Walmart partner mulls cell tower-type drone delivery safety …

DroneUp, the drone delivery company that Walmart uses, has announced a major push to make beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights safer. DroneUp has partnered with Iris Automation, a developer of AI-based vision technology for crewed and uncrewed aircraft to prevent airborne collisions. Together, these firms will install hardware nodes that will act like a cellular tower-type service providing DroneUp with visibility of its airspace.

At the heart of this collaboration is Iris Automation’s ground-based Casia G solution, which features an optical, full 360-degree field of aircraft detection, classification, and alerting system. DroneUp says it will employ this AI and computer vision tech, among other sensors, to ensure safety while it expands its footprint for drone delivery in the US.

More specifically, DroneUp will utilize numerous Casia G nodes to form a network covering large areas. These nodes will be colocated at the drone company’s launch and recovery points and also distributed throughout its delivery areas. As such, Casia G will act like a cellular tower-type service, providing DroneUp with visibility of its airspace.

If an object flies into DroneUp’s operating area, an alert will be triggered. Relevant data is then sent to the flight team so they can maneuver the delivery drone to a safe zone and avoid a potential collision.

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As John Vernon, CTO of DroneUp, explains:

The technology behind Casia G for BVLOS has the potential to be a game-changer in demonstrating that delivery in more populated areas can be as convenient and secure as it currently is in rural environments. Through this partnership, DroneUp can dramatically scale operations, free from restrictions.

Through a partnership with DroneUp, Walmart today offers drone delivery in Florida, along with five other states. Drones can deliver more than 15,000 eligible Walmart items up to 10 pounds, including fragile items like eggs, in as little as 30 minutes.

Iris Automation CEO Jon Damush says, “Using Casia G will allow DroneUp to remove visual observers — creating a path to more economical scaling of their operations while simultaneously improving safety.”

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