# Meet the Eclipse: Full Stack Drone Autonomy - Event: NestGen ’26 - Published: October 2, 2026 - Length: 25:51 - Watch: https://nestgen.org/library/watch/fgop5rnrOk4/ > The transcript of a recorded NestGen session, for reading or for use with an AI tool. It comes from the video's > captions; automatic captions can mishear names and terms. ## About this session Physical AI moves from concept to operational value when sensing, autonomy, docking, charging, and fleet readiness work together as one system. For teams evaluating drone autonomy, the hard part is not only what the aircraft can see, but how reliably the full stack can launch, recover, recharge, and keep intelligence moving in real environments. In this NestGen showcase, Hextronics will introduce Eclipse and demonstrate how full stack drone autonomy can support more capable, repeatable, and AI-ready field operations. ## Transcript **[0:00]** Hello everyone, welcome back to another very exciting session here at Nestchen. Uh do let us know in the chat where you're joining in from. Uh now this next session is very personal to me. Our guest is not a new face here. Some of you have watched him launch product after product at NestGen over the years and every time the bar moves. So, please join me in welcoming Kurt Larry, founder and CEO of Hextronics. Now, here's what I love about Kurt's story. He goes a long way back to 2021 when he launched the very first Hextronics Global. A tiny yet mighty, I mean tiny. Why? Because as compared to the other stations that were available back then and super affordable drone dock that made a lot of people look twice. Kurt was one of the first to crack robotic battery swapping because why wait for a dock to recharge when fresh batteries are already waiting. And then came **[1:04]** Atlas, the Universal, and each one smarter and more capable from the last. And watching Hexronics grow from that first talk into now a full stack autonomy company has been one of the most fun journeys for me to have a front row seat to. So that brings us to today that Kurt is here to unreal a brand new baby of his a new chapter and honestly it's one of the most ambitious yet. So I'm going to stop talking and let it let him show it to you himself. So very warm welcome to you Kurt. >> Thank you Bali. It's a pleasure being here and and we we've been through we've been through a lot together. So thank you for having me again. >> Right. And and before we let our minds uh you know wander off to the beaches of Miami, I have a few quick housekeeping rules. So uh you can type in any question in the Q&A tab during the session and the session is also being recorded and we will be **[2:07]** publishing it afterwards. Also if you do have any favorite moments that you find from the session do share them on LinkedIn using # neeschhat. A few lucky people might have something some surprise in store. So, with that, I'll stop my screen uh share and I'll pass it over to you. Good. >> Okay, sounds good. Coming in. Okay, let's see. Can you see it? >> Yes, we can see it. >> Okay. All right. Great. Well, uh good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, uh to everybody on the call. My name is Curtis Larry and I am the founder, CEO, uh engineer and janitor uh at Hextronics. Uh we make drone infrastructure for ondemand aerial data. Of course, something that uh you all here are probably familiar with, but uh nonetheless, let's just go over **[3:08]** kind of what got us into this and uh where we're where we're going from here. Uh so the core premise of drone in a box or drone systems or stations or docks or nests or hangers or whatever the industry chooses to call it is just the fact that every critical site in America and more than that the world needs eyes on it. and the eyes being on it basically is dependent on a person being there, a person driving there and them having all of the tools and capabilities to provide that visual data. Uh but as we've seen the fact that drone infrastructure can enable organizations to respond and inspect instantly. So drone infrastructure is a phrase being thrown around and really it's made up of a sequence of of drone stations or could be one, could be many. Uh essentially just the ability to have a drone in the air uh in a matter of seconds is something that the world has has been dreaming of **[4:13]** uh since uh earlier this century uh and now is becoming realized uh throughout the past five years. We're seeing deployments widespread across the world for a wide variety of different use cases. Some of the ones that we have been providing uh for the past few years come through our different drone station products that have made a ma made a name for Hextronics in the industry and has had uh quite an incredible experience with a wide variety of different customers, service providers and users and government organizations throughout the world. Of course, as you all may may know, the diehard fans remember us launching the Global uh back in 2021 uh where we essentially were building this battery swapping drone station out of my garage in Homestead. Uh this system was shipped all across the world. Uh deployed in environments from the desert to the tundra uh to the wilderness to the to the **[5:19]** forests. Uh essentially anywhere where drones uh could be used automatically uh they deployed the global. And further after the global we had groups come to us saying we like what you made for this uh this small aircraft but we need something more powerful. We need something with a longer flight time with better payload uh specs. And through that we came together and built out the Atlas. Uh it served a wide variety of critical industries from oil and gas uh to construction to solar and it's now one of the most deployed drone systems for public safety. So across the world uh we do roughly 5 to 600 flights every single day with our drone systems uh in service of 911 calls uh or critical infrastructure inspection. That's roughly once every three minutes. Uh this is not something that we expected when we started but uh it's what kind of the industry has demanded of us. Uh and then we came out **[6:22]** with the universal uh a few years back a system that was configurable to a variety of different drone types uh from the Mavic 3, Anzu Raptor, Anafi USA, UKR and all of those in between. uh we really understood uh kind of the complexity that comes into making uh a a very tough reliable and high performance drone system that has to deploy in whatever environment uh the customer desires and through all of this together uh we have been in service of incredibly critical industries and wonderful customers. a lot that we've seen in rail energy as well as federal uh has really demanded a significant amount of resources from our team. It's demanded that the engineers basically stay up all night solving problems that nobody will ever see but ones that make the stations work around the clock. Uh and it's very very exciting to be able to working to be able to work on some of these **[7:23]** problems uh that the industries face. some things that we would never expect like alignment of uh of rail tracks or gauges on uh large large containment vessels or essentially patrolling infrastructure that keeps communities and nations safe. Uh it's it's a very privilege and an honor for us to be in this in this position. And from this uh a lot in the industry has changed. uh a lot of battles that we fought with physics uh unchanging rules uh wherein now we're facing uh kind of new challenges from government and from regulation. So uh it it it might be known to to you all a lot of kind of the push back uh that DJI or a variety of other foreign suppliers in the US uh are receiving primarily because the US wants to have its independence on this level of technology. uh and so they're all demanding NDAA compliance of drone systems meaning that the **[8:27]** critical components are sourced by trusted US sources as well as as much as possible of the aircraft is made within the country uh and that's aircraft as well as docking station and this is all coming at an incredibly critical time in the industry uh where the FAA is allowing for uh a variety of different waiverss that enable remote operation through beyond on visual line of sight flight. This is a massive uh opportunity. It's a massive showing of of the industry's readiness uh to come out with new technology and it shows the power of alignment uh the power of alignment of of time of all of these situations coming together. uh the alignment of the drone, the dock uh and the software coming together and uh that's why we uh have been uh working on our own sort of alignment uh in in the sense of a full fully integrated system. And so today we'll we'll be **[9:28]** showcasing our Eclipse. This is Hextronics's first full stack drone in a box system where we manufacture the drone and the docking station inhouse as well as build the foundational software that enables it to fly around the clock. It's fully NDAA compliant, made in America. It'll launch from the dock in 20 seconds, takes about 35 minutes to recharge. It can fly for up to 50 minutes at a range of 6 miles. and it's built for 24/7 operation in whatever environment you so choose. Uh it includes a compact uh HVAC heating and cooling system uh as well as a variety of other internal components to gauge the weather of the device as well as perform pre-flight inspection through onboard camera systems. And of course, like we've been discussing, the whole system is comprised of three major parts. the Luna, the Helios, and Hex Air. So, as we like to see it, it's the **[10:33]** moon, the Sun, and the Earth. And when you get that alignment, you get the eclipse. And so, the the Luna docking system, uh, like we've discussed, has a variety of different components in there that enable it to operate in a variety of different weather conditions as well as ensure, uh, strong flight performance of the aircraft. The Helios, like we discussed, has an industry uh bolstering 50 minute flight time as well as a very fast speed of up to 60 miles an hour. On board, we have a variety of different camera sensor payloads. Uh we have the Hron 640 uh which has a 64 megapixel imaging sensor as well as 640x 512 radiometric. Uh as well as our own payloads, the Trinity T and the Trinity V. Uh both of those enable for 88 time zoom. Uh and the Trinity V is built for low light visualization. Uh as well as the Trinity T is built for highintensity 640x 512 thermal. And then **[11:38]** tying it all together is Hex Air, uh, which is our open API headless software that enables for any builder or developer to task the drone system, uh, to accomplish their mission, their task, or just receive the data that they need to understand their fleet. So, this is this is something that we're we're very very proud of, very excited to. And you know what? Let's see. Let's see let's see a demo. Let's see let's see a quick video. Because this was filmed right on right on the roof of Hextronics. You can see the docking station opening up the drone launching, flying, as well as providing inspection on critical assets. And with this long range and long flight time, we're incredibly excited to see what the industry will be able to accomplish with it and what they will be able to do uh with a fully integrated system all made in America by Hextronics. **[12:39]** And it would not be possible to be able to create all of these systems without the incredible team and partners that we work with. Like we've said, we've been in the game since 2020. We have shipped over 300 systems across the world in almost every environment that you can imagine. And across the board, we have over a half million autonomous cycles. Uh this was a major milestone for us. And I can't say more that we learned an incredible amount along the way of what it takes to truly make a simple and reliable system. And that's what our team has spent the past two years building on the Eclipse. So I'd like to say today that Eclipse is live and it's ready for you all to understand how it can be deployed in your environment and in your world and how you can find alignment uh with your skies. So I I'd like to like to end it there. I'd like to open up for some questions uh and definitely happy to to go into to more **[13:43]** detail. So, thank you so much Vashali as well as the team at FlytBase for always giving us incredible opportunities and encouraging us uh and inspiring us to really look a little bit deeper into the sky. Thank you. >> Thanks, Scott. That's wonderful. Uh especially Eclipse looks so cool. So, uh when can people start like receiving their units? What what's the delivery time looking like today? >> Sure. Well, in our early access program, uh some customers are receiving their units within the next two months. Uh as well as uh basically a roll out of something on the order of uh of a dozen or so systems throughout the rest of the year. Uh and then come 2027, we're doing a full uh a full production run uh of over uh of over 50 systems per month near the end of end or near the middle of the second quarter and we will **[14:45]** be essentially taking it as it comes when it goes for scale. We are having people reach out uh with incredible numbers uh essentially trying to cover their entire nation uh with eclipses and we are building the technology and the reliability and the scalability of the system in order to do so. So, I would definitely encourage you all if you're interested in the eclipse to reach out to our team uh either through email or through our website to learn more to see how you all could uh could really get get a good understanding or get into our early access program. Uh because the the ones who uh who really take this step are the ones who lead uh the industry uh with this new technology. >> That's so true. uh especially all the I like when you were sharing your your story we remember that how hexronics global was deployed in like I think 50° C **[15:46]** temperatures and that's like you know it was hot enough to fry an omelette and uh from there we've come such a long way and there is of course so much uh change that has come in and what does it typically take to install the Eclipse in a new site say from delivery to the first autonomous flight. Is there a huge onboarding process? I think there's a question around that. >> Mhm. Sure. So the system uh it's relatively similar to other docks that we have produced. Uh effectively it takes uh AC power. So that's 110 uh to 240 volts AC. Uh and then you have the ability to connect it as well over Ethernet to a larger network uh in order to be able to control the system remotely. Uh the footprint uh is roughly uh a meter by a meter or 3 ft by 3 feet. Uh and the whole system weighs uh just about 75 pounds. So with this, it's **[16:49]** relatively easy for uh a single uh just a strong person uh to pick it up or two people working together. Uh and in in order to to get started, the drone shifts with the docking system. Uh and it's built to have the simplest plug-andplay experience uh ever designed in the industry. >> Right. And um Kurt, what about power? uh is that something is are you supporting solar power or is it has to be fixed to the grid and the second thing I think uh there's another question around can this be uh fitted retrofitted on a movable vehicle >> sure so when it comes to solar or generator or sterling engine or nuclear power or however you want to move the electrons around uh the the Eclipse can handle it uh as long as there's good power conditioning going into it as well as a a good power supply. So in total the Eclipse will draw a maximum of 500 watts. Uh at idle **[17:56]** it's closer to 50 to 100. Uh and then uh essentially internal to the Eclipse is a integrated backup battery. Uh and so that serves as somewhat of a capacitor to the system that enables the the dock to continue to function uh and gain charge uh up to 5 hours after the system has been completely unplugged. Uh so that's uh that's the response to to the power is however you want to move the electrons, you got it. Just just make sure you got the power. >> Uh and the the second question was on a moving vehicle. So this is uh this is this is requested in in many cases uh wherein users deploy a dock from say the roof or the bed of a truck or even on like a vessel out in the ocean. Um we definitely at the at the launch of of the Eclipse and this version we we want the dock to be stationary **[18:58]** uh when the drone is returning to land upon it. So, it's built to be transported uh in a variety of different uh conditions. Obviously, not like thrown off of any buildings or anything, but in the bed of a truck should be fine. Uh and then just when you're ready to operate, make sure you you stop the vehicle. Uh we don't have any d uh driving and flying um with with hexronics, but feel free to transport it wherever you like and then take off when you're stationary. Right. Um um there's one question around IP rating. I think you've already covered that K, but if you would like to share that again. >> Sure. So the >> Yeah. >> Mhm. So the the whole >> the the whole system is is built for IP67. Uh that enables it to remain dry on the on the inside in a variety of different conditions. Uh a main kind of caveat to that is the the area where the drone lands **[20:02]** obviously it opens up and then closes and that area where the drone lands is definitely uh able to take in some water and some dust uh on top of it because that's normal conditions of essentially having an a fully open like uh uh landing pad. And so with that open landing pad, you can land in uh light rain or just kind of like a light wind. Uh and in in doing so, that uh that top area is really sectioned to uh provide just a welcoming environment that is able to withstand uh those conditions. However, the internal uh operating systems uh are all built to keep the electronics and the power systems uh free and clear of any dust uh or water ingress. So, overall, it's uh it depends on where you're asking that there's the IP uh rating uh because obviously there's some regions that are meant to get water on **[21:04]** them and some that are not. and all of the places that are not are protected. [snorts] >> Right. Uh there's a lot of question regarding the hardware. Um uh so Eclipse, how does it handle landing accuracy and what's the wind limit? >> Sure. So the Eclipse lands through a variety of different sensors working together. Uh on the dock itself there is a fiducial or like a April tag uh or aruko that the drone uses to center itself back home. On top of that we also have fully integrated RTK in this aircraft. That means no matter what mission you're doing or how you're flying, you have centimeter level position using all L1 through L6 bands of satellite constellations as well as the endrip network. Uh the drone is able to even return all the way back to the dock uh without any without use of any cameras. Uh we use the cameras as uh somewhat of a of an additional kind of uh **[22:10]** check, you know, to to ensure that uh everything on the mission went correctly. Uh and then the the the wind tolerance is very similar to all the other docks in the industry uh with between 12 to 15 m/s crossw >> right I think there's more question on availability is it only going to be available in US or al also in Europe that's a question >> sure a lot of our uh initial deployments will be in the US uh however we are pushing forward on European deployments in Q2 of 2027, >> right? And uh the final question I just put it out which is would you be building docks for you know other bigger size drones like DJI Fly Kart before we close it up? Um yeah. >> Mhm. So, sure, just uh just come come chat with us if you I mean, if you want a thousand docs **[23:15]** for the DJI Fly Cart, um I'm sure we can put our heads together. But really, what we see in the benefit of really being able to build this technology together is that the the the engineering teams uh and the quality and the reliability of this system really uh works an incredibly uh an incredible amount better. almost an order of magnitude uh being produced by the same provider simply because that feedback cycle and engineering testing and deployment is all inhouse. Uh so we're definitely prioritizing full stack systems. Uh however uh come talk to us if you need any heavier lift uh systems because we we always love a good chat about the future. >> All right, K. I think that answers most of those questions. There are still a few more but for the interest of time we're going to wrap it up and we wish all the very best for Eclipse and at the start you said that there is probably one flight that's **[24:19]** happening every 3 minutes. Is that right? I wish there from now on there'll be like multiple flights happening every minute. Uh and that's what we hope and wish for the future. So any last minute closing thoughts G before we wrap this session up? I think I think that's all. I want to thank uh Bashali and and the rest of the FlytBase team uh for working together with us throughout the years and we're excited uh to have the the Eclipse live uh within the FlytBase interface. So, let's let's make that happen and and very excited uh for what the future holds. >> Yes. Uh go thank you everyone for joining in and please head over to Hextronix's website. It's a really cool website. Go ahead look it up and uh drop in all your questions. Uh Kurt's already put up an email address as well on the slide as you can see saleshonix.com. **[25:20]** Go ahead and reach out to them if you have any questions uh about Eclipse. And we'll look for more videos coming along soon. So with that all the uh bye-bye everyone and look forward to you the other sessions upcoming sessions that are coming in nextgen. So bye see you again. See you soon at another event that will be showcasing Eclipse. >> Yes looking forward to it. Bye bye bye Shalie. Thank you. >> Bye bye everyone. Thank you.