IR-LOCK
About
About IR-LOCK
IR-LOCK supplies infrared precision-landing equipment for unmanned aircraft. A downward-facing sensor on the vehicle detects the company's MarkOne beacon at the landing point and provides target-position information to compatible autopilots for guided final approach.
The system works with ArduCopter, Pixhawk, Cube and Arduino hardware and can support either fully automated or pilot-triggered landing assistance. Typical integrations include charging docks, package delivery, landing on ground vehicles and recovery in confined or congested areas. The 21.5-gram sensor is sold with mounting and flight-controller cable options, while the active beacon improves detection consistency across changing light conditions.
Team
- Thomas Stone - Founder - Founded IR-LOCK.
Timeline
Events
- 2017-03-01 - Deployment - IR-LOCK sensor enables UPS truck-drone docking trial
The drone launched from the roof of a UPS delivery vehicle, carried a package to a rural address and returned to the truck. The aircraft used IR-LOCK sensing and a lidar rangefinder during the return-and-docking workflow. The trial tested drone delivery as part of an operating truck route rather than from a fixed warehouse base.
Source - 2016-05-17 - Deployment - IR-LOCK supports Workhorse delivery-drone return landings
The Workhorse aircraft returned to a moving delivery workflow after carrying packages one to two miles in rural trials. Drivers retained supervisory control while the unmanned aircraft delivered loads weighing up to ten pounds. IR-LOCK provided the landing technology used to guide the aircraft back to its delivery vehicle.
Source - 2016-05-16 - Capability - WiBotic and IR-LOCK combine autonomous drone charging stack
The system paired a custom-calibrated IR-LOCK sensor and MarkOne beacon with a WiBotic charging station. A 3DR Solo drone provided the aircraft platform for the combined autonomous charging demonstration. The integration linked precision landing and contactless charging in one unattended drone workflow.
Source - 2015-10-29 - Demonstration - IR-LOCK demonstrates precision landing on a boat
The test used IR-LOCK angle-to-target sensing with APM:Copter precision-landing control code. Five consecutive landings demonstrated target reacquisition and position correction during descent. The company reported MarkOne beacon detection beyond 15 metres and no false detections in the demonstrated environment.
Source
Relations
Relationships
- WiBotic
Charging Integration - IR-LOCK precision landing was integrated with a WiBotic inductive charging station.
- UPS
Delivery Trial - An IR-LOCK sensor operated on the Workhorse drone used in a UPS truck-delivery trial.
Context
Comparable profiles
- LightWare LiDAR
stack adjacency - Drone Payload Component Supplier
- FlyFocus
stack adjacency - Drone Payload Component Supplier
- NextVision Stabilized Systems Ltd.
stack adjacency - Drone Payload Component Supplier
- Sixdof Space
stack adjacency - Precision Landing Sensor Supplier
- Kopin Corporation
stack adjacency - Drone Payload Component Supplier
Shared workflows
- Touchlab Robotics
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Zendar
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Nexa
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Carbic
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Allvision IO
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- TDK-InvenSense
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Murata
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Carnegie Robotics
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Steinmetz
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Hubble Network
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- smartmicro
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
- Sensrad
workflow adjacency - Autonomous System Sensing
Context tags
- Drone payload component supplier - Stack Layer - IR beacon and vision sensor hardware sits in UAV landing/payload electronics.
- Autonomous System Sensing - Workflow - Profile QA supports Autonomous System Sensing.
- Precision landing sensor supplier - Stack Layer - Company focuses on infrared precision-landing sensors and beacons for quadcopters.
- Component supply - Commercial Stage - Precision-landing sensors support component-supplier classification.
- Drone component supply - Workflow - Profile QA supports Drone component supply.