SOARIZON drone management platform integrates with what3words

Drone management platform SOARIZON by Thales has today announced that it has integrated with the location phenomenon what3words. Users of the platform, which is free to use, can search for a three-word address anywhere in the world when planning their drone flights.

What is what3words?

What3words is a really simple way to talk about location. The system has divided the world into three-metre squares and assigned a unique three-word moniker to each square, making exact location targeting a much easier proposition than dealing with latitude and longitude coordinates.
The system has been embraced by the emergency services in the UK, who routinely use it to pinpoint the exact location of ongoing incidents. A simple app allows 999 teams to send a text to emergency callers which will give them a what3words location, meaning time previously spent searching for an incident can be used more effectively on the ground.

How can what3words help drone operators?

Integrating with what3words means that drone pilots using SOARIZON can pinpoint exact locations when planning their drone flights. The team at SOARIZON recently tested a practical application of this when they worked with Police and Search and Rescue teams to run a simulated rapid response incident, showing how what3words locations could be used to launch a drone-assisted search effort.

James Cochrane, Partnerships at what3words said: “We are delighted that SOARIZON has integrated what3words bringing precise, easy to use location data to drone operations.

With what3words, drone operators using SOARIZON can search for a 3 word address and plan their flights with total accuracy without the need for 16-digit coordinates.” Enabling this technology within SOARIZON gives drone pilots an easy way to navigate and record flight locations. It also gives an easy to remember three-word address to more remote or hard to reach areas, where postcodes may not be so reliable and only refer to a more general wider area.

Mike Oliver, Head of SOARIZON by Thales commented: “SOARIZON’s integration with what3words is a great step towards making location data more accessible for all drone users. It also gives emergency services drone units the tools they need to help save lives. Alongside our other leading
features such as advanced 3D mapping, live airspace data and risk management capabilities, SOARIZON is the only platform drone pilots need.”

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