Rome-based company, ANDRO, receives patent for device
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Source: Rome Sentinel
ANDRO Computational Solutions has been granted a patent for its HELPER technology by the federal Patent and Trademark Office. HELPER stands for Heterogeneous Efficient Low Power Radio and is used when critical communications such as the Internet are disrupted due to disasters.
The HELPER device is used for emergency management, first response, disaster relief, and when life-saving telehealth services aren’t available, the company, headquartered in the Beeches Business Park at One Beeches Place off Turin Road, said.
“Such disasters could make it difficult to coordinate vital services, so the idea for HELPER is to create its own off-the-grid, elastic network that doesn’t need the Internet to connect; this enables critical life-saving support during times of need,” said Andrew Drozd, president of ANDRO.
Drozd added that the vision for HELPER is that it will become a standard part of every home and business safety kit. Other potential applications include support for remote education where there is limited or no internet. This would eliminate the lack of internet access in very rural or underserved areas, and would prove tremendously beneficial in instances like those being experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of the vast range of potential HELPER applications, ANDRO reports that it has been awarded a Rapid Innovation Fund contract valued at $3 million to modernize Army testing ranges under its STRAIN (Scalable Test Range Adaptable Instrumentation Network) project. HELPER-based technologies are being used together with ANDRO’s SPEARLink radio. The SPEARLinkradio is one of a line of “Smart Radios” that enhance connectivity through artificial intelligence.
ANDRO patent inventors are Andrew Drozd, Jithin Jagannath, Anu Jagannath, Sean Furman and Andrew Burger.
ANDRO provides research, engineering, and technical services to defense and commercial industries. The independently owned company, established in 1994, is dedicated to research, development and the application of advanced computer software and hardware solutions for spectrum exploitation, secure wireless communications for cognitive radios, multisensor and multi-target tracking, advanced radar data fusion, and sensor resource management.
ANDRO is also in the process of expanding its Marconi-Rosenblatt Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Innovation Lab through the New York State Consolidated Funding Application grant reimbursement program.
Other anticipated expansions will include the quantum communications and networking lab and medical technology research subsidiary.
ANDRO also has offices in Syracuse at the Central New York Biotech Accelerator and Dayton, Ohio and anticipates opening additional offices in Rochester, New York and Melbourne, Florida. For more information, visit www.androcs.com.