Add Intel to the list of major high-tech companies buying into the drone industry. The semiconductor manufacturer revealed this month that it will acquire German drone maker Ascending Technologies, aligning itself with companies including Amazon, Google and Facebook as a drone platform provider. Ascending Technologies, a manufacturer of autopilot systems and multi-rotor drones based in Krailing, Germany, provides Intel with aerial platforms to further develop its “RealSense” depth-sensing camera and advanced computing processors for airborne collision avoidance and other functions. The RealSense camera module weighs as little as 8 grams and is less than 4 mm thick, says Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel. In August, Intel announced that it was investing $60 million in another drone manufacturer, Yuneec Electric Aviation of Hong Kong. Yuneec’s new Typhoon H multi-rotor drone with RealSense technology was featured in the keynote address Intel CEO Brian Krzanich delivered on January 5 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The chipmaker has also invested in drone autopilot and software developer Airware, of San Francisco, and remote-sensing company PrecisionHawk, of Raleigh, N.C. Among the first major high-tech companies to reveal its drone ambitions was online retailer Amazon, which is developing a proprietary series of small drones […]
