Founded in 1977 by Dr. Paul MacCready, AeroVironment is a pioneer in creating human-powered vehicles. Their portfolio of successes includes the first vehicle to cross the 23-mile wide English Channel, the first solar-powered vehicle, and, since 1985, UAVs (also known as drones). The company originally developed drones for the military and Department of Defense, but the value of the visual data collected by drones has created demand in the commercial sector. Now, with help of the OSIsoft PI System, AeroVironment is finding new applications for drone data.