The Business of Drone Autonomy: Hardware, Defense, and AI | Stefan Hrabar, Emesent

What happens when a drone needs to navigate underground, inside a building, or in an environment where GPS is unavailable?

Dr. Stefan Hrabar is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Emesent, an Australian robotics company developing autonomous navigation and 3D mapping technology. After completing his PhD in robotics at USC, Stefan spent a decade researching drone autonomy at Australia’s CSIRO before co-founding Emesent in 2018.

Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanhrabar/Emesent: https://www.emesent.com/

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In this episode of The Drone Ultimatum, Stefan joins Steve to discuss how Emesent developed Hovermap, a LiDAR-based system that enables drones and ground robots to navigate and map complex environments without GPS.

Originally developed for underground mining, the technology has expanded into defense applications, including subterranean reconnaissance, building mapping, and battlefield damage assessment.

They also discuss the challenges of building and scaling a hardware company, from raising venture capital and managing manufacturing costs to protecting intellectual property.

Stefan explains why Emesent relies heavily on trade secrets rather than patents, how investor attitudes toward hardware have changed, and what it takes to adapt commercial technology for military customers.

The conversation also covers defense supply chains, NDAA compliance, international distribution, and the growing role of AI in robotics and software development.

From converting gas-powered helicopters into autonomous drones in the early 2000s to building a global robotics company, Stefan shares his experience bringing advanced autonomy research into real-world applications.