Intel has made a move that it hopes will aid the development of increasingly capable drones. The technology giant announced in a Monday blog post that it has come to an agreement to obtain German drone and drone software developer Ascending Technologies for an undisclosed amount.
Intel, which claims to be making a push toward integrating the “computing, communications, sensor and cloud technology required to make drones smarter and more connected,” is extremely familiar with Ascending Technologies. The two partnered in 2015 to develop a collision avoidance technology. The effort coupled Ascending Technologies’ “sense-and-avoid algorithms” with the real-time depth sensing abilities of Intel’s “RealSense” technology.
“With Ascending Technologies, Intel gains expertise and technology to accelerate the deployment of Intel RealSense technology into the fast growing drone market segment,” said the blog post, authored by Intel’s Senior VP of new technologies Josh Walden.
The company added that it expects Ascending Technologies to support its current customers while also aiding Intel’s Perceptual Computing team in its development of technology which will allow drones to travel with increased awareness of their environments.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich will be delivering a keynote statement on how Intel’s technology impacts lives tomorrow at CES 2016, and there is a good change that drone technologies will be a part of the address.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense