have a pair of eyes on the drone, limiting the ability to fly long distances. The ability to safely fly BVLOS is the key to unlocking the full potential and economic advantage of routine commercial drone operations like medical and package deliveries.

In 2019, NUAIR and the Test Site received their first BVLOS authority for an eight-by-four mile stretch of airspace from the New York UAS Test Site, at Griffiss International Airport, south to the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany. This new airspace authority extends west of Griffiss towards Oneida Lake increasing their overall BVLOS airspace to 35 miles.

NUAIR will utilize the ground-based surveillance systems (GBSS) installed throughout the corridor to monitor air traffic and detect intruder aircraft for BVLOS operations that are taking place at or below 400 feet. Visual observers may also be deployed during BVLOS operations to assure safety of operations.

NUAIR has conducted over 3,800 UAS test flights at the New York UAS Test Site, within New York’s 50-mile Drone Corridor, equating to more than 950 flight hours since operations began in 2014. This new authorization will help advance the reality of routine commercial drone operations and continue to draw companies from across the globe to Central New York and the Mohawk Valley regions.

About NUAIR
NUAIR (Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, Inc.) is a New York-based nonprofit with a mission to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national airspace, enabling scalable, economically viable commercial drone operations. NUAIR manages operations of the FAA-designated New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport, Rome, NY on behalf of Oneida County and is responsible for the advancement of New York’s 50-mile UAS Corridor between Rome and Syracuse, NY.