Notes from AUVSI Conference 2015 - Interview with Dillon Schickli - Sensurion Aerospace

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Dillon Schickli, investor and board member for Sensurion Aerospace. Go here to the website, and see the Magpie:
http://sensurion.com/

He is an investor because of his confidence in Joe Burns the CEO and their success in obtaining their 333 exemption and operating commercially legal in the US. Here are some excerpts from our conversation:

Me: How do you see the state of the commercial industry at this time in the US?

Dillon: Right now it is a bit of a struggle, you need to obtain the approval from the FAA. There are many applications for UAVs and the technology is expanding rapidly. You should see a huge increase in commercial business, it is projected as an $80B business in 10 years. (Dillon laughs at this number, it seems a bit mind boggling!)

Me: What business sectors are you (Sensurion) currently involved in?

Dillon: In partnership with Blue-Chip Unmanned Aerial Solutions, we are currently performing seismic monitoring and have plans to perform animal monitoring, training, oil and gas infrastructure inspection....we are really just at the tip of the iceberg right now.

Me: Are these UAV specific for each customer?

Dillon: Payload is different for each customer and application. It may or may not include an Intel processor, depending on usage. Wingspan can be adjusted to compensate for varying payloads.

Me: What about all the hype with the Multi-Rotors, out of the box flyers from overseas which are so popular right now? Are MR's limiting if you want to run a serious commercial business here in the US?

Dillon: It depends on the type of application. A Fixed Wing can perform over a much larger area and longer than a MR. They are different tools for different jobs, MR vs. FW. We are trying to develop and win contracts which in the future will allow us to go beyond the Line-Of-Sight. Our aeronautics and auto-guidance systems give us that ability, we have to wait for the FAA to define those rules for beyond LOS operation.

Me: So you are really developing technology ahead of the current regulations?

Dillon: We may actually help shape regulations with our development, remember the Magpie was a pioneer receiving the first SAC approval by the FAA. A gut wrenching process, but Sensurion got through it. The experience and expertise that the Sensurion team possesses is one of the main reasons I came on board the company.