The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) has granted a certification authorising Airobotics to fly fully automated drones without a pilot.

The approval indicates the capability of Airobotics’ computer software and artificial intelligence.

With this approval, Airobotics can replace a pilot with a computer.

The approval has been granted nearly two years after the beginning of the certification process. This is the first of its kind that allows beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operations in commercial airspace.

Inspected and led by CAAI, the certification process began with an Alpha version of the Airobotics software in March 2015, which then progressed to a beta version in August 2015 to minimum viable product (MVP) last year.

"We predict this certification milestone will revolutionise the global market landscape, and pave the way for future applications of automated drones.”

During the last two years, Airobotics underwent a series of field testing and product verification process at its customer sites, Israel Chemicals (ICL) and Intel in Israel, in order to prove its BVLOS system’s safety.

More than 10,000 flight hours and automated flight cycles were accumulated, as well as dozens of technical manuals, engineering books, reports and analysis were produced during the test period.

Airobotics CEO and co-founder Ran Krauss said: “Here in Israel, we are always pushing the boundaries of innovation.

“Airobotics has completed a long cycle, which started in 2013. This newly granted certification is our next-generation milestone, that completely takes the human drone pilot out of the equation in BVLOS operations. We predict this certification milestone will revolutionise the global market landscape, and pave the way for future applications of automated drones.”

Airobotics recently announced that it has secured its first deal to provide its system to Australian mining company South32.