Skydio R1: Ultimate Collision Avoidance Drone

In this episode, the Roswell Flight Test Crew learns about the R1 drone from Kyle Russell of Skydio. The R1 is a Follow-Me drone intended for action sports enthusiasts that incorporates a radically advanced collision avoidance system using 12 machine vision cameras that provide it with a complete view of the surrounding environment: ahead, behind, left, right, above and below. To calculate depth information from these six pairs of cameras, the R1 carries an TX1 NVIDIA GPU, which is also used for a similar purpose on self-driving cars. In addition, the process runs a neural network to recognize individual people, follow them and predict their movements up to four seconds in advance. For capturing the action, it carries a 4K video camera mounted on a forward-facing, two-axis gimbal.

[Canyon]

I'm going to interject here before people start bellyaching about the price and lack of a cinema quality camera, this thing has it's uses. I work in Hydrology and often I am in streams and creeks that have low overhanging canopy of trees and are deep in valleys and canyons where GPS is not optimal. Now DJI's new APAS system on the Mavic 2 series could probably do just fine in that but given what I have seen from early tests of APAS from users it doesn't meet what I need which is fluid shots with no stopping if it sees a branch and tries to look for a way around.

The Skydio is impressive. I hope RFTC gets to test fly it soon because it is amazing. Flite Test over in Ohio were able to get together with the company and test it out. They have a video of it dodging trees in a tight formation and tracking a runner perfectly. The video jolts around as it abruptly tracks the runner but the fact that it clearly has the best obstacle avoidance in the business that is what I need to follow me down a stream corridor at a slow to fast walk pace.

But mostly, what I see happening is that Skydio may end up selling their tech to other companies to use on their drones. I see the Skydio drone as a test bed for the future! Imagine this software and cameras on a Typhoon or a Mavic!

[CraigStellmacher]

Nice videos Roswell Flight Test Crew, way above the average Youtube fare. I'd love to be in your shoes right now, at this drone convention. Next best thing, is watching your videos. I too see extreme collision avoidance as a fun skill to have for a drone, as indoor, around people use demands it. So I'm willing to give a little elsewhere to make it people-safe. This could be safely flown near a crowd for news gathering, or a wedding.

[shannonbreaux]

Is it possible to some how operate this drone at a location without being by the drone? Like using it as a home security drone?

[MrLunithy]

For what it does 2g isn't half bad.