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What the FAA’s landmark approval means for commercial drones

By Steve Crowe | January 22, 2021

Welcome to Episode 31 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community.

You can subscribe to The Robot Report Podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, Spotify and more. Please subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review!

This week I chat with American Robotics CEO and co-founder Reese Mozer. American Robotics became the first drone company approved by the FAA to operate automated drones without human operators on site.

Reese and I discuss how these flights are vastly different from previous flights approved for beyond visual line of sight operations (BVLOS), and the implications for the company and the commercial drone industry. He also takes us through the technical capabilities of the company’s drones, how humans will remain in the loop, what types of missions its drones will now carry out, and how the company landed in Boston.

I also comment on the week’s top robotics stories, including Marc Raibert weighing in on Atlas’ dance skills, President Trump pardoning Anthony Levandowski, and Cruise raising another $2 billion and sending its autonomous vehicles over to Japan.

If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact me. For sponsorship opportunities of The Robot Report Podcast, contact Courtney Nagle for more information.

Podcast timestamps

  • 0-1:17 Show intro
  • 1:18-27:08: Conversation with Reese Mozer, Co-Founder & CEO, American Robotics
  • 27:09-39:10 Commentary: Marc Raibert on Atlas; Levandowski pardoned; Cruise heading to Japan
  • 39:11-40:00 Show Outro

Show notes

  • Trump pardons autonomous vehicle engineer Anthony Levandowski
  • Cruise autonomous vehicles heading to Japan
  • Marc Raibert on lessons learned from Atlas’ dance skills
  • 75 Minutes of Autonomous Driving with Kyle Vogt and Sam Altman

About The Author

Steve Crowe

Steve Crowe is Executive Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media, and chair of the Robotics Summit & Expo and RoboBusiness. He is also co-host of The Robot Report Podcast, the top-rated podcast for the robotics industry. He joined WTWH Media in January 2018 after spending four-plus years as Managing Editor of Robotics Trends Media. He can be reached at scrowe@wtwhmedia.com

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