SkyOp selects Zephyr Drone Simulator for training curriculum

SkyOp—a training provider for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) pilots—will use the Zephyr Drone Simulator developed by Little Arms Studios as part of its drone training curriculum.

The simulator includes a progressive curriculum of training modules for both novice and veteran small UAS pilots. SkyOp will deploy the Zephyr Drone Simulator throughout its commercial and consumer drone training network, which serves much of the northeastern U.S.

Zephyr’s learning management system will assist SkyOp instructors in overseeing each student’s development inside and outside the classroom. The simulator is used by colleges and universities, as well as public safety and disaster relief agencies.

“We’ve beta tested the product and watched it come alive,” said Brian Pitre, cofounder and managing member of SkyOp. “Its enhanced graphics, dynamic training scenarios, active flight physics and learning management system are unparalleled in the industry today."

SkyOp instructors cited Zephyr’s real-life flight physics and its proprietary learning management system as key factors in the company’s decision to partner with Little Arms Studios.

The system enables instructors to manage the training curriculum and interact with students outside the classroom while tracking individual lesson progress, flight skill proficiency, federal regulatory knowledge and other factors. Detailed analytics reports enable instructors to pinpoint skills requiring improvement.

“Over the past year, SkyOp played an integral part in helping us develop Zephyr into the most feature-rich sUAS simulator on the market,” said Kyle Bishop, Little Arms Studios CEO. “We are excited to officially make our partnership public and continue working with the SkyOp team to bring new features to the platform that will keep Zephyr on the leading edge of drone simulation technology.”

Located in Manassas, Virginia, Little Arms Studios provides drone and public safety training simulators, customized mobile apps and software solutions involving gamification, 3-D modeling and augmented reality features for enterprise customers.