Today at InterDrone 2017 in Las Vegas, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich delivered the event’s grand keynote, during which he demonstrated the tech giant’s latest advancements for the commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry.
The newly announced Intel Insight Platform is a cloud-based data processing, analytics and reporting service that allows customers to store, share and manage data from commercial drone systems. The platform, helping harness data collected during a drone flight to unlock business value, will initially be available for select enterprise users, says Intel.
Developed in a strategic partnership with DELAIR, the platform will address a range of commercial applications and verticals – e.g., inspections and surveying in oil and gas, construction, mining, precision agriculture and more. It is capable of generating 2D and 3D models, taking measurements and making annotations for sharing across teams, as well as running advanced data analytics such as change detection and plant-counting.
In addition to existing strategic engagements with companies such as Topcon, Airbus and Volocopter, Intel says it has expanded its relationships to include DELAIR, Honeywell, Pix4D, Aeroprotechnik, Bentley, Cyberhawk and HUVRdata, among many others.
Intel adds that it is accelerating innovation to create meaningful products for its public safety partners. Today, Intel also announced a program with the California-based Menlo Park Fire Protection District to support continued research and use of drone platforms to further evaluate how the technology can enhance and improve emergency response and situational awareness.
According to Intel, the fire district is the sponsoring agency for the California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3 and one of eight state and 28 national Urban Search and Rescue task forces under the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security National Response System currently supporting water rescue missions in Texas related to Hurricane Harvey.
During his keynote, Krzanich presented Intel’s vision for accelerating the path from data to insights, as well as how drone innovation will enhance this process. Intel demonstrated new technologies to advance automation with obstacle avoidance and pilot assistance powered by Intel’s RealSense technology, flight planning automation with Intel’s Mission Control software, and automatic change detection with Intel’s Insight Platform. These technologies will enhance the abilities of Intel drone solutions for commercial applications, the company says.
Krzanich showed an example of an inspection mission with the Intel Falcon 8+ system. In this case, Intel RealSense technology can help reduce pilot stress on complicated jobs by creating a buffer zone between the UAS and the object being inspected. Setting the distance for a mission helps deliver data accuracy by keeping the distance constant with a consistent resolution and perspective of the photos. On the return flight, the drone remembered its path and avoided obstacles.
In an end-to-end demonstration, Krzanich demonstrated Intel Mission Control software and the Intel Insight Platform. With the press of a button, Intel Mission Control software allowed Intel to fly the fully automated mission, assisted by Intel indoor location technology. After the drone captured the data, Krzanich uploaded it to the Intel Insight cloud-based platform and demonstrated the feature of change detection.
Once Krzanich generated the 2D model, he applied the change-detection algorithm, and the platform started a “tour,” much like a spell check function that cycles through each of the changes detected in order, catching small anomalies. The advantage of this tool is that it allows inspectors to focus on just the areas reported where any change has occurred, which will save time and effort, explains the company.
“With Intel Insight Platform, we look forward to working with customers to manage large complex data sets and help provide them with automated analytics and uncover new insights,” states Anil Nanduri, vice president of Intel’s New Technology Group and general manager of Intel’s UAS segment.
