As Commercial UAV Expo gets started in Las Vegas, Teledyne FLIR, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY), today launched SIRAS™, “a professional drone that includes a quick-connect dual radiometric thermal and visible camera payload.” SIRAS fills a major gap in the industry right now – a professional drone with some of the best imaging available, from a major US company with services and support, offered at a compelling price.
Teledyne Technologies Inc. (NYSE:TDY) is one of the holdings in the AdvisorShares Drone Technology ETF [NYSE ARCA:UAV], the only ETF dedicated to the drone economy. The AdvisorShares Drone Technology ETF is a thematic investment strategy seeking to capture the growth opportunities in drones and autonomous vehicles (AV). AdvisorShares is a DRONELIFE sponsor.”
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Teledyne FLIR is a global name in thermal and visible imaging. With SIRAS, Teledyne FLIR has equipped a reliable, user-friendly drone with their world-class imaging solutions, including visible and thermal cameras; and features designed to meet the security needs of public safety and government agencies – all with U.S.-based service and support.
User-Centric Design
Product Manager Kelly Brodbeck explains that SIRAS was developed around the end user. “We maintain focus groups with end users all the time,” he says. “We benefit from all of our contacts – we’re constantly talking to people and looking for consistencies across their areas of expertise: public safety, oil and gas, industry.” The decision not to use geofencing was the direct result of user feedback. “This is about giving the pilot control: for public safety in particular, users really don’t want geofencing – that’s just unacceptable. They need to get the drone into the air as quickly as possible.”
The choice to keep data on an SD card without any cloud connection is also user driven. “Heavy industry is really concerned about where their data is going,” Brodbeck explains. “Even if it’s not national security, they’re concerned about intellectual property. The mechanism for how someone could take your data is well understood: and we heard this over and over. ”
Ezra Miller, Senior Director of Marketing, says the SD card is a solution that works for any customer with concerns about where their data goes. “We simplified everything,” he says. “The data is on an SD card, on the drone. That’s it.” Teledyne FLIR also doesn’t require users to set up any kind of an account before they fly, allowing users to be anonymous if they choose to be.
It’s all About the Imaging
Teledyne FLIR is the world’s largest developer of thermal cameras. The included Vue® TV32 payload includes a 16MP visible camera which can zoom 32x: while the integrated 640×512 pixel, radiometric Boson® provides best-in-class thermal imagery, 5x digital zoom, and temperature-measurement of every pixel.
The SIRAS payload offers the leading imaging capabilities users expect from Teledyne FLIR. “Because of the camera that we have here and all of its capabiltities, our image just has more pixels on target compared with other drones on the market,” says Brodbeck. “The high resolution EO camera means that as you zoom in, you just don’t lose pixels – it’s really incredible.”
SIRAS is also the only enterprise drone currently using Teledyne FLIR’s patented MSX® technology. “MSX makes thermal data easier to understand,” says Miller. MSX overlays thermal imaging and visible imaging, embossing the edges – in real time, to add more detail and context to a thermal image.
Compelling Price Point
SIRAS – payload included – is priced at $9,695. As a professional drone from the US, that’s a great price – and is partly due Teledyne FLIR’s market power. “We’re not a startup. Teledyne FLIR is part of Teledyne, Inc – it’s a $4.5 billion company. We’re able to work with our supply chain differently than a smaller company can,” Miller comments.
Enterprise UAS will be the exclusive master distributor, and service and support will be handled through them – another important feature for industrial and public safety clients based in the US. “Our customers are excited about the quality and features for the price, and the fact that it’s an American brand,” says Brodbeck. “Customers are looking for somebody local that they can call when there is an issue.”
The SIRAS aircraft was designed in collaboration with and is manufactured by Coretronic Intelligent Robotics Corporation (CIRC) in Taiwan, a subsidiary of Coretronic Group. Final payload integration and quality control are completed in the USA.
SIRAS will begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2022 in the US with additional regional availability information provided at www.teledyneflir.com/siras. SIRAS is dual use and classified under US Department of Commerce jurisdiction as EAR 6A003.b.4.a.
See SIRAS in person at Teledyne FLIR booth #1017 at Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 6-8, or at booth #1328 at Firehouse Expo in Columbus, Ohio, September 25-26.
Read more about Teledyne FLIR:
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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