Automated drone systems developer American Robotics has become the first company approved by the FAA to operate automated drones without human operators on-site.

American Robotics is known for its Scout System, which is made up of three primary components: Scout, an autonomous, AI-powered UAS with advanced imaging payloads; ScoutBase, a weatherproof base station that serves as the nerve center and communication hub for Scout; and ScoutView, a secure web portal and API that enables remote interaction with the system, data, and resulting analytics anywhere in the world.

The Scout System also features advanced acoustic Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) technology that enables its drones to maintain a safe distance from other aircraft at all times. The company has developed a layered, redundant system of safety that includes proprietary technical and operational risk mitigations. With this development, American Robotics says that it has proven that its drone-based aerial intelligence platform operates safely in the National Airspace System (NAS), even when it conducts flights beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) of the operator.

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

“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.”

With this approval, American Robotics’ Scout System is now the first drone technology allowed to continuously operate without this human requirement. Each Scout drone lives within ScoutBase, which enables autonomous charging, data processing and analysis at the edge, and data transmission. Once installed in the field, all facets of Scout’s operation are automated, allowing this technology to gather and analyze ultra-high-resolution data multiple times per day for multiple years without expensive human labor.

During a rigorous four-year testing program, American Robotics demonstrated the impact that its Scout Systems can have on industrial and agricultural industries by engaging with multiple organizations across eight states in the U.S. Last year, Scout Systems flew as many as 10 automated missions per day, capturing a variety of advanced data. Equipped with the real-time analytics derived from this data, farmers, agronomists, industrial operators, security personnel, and maintenance crews can accurately track the health and status of their operations, at a resolution and frequency not previously possible.

According to American Robotics, the Scout System captures and processes data at resolutions, frequencies, and speeds never before feasible. The company adds that Scout provides an “unmatched level” of autonomy, safety, and analytics with its industrial-grade design and advanced, AI-powered software.