Airobotics today announced introducing lidar capabilities into its commercial aerial drones to provide additional applications for industries such as mining, construction, and industrial infrastructure. The company also announced expanding its executive team for its Scottsdale, Ariz., headquarters as part of its recent Series D funding round.
Airobotics said that until a few years ago, adding lidar functions to aerial drones was complicated, since the sensors were hefty and required manual data processing. With lighter lidar sensors and cloud-based processing, Airobotics said its customers can now “make effective decisions based on high-frequency, consistent data capture.”
Source: Airobotics
Faster times for data capture
The lidar technology provides rapid precision scans for mining and construction customers, with applications that include tailings dam monitoring, infrastructure inspections, haul road safety compliance, stockpile volume analytics, tracking rehabilitation progress. Adding lidar to a drone flight reduces the time it takes for aerial data to be collected, even in night or low-light conditions, Airobotics said. In addition to the lidar, spatial data can be captured through photogrammetry, video, and thermal sensors.
“This past year has seen a huge period of growth for us,” said Ran Krauss, CEO and co-founder of Airobotics. “As we expand our services and shift our base of operations to the U.S., we continue to push advancements in autonomous drone operations, global regulatory approvals and new technology.”
The company also announced the appointment of William Atkins as CFO, and Rick Baker as the Chief Revenue Officer. Airobotics recently received approval for beyond visual line of sight operations in Australia, giving the company three countries (including the U.S. and Israel) where pilotless operations can be performed. It also recently opened its Scottsdale headquarters as part of a $30 million Series D round of funding. A total of more than $100 million has been invested in the company.
