In this week’s episode of Your Drone Questions. Answered, host Chris Breedlove sits down with Stefan Hrabar of Emesent to unpack one of the most important emerging technologies in the drone world: SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping).What exactly is SLAM? How does SLAM LiDAR differ from traditional LiDAR systems? Can SLAM work without GPS? And—most importantly—how can drone pilots, mapping professionals, and service providers actually use SLAM-based payloads in real-life missions?Stefan talks about:His robotics and autonomy background—from early USC drone research to global deploymentsHow SLAM evolved inside Australia’s CSIRO labsThe origins of Emesent and the development of the Hovermap systemThe difference between visual SLAM, LiDAR SLAM, and mixed-sensor approachesWhy SLAM is becoming essential for GPS-denied environmentsReal-world use cases: underground mining, bridge inspections, cell towers, indoor scans, stockpiles, and moreHow modern SLAM payloads integrate with platforms like the Freefly Astro and DJI enterprise dronesNew capabilities such as autonomous exploration, waypoint-based scanning, and constrained SLAM with RTK or control points🔗 Learn more about Emesent: https://emesent.com Search #Hovermap on LinkedIn to see real-world missions & customer workflows.Have a question you'd like answered on a future episode? Visit YDQA.io or email [email protected].

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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