DroneDeploy’s new 360 Walkthrough product signals move outside drone industry
The company may have the word drone prominently featured in its name, but DroneDeploy is making moves outside of the drone industry with its latest product. DroneDeploy on Tuesday announced 360 Walkthrough, a feature of the namesake DroneDeploy platform that now works with both aerial and any on-the-ground 360-cameras (hand-held or robotic).
The idea is that DroneDeploy’s system for capturing and processing videos can now be used to provide comprehensive digital reconstruction of any job site.
DroneDeploy’s 360 Walkthrough is already in use by mobile robot creator Boston Dynamics, which uses the workflow for automating 360
video-based construction documentation (you’re probably familiar with Boston Dynamics by way of its creepy cool parkour robot).
But Boston Dynamics has a different agile robot named Spot, which allows workers to autonomously capture data from building interiors and take
close-up photos for the bid process or inspection. By combining Spot with DroneDeploy, the entire process of mobile data capture, cloud upload, and image processing is all automated.
“We know our more than 5,000 customers are also looking for a solution that allows data capture on the ground and indoors,” said Mike Winn, co-founder and CEO of DroneDeploy. “Today, we’re responding to that need…by combining aerial, interior and ground data onto one platform.”
It could be a smart move not just to reach more customers, but to diversify its investments in a sense. The drone industry is still largely in somewhat of expansion limbo until a number of regulatory issues get sorted out, including Remote ID and UTM. Without the FAA spelling out guidelines on issues like how drones are tracked or how we’ll know where drones are flying, it’s been tough for some businesses to use drones on a wide scale. In the meantime, DroneDeploy may still be trying to signal growth, without depending on a drone industry that, to some degree, has failed to grow by certain metrics.
2020 has been a big year for DroneDeploy, which recently opened an office in Australia and appointed M.G. Thibaut as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Less than a year ago, the company also announced a $35 million Series D round in November 2019, bringing the startup’s total funding to $90 million, including another $25 million raised in 2018.
Hello I was learning how to build a drone and I was wondering if you have any recommendations on a flight controller I could use that has a built in GPS and return to home feature?
Hello! I recently found your website and love the info you give. I mostly have been just looking at new drone technology for the past year, but now I wanted to build a drone for the first time! I know the parts that are needed but don’t know what ESC and Flight Controller to use. Many websites say the best flight controller that has a GPS and return to home system is the DJI Naza-M V2 but when I look at reviews they say the software can only run on Windows 7. Could you recommend any ESC’s and Flight Controllers that use a GPS?