Sunflower Labs

Drone-based home security for the rest of us

3 followers

Drone-based home security for the rest of us

3 followers

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Security software

Launch tags:Drones•Internet of Things•Tech

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Sunflower Labs

Maker

Hi guys! We are super happy to finally announce what we have been working for most of this year. My co-founder and I were both huge drone enthusiasts and we wanted to build an outdoor home security system that didn't require us to install and wire a bunch of cameras. We wanted the camera to go where the action is and give you the best point of view, instead of being fixed on the house it is trying to protect. As we started developing it, it turned out that the more complicated part of the system wasn't the drone, but the ground sensors that would need to identify unusual activity and summon the drone when appropriate. Not only do the sensors need to be smart about detecting what is happening on your property, but they also need to work together as a network to reduce false positive, determine direction of motion, and to act as a navigational beacon for the drone. We raised a round of funding from General Catalyst, and we started building. And today we are happy to announce that we have a set of working systems, detecting what is going on and an autonomous drone that takes of and flies itself to the location it wants to investigate and streams back live video (and returns home and lands) Our next step is to build up interest and to being manufacturing. This is why today we are announcing the product and opening up reservations. Happy to answer any questions. -Alex

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10yr ago

@alexpach Looks awesome! A couple of questions: since the lights don't look like they're secured to anything, what's to stop someone plucking them out of the dirt or throwing something over the sensor? How do I sign up to your list to stay updated?

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10yr ago

Sunflower Labs

Maker

@michaele_harrington There is a very clever theft protection system that will announce later. Our mailing list signup is here: https://sunflower-labs.com/contact/

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10yr ago

News360: Personalized News

@alexpach Awesome stuff! Added value - would work great for scaring raccoons and deer away from raiding backyard fruit trees :)

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10yr ago

@romirez it's the ultimate scarecrow

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10yr ago

I assume this is most useful at night. Does it have a camera that operates well under low light conditions?

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10yr ago

Sunflower Labs

Maker

@tianglim Yes, works both during the day and at night. But most home invasions actually happen during the day.

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10yr ago

@tianglim when google buys them in the next 6 months they will integrate all of Nest's technology

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10yr ago

A new and cool application of drones and IoT to home security. Nice idea, how do is the dron battery charged to be always available?

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10yr ago

Sunflower Labs

Maker

@germancastano It charges inductively in the housing where it lives. We are still working on the ID for it, and will release more details about it later.

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10yr ago

@alexpach That's really cool, congratulations.

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10yr ago

@alexpach @germancastano I suspect that if you get that design right, that will be your entire business right there.

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10yr ago

This is very cool. How well does the drone handle navigating properties with a number of large trees. Also, what is the sensor detection range?

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10yr ago

Sunflower Labs

Maker

@sboldog We're still developing the navigation system and hardware, so we can't comment on final numbers and performance. But I can say from our experience that range is much less of an issue for typical sensors in lights, than is false positives from things like car headlights, dappled sunshine — stay tuned for more details as we get closer to production.

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10yr ago

@songcarver this is a project I'd love to be a part of

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10yr ago

TechCrunch

Looks like a compelling way to get around the limitations of fixed-position security cameras. Is the drone stealthy or pretty noisy like most drones?

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10yr ago

Sunflower Labs

Maker

@ned_desmond We're working to make it as quiet as possible, but the powerful spotlights on it will definitely make it obvious to any person who is in view of the camera.

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10yr ago

Re:amaze

I think this is the coolest thing I've seen today! Makes me think of a roomba but for home security for some reason. Any way to add more lights? How do you deal with potential blindspots? @alexpach @songcarver

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10yr ago

Sunflower Labs

Maker

@davidsfeng @alexpach We're planning for the system to be very easily extendible. RE: blind spots, since Sunflower Smart Lights don't require power, it's easy to place them where you want them. Also, they have multiple sensors including sound and footstep (vibration), which makes the system more robust.

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10yr ago

Very cool! I own a private security company in California and the first thing I thought of is commercial use. How cool would that be to offer this service to shopping centers, apartment complexes, and warehouses! Would something like this work in a commercial environment?

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10yr ago

Sunflower Labs

Maker

@john_crocker We're not currently aiming to support commercial enterprises.

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10yr ago

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