Auterion adds Drone Rescue Systems to its ecosystem

Open-source flight control specialist Auterion has taken another step in ensuring safe drone operation by adding a comparatively lower-tech, somewhat less-geeky asset to its ecosystem with Drone Rescue Systems’ autonomous parachute product.

Less than a week after Auterion announced it had integrated German artificial intelligence software specialist Spleenlab’s high-performance automated obstacle detection and avoidance software into its Skynode and AI Node modules, the company said it had joined forces with Drone Rescue Systems to accentuate enterprise drone safety during missions in populated areas.

In doing so, Auterion is adding Drone Rescue Systems’ autonomous parachute, emergency black box, and data storage platforms to its range of flight control safety tech as part of its quest to provide business and public service clients the highest level of operational security.

“Drone Rescue System’s safety solution gives drone operators peace of mind,” says Markus Achtelik, Auterion’s vice president of engineering. “This new partnership streamlines the integration of autonomous parachutes with Auterion powered platforms and provides end users with the highest risk-mitigation in the rare case of a malfunction in the air.” 

The addition of Drone Rescue Systems components includes a lightweight, completely autonomous parachute that functions without the explosive activation catalyst that most similar systems use. In the event that onboard Auterion navigational and detection and avoidance tech cannot prevent an incident during flight, Drone Rescue Systems’ patented, electronically triggered ejection unit releases the parachute within milliseconds, virtually eliminating the risk anyone below may be injured by the descending vehicle.

Its black box and data storage capabilities, meanwhile, ensure operators both retain information captured prior to failure of a drone flight, and will have the fullest insight into what caused it once the craft has come down in a relatively controlled decent.

“We have invested a lot of time and effort to get the best reliability, flexibility, and usability with our system,” says Andreas Ploier, CEO of Drone Rescue Systems. “The adoption of drones is unstoppable, and we believe that our system is the missing link for various safe commercial drone usage. We are excited to partner with Auterion to make our safety solution easily available to vehicles powered by Auterion.”