Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Intel (TM) Real Sense (TM) Technology, AscTec and Yuneec, and the Future of the Drone Universe

You may wonder what we are doing posting so much about drones -- but drone technology will be an integral part of the world of the future and it is coming sooner than you think, once the legal and regulatory aspects have been settled.

Intel (R) "Real Sense" (TM) Technology is the new kid on the block and it is spectacular for what it will be bringing to the drone universe in terms of  "Real Sense" cameras combined with Intel CPU computing power.

See CNET Gadget News and the article by Carrie Mihalcik at Intel wants to do for drones what it did for PCs: The chipmaker acquires German drone company Ascending Technologies as it expands to technology beyond the PC. "AscTec" is a maker of high-tech drones for professional use.

See the CES 2016 video of Intel CEO Brian Krzanich showing an intelligent professional AscTec drone outfitted with Intel's "Real Sense" technology in action, especially at the end in navigating through a thick forest. See video.

Intel has also invested in consumer drone manufacturer Yuneec (pronounced "unique") in China, a Chinese aircraft manufacturer with a futuristic not yet released "intelligent" CES-exhibited Yuneec drone that incorporates Intel's "Real Sense" technology into its drone camera and navigation system and can, for example, navigate around trees and other objects. See the video.

The release date of this drone technology to the consumer public is unknown, but we imagine that this new Yuneec will initially be quite pricey, so that the recently released Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4k quadrotor vz. quadcopter and variants of that drone still look good to us in terms of being DJI competitors.

Be that as it may, Intel's involvement seems destined to propel Yuneec into a "unique" position in drone manufacture very soon down the road.