Tool Maker Stanley Black & Decker Joins the Drone Industry

You know Black & Decker best from power tools and dad’s garage, but the home improvement company is adding drones to its repertoire. Stanley Black & Decker, as the company is officially known, will be selling drone-based security systems in partnership with Sunflower Labs as part of its new business model. 

PricewaterhouseCoopers puts the global market for commercial drone use at over $127 billion, with $10 billion of those forecasted to focus on security drones by 2020. Naturally, a company like Stanley Black & Decker, known for home improvement, much of which is safety-related, will look at that pot of money and want to grab a seat at the table.

Sunflower Labs makes a home security system that uses aerial imaging and solar-powered smart lights. According to CNBC, it all goes as you might expect: The cameras above can detect motion, turn on the lights, and before you know it, a drone is dispatched to the scene to record video footage of whoever’s tinkering on your front door’s lock. 

It’s a fairly clever drone-based security system, as you’ll have clean, direct footage and evidence of whatever is occurring on your doorstep, as soon as Sunflower Lab’s UAV-centric system detects any unusual activity. It makes a lot of sense for Stanley Black & Decker to partner up with a company like this in its efforts to establish itself in the drone-related security business.

According to CNBC, the aforementioned video footage makes a legal follow-up to the event easier. 

“Old school systems frankly get ignored by police because there have been so many false alarms.” said Alex Pachikov, CEO and co-founder of Sunflower, CNBC reports. Currently, the total capital raised by the company is $6 million, a figure expected to rise as the company partners with Stanley Black & Decker in an effort to gain ground in the UAV industry. Regarding the famous power-tool company itself, it expects to increase its security-based revenue from $2.1 billion last year to $3 billion or $4 billion by 2022.