Draganfly provides drones, software, and services for defense, civilian, and public safety. Source: Draganfly
Like other forms of automation, drones are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence. Palladyne AI Corp. and Draganfly Inc. today announced that they plan to collaborate to enhance the capabilities of Draganfly’s uncrewed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, with Palladyne’s Pilot AI software.
“Palladyne AI is enabling drone platforms to incorporate autonomy features that were even recently limited to large and costly systems,” stated Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly.
“By having Palladyne Pilot as an embedded option into our platforms, we continue to expand our modular framework and increase our adaptable, mission-critical autonomy, and swarm capabilities that reduce operator workload and extend the effectiveness of our systems across complex use cases,” he added.
Founded in 1998, Draganfly has developed drones, software, and AI systems serving the the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspection, security, mapping, and surveying markets. The extensive use of drones in the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts has increased U.S. interest and investment in defense systems.
Palladyne Pilot enables secure drone collaboration
Palladyne AI said Pilot is edge-based, platform-agnostic, intelligent swarming and collaborative AI software. It is designed to transform multiple UAVs into a team, all managed by a human operator who remains “in the loop.”
By employing sensor fusion from diverse sources, Pilot enables drones to independently and collaboratively track targets while dynamically interfacing with autopilots, said Palladyne. The Salt Lake City, Utah-based company claimed this synergy enhances detection, tracking, classification, and identification while also enabling autonomous drone swarm operations.
Founded in 1983 as Sarcos, the company initially developed teleoperated systems and exoskeletons for industrial and defense use. It pivoted to software in 2023 and rebranded as Palladyne in March 2024.
Palladyne said it has developed AI and machine learning (ML) software to enable robots “to observe, learn, reason, and act in a manner akin to human intelligence.” Robots can use the technology to perceive variations or changes in the real world, enabling them to autonomously maneuver and manipulate objects accurately in response, explained the company.
In addition, Palladyne said its software reduces the effort required to program and deploy industrial robots, force- and power-limited robots or cobots, UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The company noted that the ability of robots to learn is applicable in industries such as automotive, aviation, construction, defense, general manufacturing, infrastructure inspection, logistics, and warehousing.
Draganfly integration to expand mission capabilities
Draganfly said it provides integrated professional-grade UAVs and services using a modular approach that allows for mission-specific specialization and heavy-duty applications in a variety of challenging environments.
By integrating Palladyne AI’s autonomy software, The Saskatoon, Canada-based company said its platforms will gain expanded mission capabilities such as autonomous swarm operations and enhanced operator efficiency, as well as real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
“Draganfly has earned its reputation as one of the most trusted names in UAV innovation,” said Ben Wolff, president and CEO of Palladyne AI. “We are honored to collaborate with them to deliver advanced aerial intelligence solutions that meet the operational needs of government, defense, and commercial users in challenging environments.”
Editor’s note: Wolff recently discussed edge computing and AI on The Robot Report Podcast.
Integration of Palladyne Pilot with Draganfly systems outside the U.S. is subject to government approvals.
Draganfly last week said that Drone Nerds will be an official value-added reseller of its full line of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)-compliant drones. It also recently partnered with Global Ordnance to accelerate U.S. and allied defense adoption of its systems.
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