- Staff Writer, with CNA
Taiwanese drone developer AerosoarX signed strategic cooperation memorandums with U.S. companies Rajant and SiMa.ai on Wednesday to develop AI-enabled unmanned systems.
The partnerships combine AerosoarX’s drone platforms with Rajant’s mobile mesh networking technology and SiMa.ai’s onboard AI computing, according to a company statement released at its brand launch event in Taipei.
The combination is intended to let drones process sensor data onboard and exchange information with one another, supporting coordinated operations with less reliance on continuous ground control, the company said.
AerosoarX founder and chairman Max Lo, left, and Rajant Corp vice president of systems Don Gilbreath hold the newly signed memorandum of understanding at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
AerosoarX Chairman Max Lo (羅正方) told reporters that the company had already become a supplier of drone platforms and components in the United States through its cooperation with Rajant.
His presentation showed that AerosoarX sent personnel to Rajant’s Kentucky facility in September for integration work and was targeting production readiness for its 15-inch AI- enabled first-person-view drone in November.
The planned integration uses SiMa.ai’s Modalix processor for onboard AI tasks such as visual perception and Rajant’s mesh technology for exchanging and relaying data between aircraft.
Lo described SiMa.ai as the only solution that met AerosoarX’s requirements for 50 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of AI computing within its power constraints.
Lo said the choice depended not simply on computing power, but on performance per watt, with AerosoarX co- founder and CEO Jason Wu (吳俊逸) also noting that energy efficiency was critical for drones.
SiMa.ai founder and CEO Krishna Rangasayee, meanwhile, told the event that power efficiency and flight time were “very, very critical for success.”
Rangasayee said his company was working with more than 30 drone companies globally, adding that its processors and software were intended to help partners develop applications more quickly.
Rajant Corp. Vice President of Systems Don Gilbreath said greater onboard computing would allow drones to coordinate tasks, altitudes and separation, reducing the need for an operator to manage each aircraft individually.
“The more computing horsepower we have on the drones, the more we can do,” he said.
Gilbreath said the collaboration had already led to drone sales to U.S. Army and Navy research laboratories interested in the team’s swarm demonstrations.
Not every aircraft would require the same equipment, however, Lo said, explaining that a drone coordinating other aircraft could carry more capable hardware, with units assigned simpler tasks using less expensive configurations.
On its U.S. business, Lo clarified that AerosoarX was supplying platforms and working jointly with Rajant, rather than acting as the prime contractor. His presentation identified Phase III of the U.S. Drone Dominance Program as a target for 2027.