Skydio Unveils X10 and the Next Chapter of Drones in Critical Industries

October 3, 2023 | AUVSI News

Last month at their Ascend event, Skydio CEO Adam Bry unveiled the new Skydio X10 drone and shared the company’s vision for advancements in autonomous flight as the key to a safer world. The X10’s upgrades will enable customers to improve efficiency, reliability, and safety.

AUVSI Senior Manager of Government Affairs, Scott Shtofman, was able to attend Ascend,  which was held over two days in San Francisco and Hayward, California. The main keynote, flight demonstrations, and user presentations were held at the beautiful Presidio National Park. 

Launch Keynote

The keynote was filled with examples of how drones have been helpful to enterprise users around the country as well as how they are folding into work with our military for situational awareness. Being able to hear from enterprise users leveraging drones in their everyday work is rewarding, exciting, and insightful.

Skydio has always focused on the intelligence and autonomy built into their platforms. If you have ever looked at one of their drones, you will see the characteristic set of bubble lens cameras that the drone uses to perceive the world around it. It’s a combination of these visionary sensors with onboard AI and ML that enables operators to fly with ease, automate complex missions, and get the job done.

The X10 incorporates edits based on user feedback. The platform features a longer flight time, improved cameras for images, thermal, and navigation and perception, and a suite of peripherals including two-way audio communication, a spotlight, a parachute, and NightSense that enables obstacle avoidance in the dark. 

The keynote was rounded out by a panel with enterprise users from first response, state aviation departments, and utilities. Each of them had a unique perspective and reasoning behind how Skydio’s drones help them with their critical work. 

Bob Brock, Director of Aviation for the Kansas Department of Transportation, said the agency has replaced all their drones with Skydio platforms. The decision was made, in large part, based on not needing to train operators to be expert drone pilots. Because Skydio’s platforms recognize their surroundings and capture data automatically, enterprise operators can fly without learning curves. 

Drone Demonstrations

One of the most impressive demonstrations of the day happened on stage when Kabe Termes, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering, flew the X10 in complete darkness directly at Bry. Attendees could see the drone sensing view on screens next to the stage with obstacles noted by red boxes like Minecraft. Termes was full stick ahead and the X10 navigated safely around Bry.  

After the keynote, attendees got the chance to see the drones in action outdoors. The Ascend demos consisted of multiple stations showcasing different aspects and operations of the X10 and the Dock (for S2 and X2).

Scott was able to fly the drone over a baseball field and clearly zoom into the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. He reported that the drone is responsive, the controls were intuitive for him as a licensed Part 107 pilot, and the autonomous return had the platform lining itself up on the large landing pad with ease. 

On the second day of Ascend, Scott was able to see the company’s impressive production and testing facility in Hayward. Skydio said that they have delivered more than 40,000 drones across their various airframes.

Skydio has secure facilities in order to serve defense customers. The facility is essentially broken into two parts: testing and manufacturing.

• The testing warehouse is filled with drones in both the full Dock setup and also the smaller Dock Lite. Drones are remotely operated from around the world for demos and they are also regularly run to build data sets and learning models for new and improved features. 

• The manufacturing facility is broken down by products, phases, and staging for shipment and delivery. Each main platform (the Dock, X2, and X10) has its own production area. Given the many radio, camera, and software configurations, parts are barcode tracked and stations have detailed checklists and procedures for assembly and testing. There is room for expansion to more production line to cover increasing demand.

The expert team, the work, and the platforms Skydio is producing are impressive. Experience Ascend yourself by watching the keynote recording on Skydio’s website and learn more about the X10 here.