Exyn Technologies said it has achieved what it claims is the highest documented level of aerial autonomy — Level 4A — allowing drones to have free-flight exploration of complex spaces.
While Level 4 autonomy in driverless cars has been widely discussed as a necessity before self-driving cars can be a reality, having the same degree of intelligence on a smaller, self-sufficient unmanned aerial system (UAS) is a challenge.
Exyn’s autonomous technology has been developed to allow drones to use a complete determination of flight path at 2+ meters per second flight speeds with data collection in larger volumes.
Previous standards of aerial autonomy used waypoints and multiple flights to obtain intelligence. Instead, these drones with Level 4A autonomy are self-reliant for open-ended exploration and do not require any human interaction during flight.
"The ability for UAVs to fly beyond the operator's visual line of sight has been a milestone in achieving true pilotless autonomy,” said Nader Elm, CEO of Exyn Technologies. “Most players in this space have achieved Level 2 or perhaps Level 3 autonomy at best, which in the best cases necessitates persistent communications and a fallback-ready human operator to intervene.”
"Our systems are not only the most sophisticated available commercially worldwide, but the unique capabilities we possess are fundamentally necessary for safe and successful operation in the most challenging of environments. This has been the missing link to maximizing the success of critical applications, such as industrial inspections, search and rescue missions and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) for government operations."
Exyn’s drones are currently in use in mining, construction and logistics and the company expects the Level 4 autonomous capabilities to be available in the next few months.
Exyn has recently published a white paper on aerial autonomy called Levels of Aerial Autonomy.
