We founded SmartPlanes to address the need to accurately map crops, mining sites, quarries, forests, construction sites etc. To successfully address these needs, we believe a system is required that is both complex and at the same time easy to use for the non-specialist. The system has to work in realworld conditions and produce results that are useful for the intended application. We are, to sum it up, building drones that do good. And our drones have proven to fulfil the expectations of our customers all over the world. SmartPlanes AB was founded in 2005. We emerged from the Remote Sensing Laboratory at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå where the founders worked with applied research in forest inventory and remote sensing. Today, we are based in Skellefteå in northern Sweden. SmartPlanes is owned by the founders, private investors, ALMI and Inlandsinnovation.   Let’s talk about drones Today we are talking about drones, but over the years our products have been called many different things. Originally, we used the word UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for our drones. Later we discovered the benefits of pointing out that they are more than just vehicles, namely complete systems. We then started using the term UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System). However, that term hid the fact that there is always a responsible pilot involved, something that changed the way we talked about our drones yet again. That’s why we started using another acronym: RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems). Since then, the world has slowly taken to calling these types of aircraft systems drones, the word we use to describe our products today.