Skylark Brings AI FOD Detection to Airports

Skylark Labs has begun deploying fixed foreign-object debris (FOD) detection technology at major commercial airports in India. According to the Menlo Park, California-based start-up, the stationary system uses optical sensors to autonomously monitor runways, eliminating the need for manual inspections and mobile vehicle patrols. Using adaptive AI algorithms, it identifies and classifies debris in real time and transmits precise coordinates to ground staff and air traffic control, who then dispatch personnel to remove it.

Skylark Labs’ fixed FOD detection technology is powered by the company’s Runway Monitoring Intelligence Layer (RMIL), a machine-learning platform that also underpins the company’s mobile Tracer AI Vehicles. Through the RMIL, intelligence gathered at one airport—such as debris signatures, false-positive patterns, and surface degradation indicators—is shared with every other device in the network.

Founded in 2018, Skylark Labs initially developed AI surveillance and video analytics systems for drones and security cameras before expanding into defense markets with FOD detection work for the Indian Navy. Last week, the company said it successfully demonstrated the technology aboard an Indian Navy aircraft carrier; the commercial airport deployment is its first application in civil aviation.

“Because the same intelligence layer runs across our entire network—carriers, airfields, and mobile vehicles—every deployment makes the whole system smarter,” said company founder and CEO Amarjot Singh.