“We started Skydio in 2014, during the ascendancy of DJI, and I think people kind of over-fit to this narrative that DJI has won, that the whole space is played out, that this is what drones are gonna be. We never subscribed to that at all” says Skydio’s Adam Bry, Co-Founder & CEO. In a contested, quickly evolving market, he remembers an idea that so many seem to miss: The “U” in UAS doesn’t just refer to the unmanned cockpit.
“We believe the products are primitive compared to what they should be. This world where you have a 1:1 mapping, where you have an expert pilot there flying the drone, it’s great, and you can do some amazing things. But it’s clearly not the future we want to live in, where drones are ubiquitous tools. We think that the future of the industry is autonomy.” He continues. This attitude is what separates Skydio from a sea of would-be competitors large and small. The American-made drone company stands apart for it’s supply chain and pedigree as well, a vital detail for entities with specific security needs that cannot be met by foreign platforms.
Skydio separates itself from the rest by laser-focusing on efficient, autonomous operation for end users. Stated examples like inspecting a cell tower, a bridge, or even an active structure fire using a “set it and forget it” drone package that doesn’t require constant babysitting to acquire the data requested. Adam describes the ease of mapping autonomously: “ So you tell the drone, ‘here’s the area, here’s the volume that I care about’, and it does the rest. It explores autonomously, it maps it.” The system creates a mesh on its own, calculating the necessary flight path to achieve the requested data coverage throughout the entirety of the structure, and completes the route before returning to dock.
The industry hasn’t fully come to appreciate what fully autonomous drones can do, he says. “It’s a huge technology shift, a different product architecture, it changes the use paradigm with customers. We see a lot that traditionally have relied on expert pilots working for them, where our products can have their own operators who aren’t full time drone pilots, but are experts in bridges, or firefighters. They can use drones because they’re easy enough to fly” This world is coming quickly, he says. A world where drones fade into the background as a facet of life, blending in like every other tool.
“We are headed for real ubiquity, where these things become basic infrastructure. Where every construction site has a docked drone that flies itself a few times each day. And you just get a perfect digital record of the construction site as it evolves. And that’s what we’re building towards.” Bry says. If his predictions come true, the industry will have another tough contender for pole position. When asked if his company still has affection for the enthusiast side of the market, he is excited about what’s in store. Like the enterprise side of the industry, however, autonomy still lies front and center to success.
“We’re not trying to replicate what DJI has done, we’re trying to unlock the future….We couldn’t be more excited and optimistic about what’s to come.”
Aero-TV is a production of the Internationally syndicated Aero-News Network. Seen worldwide by hundreds of thousands of aviators and aviation adherents, ANN's Aero-TV has produced over 5000 aviation and feature programs, including nearly 2000 episodes of our daily aviation news program, AIRBORNE UNLIMITED, currently hosted by Kimberly Kay. Now in its third decade of operation, parent company Aero-News Network, has the most aggressive and intensive editorial profile of any aviation news organization and has published nearly a half-million news and feature stories since its inception -- having pioneered the online 24/7 aviation new-media model that so many have emulated.
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