Leading Japanese Drone Maker ACSL Enters the U.S. Market
ACSL, a leading Japanese drone maker, is entering the United States market with its compact Soten drone.
The ACSL Soten has been actively in development for a while, and ACSL says that ahead of the company’s U.S. debut, it has undergone improvements based on feedback. For example, the Soten’s video latency has been reduced, its gimbal has been improved, and it sports a better user interface. It also complies with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) remote ID requirements.
A swappable camera module is one of the Soten’s most interesting party tricks. The standard camera sports a 20-megapixel Type 1.0 sensor with a mechanical shutter, but pilots can instead swap it out and use multispectral, zooming, and infrared cameras, among other options.
Beyond the “standard” package, which will retail for under $10,000, an Inspection Kit includes the drone, standard camera, four batteries, hard carrying case, spare propellers, and a triple battery charging system. The drone is designed for many applications, with inspection, surveillance, and disaster relief efforts chief among them.
“We’ve been out in the field with dozens of customers and partners, demoing and testing Soten extensively with the goal of truly understanding the needs of the market. The response to Soten’s flight dynamics, security features, and overall capabilities has been excellent,” says Dr. Christopher Raabe, ACSL’s global CTO. “We have been very grateful for the enthusiastic welcome from the market and we will remain customer and partner focused as we continuously improve our technology.”
As part of its expansion to the U.S. market, ACSL has announced that it is partnering with the following authorized retailers: Advexure, Blue Skies Drones, DronesMadeEasy, Frontier Precision Unmanned, General Pacific (GenPac Drones), Gresco UAS, UVT, and Volatus Drones.
“There is a rising drone ecosystem in Japan and we are excited to bridge that growth with the needs in the US market by working in partnership with some of the best UAS dealers and experts in the industry. They recognize that our Soten system showcases some of the best that Japan is uniquely positioned to both improve and offer more of, from flight and image quality, manufacturing precision and secure supply chains, to approachable price points,” says Cynthia Huang, CEO of ASCL, Inc.
“Japan has been a renowned technology leader for decades and we are committed to carrying that legacy into the small UAS as well as the greater robotics industry as we ramp up operations globally,” Huang adds.
The ACSL Soten weighs 1.7 kilograms, including the standard camera and battery, and its maximum speed is 15 meters per second. With the standard camera, the drone promises about 25 minutes of maximum flight time and it has IP43 ingress protection. The drone includes obstacle detection and a gimbal, too.
The standard camera records 20-megapixel JPEG and DNG images and 4K video at up to 30 frames per second. At 2.7K resolution, users can capture 60p video. Higher frame rates are also available at below-HD resolution.
Soten’s complete specifications are available on ACSL’s website.
Image credits: ACSL
