As the VP of Product for 3D Robotics (3DR), Daniel McKinnon works at the bleeding edge of UAV technology and AEC. 3DR recently raised US$53 million with which they will continue to develop their flagship product, Site Scan, an intuitive application for autonomous drone scanning that seamlessly integrates with the Autodesk software ecosystem.
McKinnon made the leap from attending AU to speaking at AU in 2016 with the class, From Site Scan to InfraWorks 360: Aerial Drone Scans for Planning and Design. Here he lets us in on how attending AU improves his competitive advantage, and how autonomous cars are unlikely inspiration for 3DR’s business model.
What is most exciting about reality capture and UAVs right now?
Reality capture is becoming real on the job site. UAV and laser scanning is no longer a science fair project for VDC groups, but a standard practice that is scaling across all types of complex projects. It took BIM 30 years to reach mainstream adoption, laser scanners 20…