Exyn Technologies, a pioneer in autonomous aerial robot systems for complex, GPS-denied industrial environments, has announced the first dog, Kody, Exyn’s Chief Dog Officer, to successfully fly a drone at Number 9 Coal Mine, in Lansford, PA.
Selected to carry out this mission was the new autonomous aerial robot, the ExynAero. And due to the historic milestone in both canine achievement and unmanned aerial autonomy, the event was captured by a production crew on location . This first successful flight will open the door for humans who need autonomous drone AI technology for operations in human-hazardous locations like nuclear power plants, underground mines and rescue operations.
“Working with Kody on this project was incredibly exciting. This successful flight proves the strength of the intelligence of our autonomous technology as demonstrated in our new product line. After a very brief training period, Kody pressed the launch button and the ExynAero successfully flew through a complex, underground environment, collecting millions of data points and building a complete 3D map.” said Jason Derenick, Ph.D., CTO, Exyn Technologies.
The successful flight and data collection by Kody was part of a test for the launch of Exyn’s new 2020 product line which includes the ExynPak and ExynAero, the latter being the latest aerial robot from Exyn replacing the previous generation’s A3R. The ExynAero is a fully autonomous cutting-edge system that maps industrial environments without the need for a pilot (or a dog), keeping employees safe and maximizing beyond-line-of-sight data collection.
The ExynPak enables users to unstrap the autonomy and capture data via other modalities such as hand carried or vehicle mounted for situations where autonomy is not needed or practical. The ExynPak will extend the potential use of Exyn’s core technology into new applications and environments that don’t require an aerial or autonomous component.
As with Exyn’s other products, both technologies are able to mesh multiple data streams through a variety of sensors and custom solutions. The data captured by any of Exyn’s platforms can be merged together via their automated software to build robust and complete maps of large or complex environments in real-time, even with multiple units running simultaneously. Exyn’s intelligent, autonomous robot systems are currently used for industrial applications such as mining, construction, nuclear power, and military surveillance/reconnaissance.
“Exyn’s advanced autonomy software, ExynAI, which powered our successful test flight with Kody, represents the future of data collection in multiple environments, many too dangerous for humans or dogs to tread. Real autonomy allows the opportunity for maximum data collection, and while Kody was a pleasure to work with on this launch, the reality is that the ExynAero really does fly itself,”
boasted Nader Elm, CEO, Exyn Technologies.
The Exyn team plans to continue to develop new products that help support mapping and data collection regardless of the species using it, or the format needed with more products coming out in 2021.
Source: Press Release