Sierra Wireless Enables Unimar to Deploy Tower Lighting Systems, Improve Flight Safety

Sierra Wireless, provider of integrated device-to-cloud solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), recently announced that Unimar, a supplier of tower and obstruction lighting products, has selected Sierra Wireless to connect and manage critical lighting and control systems along flight paths.

“Sierra Wireless’ device-to-cloud solution allows us to provide our customers with a managed service to monitor, control and optimize their obstruction lighting,” said Terry Zarnowski, CTO, Unimar. “We’re able to collect insightful, actionable data from devices in the field and receive alerts in mission-critical situations, ensuring that flight path hazards are always properly marked and our customers are compliant with FAA protocols. As a result, we’re able to substantially reduce the time it takes to file a Notice To Airmen, to within seconds instead of minutes or hours, greatly reducing liability and risk to our customers.”

To prevent aircraft collisions, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that all towers over 200 feet be equipped with obstruction lighting and control systems and for the infrastructure owner to file a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) to alert the FAA of the potential hazard when an obstruction light fails. Failing to repair a defective tower light immediately could place passengers and residents in danger. Unimar’s managed IoT solution collects data from controlled lighting devices on towers and takes action by logging the data, updating specified individuals and sending a NOTAM to the FAA to re-route air traffic in the case of a lighting failure.

Unimar chose Sierra Wireless’ device-to-cloud solution, including AirLink RV50 gateways, SIMs and AirVantage IoT Platform to connect its mission-critical obstruction lighting. AirLink RV50 helps Unimar’s customers keep infrastructure costs low, while providing reliable, resilient connectivity. Using the AirVantage IoT Platform to manage their hardware and connectivity, Unimar can provide customers with mission-critical data, value-added monitoring options and an always-on customer service experience.

“Working with a trusted IoT partner, Unimar was able to modernize their solution and incorporate value-added services for their customers,” said Marc Overton, SVP and GM, IoT Services, Sierra Wireless. “Our device-to-cloud IoT solution is scalable and can be deployed quickly, ensuring that Unimar can focus on helping its customers put safety first.”