obstacle avoidance

Ascend Engineering provides contract engineering teams for drone companies that need specialized UAV expertise, taking on software, autonomy, flight controls, payload, sensor, and integration projects. Founded in 2019 by Andrew Wilkins and Zachary Lowell, the company builds production autonomy hardware and is an upstream contributor to PX4 and QGroundControl. Based in Chicago, IL.

assembly and flight testingAutopilot designCAD designcompanion computer integrationcustom drone buildsflight control systemsGPS-denied navigationPCB design and programmingPX4 developmentROS1 & ROS2 integrationsensor fusionUAV software engineeringUAV tuning/calibration

Birdstop makes American-made autonomous security drones, manufactured and tested in Detroit. Its Fealty system combines a weatherproof autonomous quadcopter drone, a self-charging perch, and Mission Control AI software that handles detection, dispatch, and live intelligence. The drone launches in under 3 seconds and provides 24/7 autonomous patrol and alarm-triggered response for sites such as public safety, utilities, transportation, construction, and data centers.

acoustic detectionAI detection and dispatchautonomous patroldrone manufacturingLiDAR scanningmethane/gas sensingoptical zoomself-charging perch operationsthermal imaging

Black-I Robotics develops autonomous mobile robot solutions for warehouse automation, focused on mixed case palletizing. Its Fullscope mobile arm integrates with a general purpose autonomous mobile robot to pick products, place them on pallets, and move pallets to shipping docks. The technology originated from work for the U.S. Department of Defense developing autonomous mobile robots to move heavy loads. The company won a Chewy-sponsored competition for robotic handling of heavy, shape-shifting bags.

AI visionautonomous mobile robotsheavy lift up to 130 poundsin-house hardware and gripper designpalletizingpath planningrobotic picking and placement

Essential Aero builds autonomous airfield robots for foreign object debris (FOD) removal, helping airports improve safety, reduce manual runway sweeps, and maintain operational readiness. Its FOD-BOT robot performs scheduled or on-demand sweeps, self-charges, and self-disposes of collected debris with full mission autonomy, supported by software including EssentialCore, EssentialCommand, EssentialSupervisor, and EssentialMesh.

autonomous FOD removalfleet managementremote monitoringRobot-as-a-Service deploymentroute planningself-chargingself-disposal

FLX Solutions, Inc. manufactures the FLX BOT, a handheld snake-like robot for maintenance and inspection in hard-to-reach locations. The modular robot uses 3 to 5 interchangeable links, is 1 inch in diameter, and features on-board cameras and sensors for 3D mapping and obstacle avoidance. It can be handheld or pole-mounted and accepts interchangeable end effectors.

3D mappingconfined space inspectionmaintenance and inspectionrobotics manufacturing