Skydio says it won’t turn away from consumer drones, and won’t arm its self-flying technology

If you are eagerly awaiting the day when the self-flying drone startup Skydio becomes a real competitor to DJI, you might not take today’s announcement. You might have assumed that, after two impressive drones very Skydio’s decision to build his next flying flagship camera exclusively for the corporate and military markets came fully into his own.

But Adam Bry, CEO of Skydio, says The edge it’s just started – more drones for consumers are coming.

“We have more products in the market that we’re excited about,” reveals Bry, who said the timing was just right to expand into the business market. In both markets, he says, the goal is not to try to beat DJI by copying DJI, but rather to build drones that can automatically do things that currently require an expert pilot to leave.

“Being able to follow you is something an experienced pilot can do; being able to inspect a house is something an experienced pilot can do; being able to inspect a bridge is something an expert pilot can do. How do we put that in software so that everyone can benefit from it? Bry asks rhetorically.

Skydio sees himself developing specific ‘AI skills’ to do all of these things, starting with a few specific examples that the drone’s cameras use to first map the area around them and then automatically create a series of images with high make resolution that can be sewn together to make a scan of a house, bridge or other facilities for inspection:

Bry says he sees opportunities for ‘skills’ outside of the company too – especially in the cinematic world, where operating a camera also requires expert skills, and where flying cameras can theoretically make camera movements that are virtually impossible for cinematographers on the ground.

But he also thinks another business model could be the way forward – whether they opt for the new foldable Skydio X2 or the consumer-class Skydio 2, corporate customers will pay for a subscription service for these new skills rather than simply off-the-buy to buy shelf-drones.

If this idea of ​​skill-driven drone upgrades sounds familiar to you, you might think of the promising 3D Robotics pitch for drone startup a few years ago, before it was spread out by DJI’s then fast moving, reliable and relatively affordable line of drones.

But history may not repeat itself. Now governments and industries have become more wary of products made in China – to the point that the United States Department of the Interior grounded its fleet made by DJI. Skydio is betting that his US-made family tree will help him get contracts with corporate and military clients that DJI cannot currently touch. The company already has contracts with the United States Air Force, the military and DEA, reports Wired.

However, that does not mean that Skydio is ready to become a supplier of weapon systems, or necessarily help the police control civilians. The companies new “Principles for engagement and responsible use” explicitly declare that Skydio will not put weapons on its drones and is generally against fully automated weapons – and Bry tells me that Skydio would not work with a company that plans to place weapons on its drones.

Photo: Skydio

“We believe that drones should be involved in emergencies, not active surveillance, and I think that’s a pretty clear line,” he says, adding that Skydio plans to be involved in policy-making if possible around autonomous drones. “You ship a product there, you wash your hands of it … that’s not our approach,” says Bry.

That said, the company is already working with at least one police department in Chula Vista, California, and it’s unclear how it would know if the drones would be misused to monitor protesters or other civilians. For the time being, Bry is focused on positive use cases, such as how drones could theoretically serve as some kind of flying body camera, and perhaps how more objective observers (such as a police captain, for example) could do a better job of assessing a remote situation.

Bry is not yet saying how much the Skydio X2 will cost, or what we can expect from future consumer drones. (Does the X2’s new folding capability mean we can finally get a pocket, wallet or messenger-friendly foldable drone? No comment.) Nor will it say if there’s a way to use the Skydio’s new 360- . degree situational view with a VR or AR headset – just that I’m on the right track. For now, that feature is limited to an equilateral projection (see below for an example) on the built-in screen of the new Skydio Enterprise Controller or HDMI out.

And no, there is no way to pair the upcoming Skydio Enterprise Controller, even if you could afford it, with the current consumer Skydio 2. If you want a better self-flying consumer drone than the Skydio 2 and the tradeoffs that come with its three different control schemes, you just have to wait.