American Robotics wins approval to operate automated drones without human operators

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given approval to American Robotics to operate automated drones without human operators on-site.

Through this agreement, American Robotics’ Scout System became the first drone technology approved to continuously operate without human intervention.

The system is equipped with advanced acoustic detect-and-avoid (DAA) technology that always allows them to remain at a safe distance from other aircraft.

American Robotics CEO and co-founder Reese Mozer said: “With these approvals, American Robotics is ushering in a new era of widespread automated drone operations.

“Decades worth of promise and projection are finally coming to fruition. We are proud to be the first company to meet the FAA’s comprehensive safety requirements, which had previously restricted the viability of drone use in the commercial sector.

“We are very grateful for the FAA’s willingness to work closely with American Robotics over the past four years on this precedent-setting authorisation.

“With this set of approvals, American Robotics can begin safely operating our automated Scout platform for the benefit of the energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and security market verticals, helping unlock the projected $100bn commercial drone market.”

A weatherproof base station that houses the drones supports autonomous charging, data processing, analysis and transmission.

American Robotics’ Scout Systems were evaluated in a testing programme that lasted more than four years.