Syracuse-based drone startup EagleHawk was founded in 2016 as the drone industry in the United States began to take off. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, EagleHawk provided a range of services, from industrial facilities inspections to drone referees for hydroplane races.
EagleHawk used advanced multi-rotor drones to perform commercial roof inspections, district heating system inspections, envelope and façade inspections, and solar panel inspections.
Outfitted with thermal imaging cameras and other specialized cameras, EagleHawk would collect logistical information from a client and plan out the data collection flight. They would attain FAA flight clearances needed and coordinate a flight with local traffic control and their client’s staff.
After the flight finished, the company would take the data collected and provide analytics, compiling the gathered flight data into an interactive report for their clients. Clients included owners of stadium facilities. After COVID-19 began to spread all over the world, EagleHawk began to lose business, especially with clients who hired them to perform regular inspections on stadiums.
To address this loss of business, the team at EagleHawk came up with a plan to help business while simultaneously addressing the needs of their stadium clientele: using their drones to spray disinfectant on stadiums to keep them sanitized and opened for business.
According to EagleHawk, their drones can disperse disinfectant effectively and on a large enough scale to service large arenas and stadiums—when they are empty, of course. The benefits include the reduction in exposure of sanitizing chemicals to venue workers and an increase in efficiency.
After consulting with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), they were able to discover what sanitation products were effective and eco-friendly.
Bottom Line
Many entrepreneurs have been blindsided by the COVID-19 epidemic, forcing them to innovate. One way to do this is by transforming existing products and services. This is crucial for sustaining business, and it is especially crucial for young companies like the drone startup EagleHawk.