The much-heralded Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking for a tiny, speedy drone — and it intends for Penn alumni startup KMel Robotics to build it.
The project specs, as outlined by the government notice: the drone should be under 28 inches from end to end and be able to travel 45 mph indoors. It’s for DARPA’s “Fast Lightweight Autonomy” program.
“The program intends to develop novel representations and algorithms to enable small air platforms to fly fast (e.g., at least 20 m/s) in cluttered environments (e.g., indoors) using on-board autonomy with small size, weight, and power components,” the notice reads.
Though KMel is the only company mentioned in the notice, DARPA is open to hearing from other companies that could build something like this. That will determine if the agency will open the contract up to a competitive bid.
Based at Penn’s South Bank campus on Grays Ferry, KMel is best known for turning flying robots into musicians.
(h/t Popular Mechanics)
Before you go...
Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.
3 ways to support our work:- Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
- Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
- Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!
