Palladyne AI, Red Cat announce first successful multi-drone collaborative autonomous flight

Palladyne AI Corp., a developer of artificial intelligence software for robotic platforms in the defense and commercial sectors, and Red Cat Holdings, Inc., a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations, today announced the completion of the first successful flight in which multiple Teal drones equipped with Palladyne Pilot AI software autonomously collaborated to identify, prioritize, and track objects of interest on the ground. The flight demonstrates how the Palladyne Pilot AI software leverages sensor management and platform collaboration to enable a flight of two or more drones to autonomously collaborate and share multi-modal sensor information under constrained communication between drones. This follows Palladyne AI’s announcement in December 2024 that it had successfully demonstrated a single drone’s ability to interface with a small drone’s autopilot system using Palladyne Pilot to autonomously identify, prioritize, and track terrestrial targets.

“Enabling multiple Teal and Black Widow drones to synthesize and share multi-modal sensor fusion information in real-time will dramatically improve situational awareness in the field,” says Geoff Hitchcock, Chief Revenue Officer, Red Cat Holdings, Inc. “Even more compelling is the ability to translate that shared information into autonomous navigation, enabling a single operator to manage multiple drones with a substantially reduced cognitive load and in operational environments with limited connectivity. We look forward to engaging with our customers to showcase the value of this groundbreaking joint-solution.”

“The successful integration of Palladyne Pilot AI software into Teal drones to enable multi-drone autonomous collaboration is an important milestone in the partnership we announced with Red Cat last summer,” says Matt Vogt, Chief Revenue Officer, Palladyne AI Corp. “We believe the force multiplier effect resulting from the autonomous collaboration capability of multiple drones will provide a substantial tactical advantage to the warfighter in the field.”

Palladyne AI currently expects Palladyne Pilot software to be commercially available by the end of the first quarter of 2025.