The operational complexity of current manual drone operations goes beyond the lack of intelligent in-flight autonomy. It is no secret that in order to manage an enterprise program at scale organizations need robust fleet and data management services. However, today we live in a largely divided world, with hardware manufacturers on one side, and cloud management providers on the other. This means that organizations are forced to rely either on third-party mobile app integrations that are hard to set up and maintain, or to manually shuttle SD cards around in order to move data from a drone to a place where it can be used by an organization at scale.
To build scalable enterprise drone programs, it is absolutely critical that we move toward a world where drones are both smart and seamlessly connected to the cloud. A robust set of cloud services that are easy to use and work out-of-the-box will enable every user to collect the data they need for the job, and to effectively view it, analyze it, and share it freely across the organization.
Unlocking autonomous connected flight operations with Skydio Cloud
It’s my privilege today to introduce Skydio Cloud, our new cloud platform for autonomous connected flight operations with Skydio drones. Skydio Cloud seamlessly and securely integrates with our drones turning them into powerful internet-connected devices. Skydio Cloud runs on AWS - US Region cloud infrastructure, which ensures that data sent to the cloud never leaves the US, and is a fully programmable API-driven solution that works out-of-the-box with both Skydio 2 and Skydio X2E.
Skydio Cloud is a new strategic component to the Skydio Enterprise Architecture that will serve as a foundation for autonomous connected flight operations as well as API-based integrations with our partner ecosystem.
Skydio Cloud will consist of the following services :
- Skydio Fleet Manager and Skydio Media Sync, currently available in limited early access
- Skydio Streaming and Skydio Remote Ops, both coming soon
Let's take a closer look at each of these components.
Skydio Fleet Manager & Skydio Media Sync (currently available in limited early access)
Both Skydio Fleet Manager and Skydio Media Sync are powered by tight integration with the Skydio 2 and the Skydio X2. After securely adding network credentials to Skydio Cloud and setting the preferences for what data you want to upload, all you will need to do to connect a Skydio drone to the cloud is to plug it into power. The drone will automatically connect to Skydio Cloud and securely upload telemetry and media based on the preferences you have set. No need to pull SD cards, no need to manually move files around. It just works.
As the foundational service within Skydio Cloud, Fleet Manager provides federated management for distributed drone operations. This means that once telemetry has been uploaded to the cloud, you'll be able to access flight logs and see robust reporting on usage metrics, as well as to directly access this data from our open API.
Once you have started to collect valuable data from your Skydio fleet, Media Sync enables seamless upload and management of your flight-collected media. As photos, videos and 3D Scan models are uploaded, you'll be able to store, search and share them across your organization, either from within Skydio Cloud, or directly from our API.
Skydio Streaming (coming soon) for shared situational awareness
Whether you are an inspector using drones to ensure the integrity of a piece of infrastructure, or a first responder using drones to reduce emergency response times and enhance situational awareness, being able to share your live video feed with teammates in real-time will enable faster and better decisions, which are a key quality in unlocking the power of drones for complex professional applications.
Skydio Streaming will provide real-time access to the video feed of your Skydio drone from any browser or mobile device. You will be able to share this real-time video via Skydio Cloud with anyone in your organization, transmitting directly from the Skydio Enterprise Controller, the Skydio Enterprise App running on your mobile device, or directly from the vehicle itself.
Skydio Remote Ops (coming soon) for groundbreaking teleoperation
The next step in your journey to operating drones at scale is being able to fly them remotely. However this new concept of operations only works if you can do this safely and with full confidence. Thanks to our industry-leading autonomous flight technology, Skydio is in a privileged position to redefine teleoperations and truly enable a new era of remote flight operations.
Skydio Remote Ops will provide a groundbreaking and secure teleoperation capability, built on Skydio Autonomy™ and our unparalleled visual 360° obstacle avoidance. Skydio Remote Ops will allow you to fly connected vehicles directly from Skydio Cloud through complex environments, both indoors and outdoors (subject to civil aviation authority approval).
Ready for what’s next?
At Skydio - we're incredibly excited about the capabilities that Skydio Cloud will bring to your organization, we can’t wait for you to start exploring it, and we welcome your feedback as we continue to invest heavily in building out the leading platform for connected flight operations. If you are interested in participating in our limited early access program for Skydio Cloud, please contact us here.
And if you want to learn about our set of announcements regarding Skydio X2 made in parallel to this one, please read this blog.
If you know Skydio, you know that our drones are just the foundation for amazing software-driven capabilities. With Skydio 3D Scan, we are ushering in a new era of autonomous drone inspection. If you want to see and learn more about how our latest advancements in airborne AI will mark a turning point in drones, please join us for our biggest-ever event on June 2, hosted by our CEO, Adam Bry, from the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. You won’t want to miss this event, so please register now here to receive updates and get online access.
