Skydio Industry Workshop: Vision Based Autonomy enabled by Cutting Edge Imaging

Time: Tuesday, 15 September 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Autonomous systems are only as capable as their ability to reliably perceive and understand their surroundings. At the center of that capability is the imaging system: the cameras, sensors, image-processing pipelines, and perception algorithms that transform photons into actionable information. Drawing on the challenges of building vision-based autonomous aerial robots, this talk will explore the interplay between imaging hardware, real-time computer vision, and autonomy, and how co-designing these systems can improve robustness, expand the operating envelope, and enable new autonomous capabilities in complex, dynamic environments.

At Skydio, this relationship between imaging and autonomy is fundamental to how we build our products. Our autonomous drones rely on sophisticated camera systems not only to capture high-quality imagery, but also to continuously perceive, interpret, and navigate the world around them. By developing imaging, perception, and autonomy as an integrated system, Skydio translates advances in computer vision into real-world capabilities that enable aircraft to operate reliably in challenging environments and help customers perform critical tasks more safely and efficiently.

Speakers

Ossi Pirinen, based in Tampere, Finland, is Director of Imaging at Skydio. He leads the teams responsible for camera and imaging systems across Skydio, spanning EO and thermal payloads, image quality, and the imaging pipeline from sensor to output. He brings a strong industry background, having developed camera and image processing technology across a diverse range of applications and product categories. He holds a Master of Science degree from Tampere University of Technology, with a research background in signal processing and computational imaging.

Davide Falanga is Senior Director of Engineering and Head of Skydio Switzerland, where he leads a team of autonomy engineers working on simulation, reinforcement learning, and tools/infrastructure. He holds a PhD in Robotics from the University of Zurich, where he conducted research at the Robotics and Perception Group under Prof. Davide Scaramuzza. His work focused on motion planning and control for micro aerial vehicles, with an emphasis on vision-based quadrotors and the integration of perception and action for autonomous, high-speed navigation using only onboard sensing and computing.