Drones have come a long way. They have shed their label as killing machines and captured the public imagination with their potential to deliver packages, take stunning footage, and even do search and rescue.
It’s true autonomous drones are being employed in enterprises, where they’re starting to be used for security and surveillance. But operating them is labour intensive and costly.
Singapore-based startup, SwarmX’s mission is to change that. It wants to make entire drone fleets – and not just individual drones – easy to command.
For this, Pulkit took inspiration from bees and their dwelling colony hives. SwarmX’s innovation lies not in its aerial drones, but the platform surrounding them. One key piece of this system is a literal Hive – a weatherproof docking bay for drones. Once the robot lands, the door opens, and the landing pad slowly descends into the Hive with the drone, like in a sci-fi movie. The landing is made using precision infra-red sensors, which are more accurate than GPS.Pulkit took inspiration from bees and their dwelling colony hives. SwarmX’s innovation lies not in its aerial drones, but the platform surrounding them. One key piece of this system is a literal Hive – a weatherproof docking bay for drones. Once the robot lands, the door opens, and the landing pad slowly descends into the Hive with the drone, like in a sci-fi movie. The landing is made using precision infra-red sensors, which are more accurate than GPS.
The data is viewable over a local network, which is more secure than transferring it to clients over the cloud. Hives can be deployed on-site in remote locations, for example at a gas pipeline an oil company wants monitored. The minimum need is of three drones to conduct 24/7 surveillance, since they can take turns to patrol the skies and replenish their power. Almost like a real beehive.
Swarm X is the second try at a drone startup for Pulkit. He started Garuda Robotics two years ago but left because he believes in moving toward 100 percent drone autonomy.
He was always fascinated with drones and he credits his air traffic controller father for his interest in flying objects as they used to fly drones together when he was a teenager.