About QuadSAT
QuadSAT supplies drone-based antenna testing and tracking solutions to satellite, defence, wireless and broadcast markets. The system combines advanced drone technology with a custom RF pointing payload.
Despite being a rather young company, QuadSAT has already made a big impact in the European SATCOM industry. Since the company was founded, in 2017, they have been nominated for multiple awards, and have signed contracts with large clients such as ESA.
The premise
QuadSAT were seeking assistance in creating a piece of software for the ground control element of their drone-based antenna testing and tracking solutions. This software is necessary for managing flight planning and data analysis. They had created a functioning prototype in Qt but they lacked the resources to build the finished tool.
When we choose a consultant we need skilled people with the right technical skills that match the job needing to be fulfilled. We do also like our partners to be local when possible. But the most critical factor is mutual trust; we have to be able to have an open and honest partnership. That's what we have together with Viking Software and their developers. It's why we work so well together.
The software tool we have created for QuadSAT makes flight planning easy for the operator and enables them to pull out the data for reporting purposes. All test results are delivered in the same data format which allows for inter-range comparisons.
The tool is written in Qt and makes use of Qt’s cross-platform capabilities, responsiveness and high performance. The result is a fast, bug-free and reliable software tool, from which the operator can manage all of their ground control tasks.
Flexibility and project management
When QuadSAT hired us, they had reached a stage in their development where they needed more resources for their development project. As they didn’t have any defined tasks they could outsource, the best solution for them was to have two of our developers become a part of their team, which took place immediately. One of the developers was hired to be at their location every week, to embed within their existing team. That way they didn’t have to define each of the tasks but could let the new developers take control of parts of the project. This enabled the project managers of QuadSAT to keep up with the pace and gain knowledge.
Working with QuadSAT has been a real treat. The people are smart, professional and friendly, and I got to mix the strength and flexibility of Qt and Python in production code. Plus, how cool is it that I can tell people that I work with satellite antennas and drones?!
After working with Viking Software for half a year, QuadSAT recognised that they also needed help with structuring the development work.
We immediately supplied them with a project manager, who in turn provided them with a comprehensible plan for the developers, and made sure the developers were given clear concise goals and guidelines to follow.
We are very dependent on the skills the developers from Viking Software bring to our environment. It is also important that we can upscale or downscale when needed, which is why Viking Software will remain our service provider for the foreseeable future.
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