GM partners with Skypersonic, uses drones to keep assembly lines safe

DETROIT – One of the Big Three is partnering with a local drone company, using the aerial vehicles to help manufacture automobiles.

General Motors was deciding how to inspect their manufacturing equipment more safely for workers. The answer was drones.

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“We don’t want anything bad to happen to anybody, and this seemed like the best use of that type of technology for us,” said John Brown, manager for Reality Capture, General Motors.

The manufacturing equipment GM uses are massive and the company was looking for a way to avoid potential falls, so the Detroit automaker partnered with Skypersonic, a drone company founded in Detroit.

“You learn when you apply,” said Skypersonic CEO and founder Giuseppe Santangelo. “When your customer asks you, ‘Can we do this?’ And you say, ‘Maybe we can.’”

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“They were able to understand our problems,” Brown said. “And we were able to see…