ACO

Ascend Collision Overwatch

Whip Smart Collision Prevention

One crash can ground your operation for weeks. Ascend Collision Overwatch (ACO) watches your flight path in real time and stops your drone before it hits anything. The aircraft holds position until you fly it to safety manually.

$200 PER DRONE

Features

Flight path focused velocity-based obstacle detection with directional awareness
Runs on the VOXL2 and Auterion Skynode
Turnkey setup
Autoruns in background
Compatible with PX4 and ArduPilot
QGC Integration
Plug-and-play support for the LightWare SF45
Fully configurable
Foxglove visualization available
ACO LiDAR obstacle detection visualization

How It Works

ACO integrates the LightWare SF45 rotating LiDAR into your flight stack, scanning 270 degrees around your drone and detecting obstacles up to 40 meters out. When something enters your flight path, ACO commands an immediate stop and holds position. You get a warning in QGroundControl, take over manually, and continue on your way.

Ascend Collision Overwatch interface

Multi-Autopilot Support

PX4 ArduPilot

ACO integrates through MAVLink and supports both PX4 and ArduPilot, with clear diagnostic messaging for painless troubleshooting and configuration.

Turnkey Setup

Install ACO once and it runs automatically in the background on every flight. It autoruns, requires minimal operator interaction, and provides clear status messaging inside QGroundControl.

One Step Closer to BVLOS

As regulations open up around the world, having safety systems in place that allow your drone to operate safely outside the visual field of the operator will be key. Fly-aways and crashes still happen, but with ACO you have an additional layer of support watching your drone alongside your operator.

Specifications

Supported Platforms VOXL 2, Auterion Skynode
Autopilot Compatibility PX4 and ArduPilot via MAVLink
Sensor LightWare SF45 rotating LiDAR
Detection Range Up to 40 meters
Field of View 270 degrees
Detection Method Velocity based with directional awareness
Visualization Foxglove compatible
Configuration Fully customizable via config file