
Iris Automation (YC S16) gives drones situational awareness to fly autonomously - stvnchn
http://themacro.com/articles/2016/06/iris-automation/
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Animats
How is this different from all the other companies doing this?

\- TeraRanger [1]

\- DJI (Phantom) [2]

\- Neurala [3]

\- Intel / Yuneec [4]

\- Aevo [5]

Then there's the work at MIT [6], which is open source (Github code: [7])

[1] [http://www.teraranger.com/drone-flies-in-the-forest-with-
col...](http://www.teraranger.com/drone-flies-in-the-forest-with-collision-
avoidance/) [2]
[http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2500144,00.asp](http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2500144,00.asp)
[3] [http://www.neurala.com/technology/collision-avoidance-
drones...](http://www.neurala.com/technology/collision-avoidance-drones/) [4]
[http://www.pcworld.com/article/3019468/ces/intel-demos-
colli...](http://www.pcworld.com/article/3019468/ces/intel-demos-collision-
avoidance-drone-that-will-go-on-sale-this-year.html) [5]
[http://www.suasnews.com/2015/05/new-collision-avoidance-
unit...](http://www.suasnews.com/2015/05/new-collision-avoidance-unit-for-
small-drones-available/) [6]
[http://www.roboticstrends.com/article/watch_mit_drone_autono...](http://www.roboticstrends.com/article/watch_mit_drone_autonomously_avoids_obstacles_at_30_mph)
[7]

~~~
aharm
The Iris Automation system can see much further and track dynamic objects like
aircraft, balloons, birds, etc. This article does a pretty good job of summing
up why we need much more than the "bumper solutions" you mention above:
[https://medium.com/@alexharm/why-situational-awareness-is-
ab...](https://medium.com/@alexharm/why-situational-awareness-is-absolutely-
necessary-for-industrial-drones-2bf7a5997e3e#.2jawvr90i)

~~~
lettergram
How do they handle tracking dynamic objects if they are also moving
dynamically? Is it just a SLAM method, where you can identify objects between
frames?

The only way I have seen this done us using post-processing on object edges.
There is no horizon, so it would be pretty difficult to do in real time (I.e.
~20 fps), perhaps to slow to make decisions.

~~~
aharm
The system is much more than just a basic SLAM algorithm, allowing it to have
a full picture of the world, tracking both static and dynamic obstacles that
the drone may encounter.

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XiaomiFan
Hi Alex, I had a chance to talk with Hassan Bhatti last week about some of the
problems being worked on at Iris. I asked him about how Iris plans to provide
solutions to the wide range of applications that an industrial drone can
contribute to, and he mentioned building a modular platform that can be
modified to suit the unique needs of the different applications.

With DJI currently offering a general purpose flying platform (Matrice 600) in
addition to a highly specialised agricultural drone, I am wondering if you can
provide some more insights into the pros and cons of developing a modular
platform, give some examples on the different kind of modifications that can
be made, and whether there is plans down the road to develop more specialised
drones for specific applications.

Oh, and tell him Jimmy said hi when he gets there today :)

------
aharm
Alex Harmsen here, co-founder at Iris Automation. Happy to answer any
questions and share more about how the drone market is changing!

~~~
lastbestmatt
The article makes it sound like this is primarily for the drone delivery
segment. That makes some sense, because it's at least easy to define the end
goal. Do you also have plans for applications where the goal isn't as easy to
define? That is, what can you automate beyond obstacle detection/avoidance?

~~~
aharm
Sounds like the package delivery part was more for journalistic flair than the
core market. Collision avoidance beyond-line-of-sight is useful for pipeline
inspection, agricultural surveys, search & rescue, forestry management, and
many more use cases!

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otempomores
Will it learn from ducks?

~~~
aharm
of course!

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jmcmahon443
Hey guys. So you do consulting for drone companies looking to solve a
particular problem, by adapting your previously made software system?

~~~
aharm
Iris is selling an independent collision avoidance system as an OEM technology
for existing drone companies.

