Iván Hernández Dalas: XTEND secures U.S. DoW contract for autonomous drones

a drone flys down a dark hallway with outline of military troops carrying weapons in the background.

XTEND drones can be configured with AI Pilots whose capabilities depend on the tactical needs of the specific mission. | Credit: XTEND

XTEND Reality Inc. has signed a multi-million-dollar, fixed-price contract with the U.S. Department of War, or DoW, to begin production of one-way attack drone kits. One-way attack drones are expendable unmanned aerial vehicles typically equipped with an integrated warhead. They can loiter in the air until they identify a target, and then be instructed to attack the target.

The company, which extended its Series B fundraising in July, said its swarm technology enables a single operator to launch and control multiple drones. The swarm can support ground troops or function independently.

“Our XOS unifies sensors, radars, payloads, and third-party features and apps into a single AI-driven mission backbone,” said Rubi Liani, co-founder and chief technology officer. “This program extends that advantage deeper into complex terrain, scaling both precision and survivability through fully coordinated swarm behavior.”

XTEND applies lessons from recent conflicts

XTEND co-founder and CEO Aviv Shapira told The Robot Report that the company has directly incorporated lessons learned from recent conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine into its new drone swarm architecture. The architecture includes:

  • Safety and certification: XTEND said its ESAD (Electronic Safe & Arm Detonation Devices) high-voltage fuse-safety board approval is a key differentiator.
  • Drone versatility: The company has created different drone types for specific missions to address the limitations of standard FPV (first-person view) drones.
  • Operational flexibility: The new system allows a single operator to control multiple drones with different capabilities, using AI pilots that can be configured for specific tasks.
  • Tactical deployment: XTEND developed a modular nest system that can be placed in various locations, making drone deployment more adaptable. It also offers a modular vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and munitions kit.
  • Mission complexity: The system can now execute complex missions with multiple drones working together, replacing human soldiers in dangerous scenarios.

The nest can be delivered on the back of a truck and then be autonomously deployed by a remote operator who is monitoring the infield situation. This allows the drones to quickly get into the air and be able to support a given mission, said XTEND. Each nest contains a single drone.

a tractor trailer equipped with stacks of XTEND drone nests.

XTEND drones are contained within a nest until deployed onto the battle field. | Credit: XTEND

Defense drones to be made in the U.S.

Under the contract with the DoW, the drones will be manufactured at XTEND’s U.S. headquarters in Tampa Bay, Fla. The fleet includes cost-effective drones specialized for indoor and outdoor operations, plus mothership drones managing mesh communications and battle damage assessment.

According to Shapira, an AI pilot is a configurable software module with specific skills or capabilities that can be turned on or off for different drone missions. Examples include:

  1. An AI pilot that can find a rocket launcher and intercept it
  2. A “follow the leader” AI pilot that can make drones follow a primary drone
  3. AI pilots that can handle communication resilience by doing things like hopping frequencies rapidly

The operator configures each drone with the appropriate AI pilot depending on the mission at hand. The drones can use both hardened radio frequency communications and fiber-optic cable for communication in areas where enemy jamming is a potential obstacle.

“With all the advancements in AI, you can actually tell five drones or 100 drones, ‘Go to this neighborhood and look for a suspicious target. If you find someone, let me know,'” said Shapira.

The post XTEND secures U.S. DoW contract for autonomous drones appeared first on The Robot Report.



View Source

Popular posts from this blog

Iván Hernández Dalas: 4 Show Floor Takeaways from CES 2019: Robots and Drones, Oh My!

Image
We’ve had some time to recuperate from the madness of CES, in which more than 150,000 attendees and thousands of exhibitors displayed their latest gadgets, gizmos and yes, even robots, on the CES show floor. Last week’s reporter’s notebook focused on the collection of startups around the Eureka Park area of CES, but several of the same trends were evident on the main South Hall 2 area of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where drones, robotics, AR/VR, and gaming took center stage. While most of our time was spent at CES hosting the Service Robots Arrive in Daily Life event, we did have some time during the week to visit the show floor and record observations. Here’s what we saw on the show floor, as well as some of our own individual meetings: 1. Underwater drones make a big splash On the main floor, there was no busier aerial drone booth than the DJI booth, but that is expected given the company’s dominance in the space. But once you got past that, you noticed a lot more drone co...
Read more

[Ivan Hernandez Dalas] Mechatronics in Ghost in the Shell

Image
Adam Savage Behind the Scenes of Ghost in the Shell The acclaimed Ghost in the Shell portrayed serious advancements in technology and mechatronics, 20 years later we'll have a live action movie bringing all those elements to life. The acclaimed Ghost in the Shell (1995 Production: I.G, Bandai Visual, Kodansha and Manga Entertainment) portrayed serious advancements in technology and mechatronics, 20 years later we'll have a live action movie bringing all those elements to life. Animatronics, 3D printing, Castings, engineering, and art  will bring together this state of the art cyborgs  in a movie we can’t miss.  Tested´s Adam Savage  shows us -in a visit to Weta Workshops- how their team put together the  amazing and visually stunning  cyborgs for the movie. Adam Savage Behind the Scenes of Ghost in the Shell! Of course, let´s watch the trailer: "They created me, but they cannot control me." GHOST IN THE SHELL star...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: Tacta Systems raises $75M to give robots a ‘smart nervous system’

Image
Tacta Systems said its technology enables robots to perform delicate, variable, human-like tasks with flexibility, efficiency, and autonomy. | Source: Adobe Stock Tacta Systems Inc., which is developing dexterous intelligence to give robots tactile skills and spatial awareness, last week raised $75 million. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup said it will use the funding to accelerate the development of systems capable of performing complex, human-like tasks. “Enabling machines to solve complex, physical world problems is the next frontier in robotics technology,” stated Andreas Bibl, co-founder and CEO of Tacta Systems. “AI models have become incredibly sophisticated in working with text and video, but much of the physical world remains incomprehensible to them,” he said. “We’re incredibly excited about the disruptive technology that we’re developing, which will ultimately help humanity automate much of the drudgery of factory work and grueling physical labor.” Tacta said its br...
Read more