The race to find the 'holy grail' of drone technology

"Really, we're building collision avoidance for industrial drones," said Alexander Harmsen, CEO and co-founder of Iris Automation. "We see this huge need for industrial drones for mining exploration, pipeline inspection, agricultural surveying, forestry, or even package delivery." Without a way to avoid mid-air collisions, drones risk crashing into a Cessna, a flock of geese or a 747. Worst case scenario: a drone gets sucked into a jet engine causing catastrophic engine failure as high-velocity bits of metal penetrate fuel tanks, hydraulic lines and the cabin. Iris Automation's solution is an AI computer that blends real-time images and 3D maps to track incoming objects.