Promising UAV Start-Up Acquired by Intel

Promising UAV Start-Up Acquired by Intel

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There are thousands of drone companies out there, but Intel has chosen to acquire Mavinci, a start-up from one of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s business incubators in Germany that has developed an easy-to-use system for land surveillance.

Mavinci, which has more than 20 employees, will now be part of Intel’s initiative to develop drones for consumer and commercial markets, and will also integrate Intel’s components and camera technology.

“They focus on precision payloads for construction and inspections,” noted Anil Nanduri, heading Intel’s drone business. “They have best-in-class mission planning software for terrain mapping.”

According to the ESA’s website, the company will work with Ascending Technologies, also acquired by Intel, to expand Intel’s business with commercial customers in agriculture, insurance, construction and mining.

Ascending Technologies develops artificial intelligence for unmanned aerial vehicles to avoid collisions.

Mavinci’s Sirius fixed-wing vehicle comes in a box as an easy-to-assemble drone with a wingspan of less than 2 m, offering satellite-quality remote sensing at ultra-high resolution – down to centimetres.

The propeller-driven drone produces visible, near-infrared and 3D geolocated images, delivering upwards of 2000 per flight. Following a quick assembly, the aircraft is simply thrown it into the air for takeoff.

Mavinci’s own autopilot controls the aircraft from takeoff to landing, using precision satnav to image along a programmed track, with automated air traffic monitoring to avoid any collision risk.

To guarantee safety, a human pilot follows progress, standing ready to take over the controls at any time.

Mavinci’s drones have found uses all over the world, including tracking erosion canyons in Spain’s Andalusia region, surveying open-cast coal mines in Australia, creating a database of cemeteries in the Czech Republic, and tracking crop damage in Germany for insurance purposes.