Start-up debuts sense-and-avoid system for quadcopters.

• Author: Insinna, Valerie
• Position: UNMANNED AIRCRAFT

Developing a sense-and-avoid system for any unmanned aircraft is a challenging task, but it's even more difficult to build one for small vehicles that can't hold heavy sensor payloads.

Panoptes UAV, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based start-up, has created a system that uses echolocation to help small quad-copters avoid collisions. The product, the eBumper, contains acoustic sensors that work outdoors, indoors and in all weather conditions, said Terrence McKenna, chief executive officer.

Currently, the system is only available for the DE Phantom, he said. The eBumper is sold as a hard shell with integrated sensors that replaces the top half of the Phantom's airframe and can easily be plugged into its electronics.

The company plans to manufacture shells for other UAS, McKenna said. The avionics systems are vehicle-agnostic.

"Any kind of quadrotor that's out there, you can just plug it into the autopilot, and it will work out of the box," he said.

Acoustic sensors are a good fit for small UAVs because they are inexpensive and work in most environments, McKenna said. Panoptes views the eBumper as a "foundational technology" that will allow an aircraft to sense an obstacle within 10 feet. The company is working on...