Robot Dogs and Drones? Asylon Robotics Guards Critical Infrastructure

By Dronelife Features Editor Jim Magill

If a gang of criminals threatens to do harm to a high-security facility, they might be scared off by a four-legged dog-like robot patrolling the perimeter. Or they might be deterred by an autonomous aerial vehicle patrolling the fence line.

In the case of a facility guarded by Philadelphia-based Asylon Robotics, provider of robotic perimeter security systems, the bad guys are even liable to be scared off by both the security drone and the four-legged ground-based robot dog, working in tandem and communicating with one another.

Asylon CEO and founder Damon Henry said the company tailors its robot-based security systems to fit the needs of its customers. The systems use a network of recharging stations, proprietary Guardian drones, and ground robots, based on the Boston Dynamics Spot platform, to provide 24/7 perimeter security.

Security Drones and Robot Dogs Working in Tandem

“We’re actually fully agnostic as to the vehicle. There’re sites that are large and remote, where a drone makes sense, but, there’re places where maybe there’s a lot of foliage and obstacles, and so a ground robot does a better job in terms of being able to see the exterior of the facilities,” Henry said.

“You can have a drone and a dog on site. They can talk to each other. One can trigger a launch of the other,” he said. “All the video feeds from however many robots, or types of robots, all go into the same platform and the same screen that the end-user would see.”

A Fully Managed Robotic Security Service

Asylon bills itself as a fully managed service provider in the world of physical artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. “Essentially what we do is we build a software layer and a variety of hardware infrastructure — so, payloads and charging docks and things like that — to enable robots to provide security patrols and inspection patrols on a daily basis around the clock, all year-round,” Henry said.

The company provides its suite of security services to military installations, and civilian critical infrastructure facilities, such as water-treatment plants and power substations, and sports stadiums – any facility that has a large physical footprint and the need for continuous security monitoring. Typically, the robot units conduct 30-minute patrols every hour and stream the real-time video and intelligence back to the buyer through Asylon’s software.

“Then the final layer on top of that is that we actually run a 24/7 monitoring center that we’ve got on the back-end, that is always ensuring that the robots are running, responding to alarms and calling the authorities if need be,” Henry said.

In addition, the company employs FAA-certified pilots and is authorized to conduct BVLOS drone operations in some situations.

As a fully managed service, Asylon doesn’t sell its drones and robots to its customer, but instead deploys them to the customer’s location, but maintains control of them, through its remote operation center in Philadelphia.

“Really what we’re trying to do is make it the easy button for our customers. At the end of the day, they’re not robotics experts, they’re not drone experts. They just want that data, the analytics, the real-time video, and Asylon takes everything else, and we essentially run it as a full turnkey service for them.”

Drone Patrols as a Service

At the heart of Asylon’s business model, of providing drone-provided security as a service, is its Guardian system, an NDAA-compliant platform, that features weatherproof automated base stations, which are equipped to do battery swaps to keep the UAVs flying for the maximum amount of time.

“You get about 40 minutes of flight time, and then the drone comes back to its hub, lands, the robotic arm swaps the battery in about two-and-a-half minutes and the drone can take off again,” Henry said.

The company uses AI tools in several ways, one of which is to conduct security analytics. The drones are able to spot anomalies such as unattended bags, perimeter-line fence damage and people, vehicles or animals in places where they’re not supposed to be. “Our system’s essentially able to automatically flag those for the analysis of our customers,” he said.

Air Force Taps Drones and Robot Dogs for AI Aircraft Inspections

In another example of the benefits of the company’s use of AI, in July the U.S. Air Force awarded Asylon a $2.34 million Small Business Innovation and Research SBIR Phase III contract for the use of Guardian drones, robot dogs, and command-and-control and data visualization software at the Warner Robins Air Logistics in Georgia.

“We’re heavily working right now on AI around how do you automate the data collection for all the Air Force’s jets and military planes to help shorten the timeframe that it takes to actually do the visual inspections,” Henry said. “We’re using the drones and also the ground robots to essentially do the digital twin, collect the images and then flag potential areas of concern from the aircraft.”

Robot Dogs on Patrol, From Stadiums to Hawaii

With about 100 employees, most based around the Philadelphia area, Asylon services customers across North America as well as Hawaii, where its robot dogs are used to patrol large agricultural tracts, on the lookout for wild animals, wildfires and human trespassers.

Ford signed on in 2019 as Asylon’s first customer, deploying the company’s automated security drones. A Citizens Bank’s campus in Rhode Island was another early adopter, using the company’s services for almost five years.

“They have a drone and a dog where essentially we are augmenting the security staff during daytime hours to help better protect and watch over the facility where the bulk of their employees work on a daily basis,” Henry said.

One of Asylon’s most prominent customers is the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Georgia, home of the Atlanta Falcons. “We’ve had a robot there for almost four years,” Henry said. “We’ve driven their theft and vandalism at the exterior of the stadium to zero since we’ve been there. And this has essentially helped improve the safety of their employees, particularly their guards that were working the overnight shifts.”

In what has become a custom at the company, in order to get its customers comfortable with the idea of a robotic dog patrolling their site, Asylon held a contest among the stadium employees to name the mechanical pooch. Benzy was the winning entry.

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