# Owl Autonomous Imaging

> Owl Autonomous Imaging (Owl AI) builds Monocular 3D Thermal Ranging cameras and AI perception software that let vehicles and machines see people, animals and obstacles in total darkness, blinding glare, fog, rain and snow. Founded in 2018 by Chuck Gershman and Gene Petilli, the Fairport, New York company pairs its own HD long-wave infrared focal plane array with thermal CNNs to deliver both classification and distance from a single passive camera - aimed at pedestrian automatic emergency braking, ADAS and defense.

- **Founded:** 2018
- **Headquarters:** Fairport, New York, United States
- **Founders:** Chuck Gershman (Co-Founder, President & CEO), Gene Petilli (Co-Founder, System Architect / CTO)
- **Team size:** ~24 employees
- **Products:** Monocular 3D Thermal Ranger, KnightOwl HD Focal Plane Array, Thermal Ranger Perception Software, Thermal Ranger Evaluation / Reference Design Kit
- **Notable:** Developed what it markets as the world's only Monocular 3D Thermal Ranging sensor solution., Raised roughly $33M total, including a $15M Series A led by State Farm Ventures (Jan 2022)., Ran live thermal CNN perception on NVIDIA Orin at CES 2024.

## Products & services

- **Monocular 3D Thermal Ranger** — A single passive thermal camera that produces both HD long-wave infrared video and a dense range map, enabling object classification, 3D segmentation and precise distance measurement without a second lens, LiDAR or radar.
- **KnightOwl HD Focal Plane Array** — Owl's own high-definition LWIR thermal imaging sensor in wafer-scale packaging - the silicon foundation of its ranging cameras.
- **Thermal Ranger Perception Software** — CNN-based perception stack performing thermal object classification, RGB-to-thermal fusion and 3D ranging, demonstrated running on NVIDIA Orin/Jetson at the edge.
- **Thermal Ranger Evaluation / Reference Design Kit** — A hardware and software kit that lets Tier 1 and OEM automotive customers evaluate Owl's thermal ranging for Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB) and L2-L4 ADAS applications.

## Achievements

- Developed what it markets as the world's only Monocular 3D Thermal Ranging sensor solution.
- Raised roughly $33M total, including a $15M Series A led by State Farm Ventures (Jan 2022).
- Ran live thermal CNN perception on NVIDIA Orin at CES 2024.
- Designs its own HD LWIR focal plane array rather than relying solely on third-party sensors.
- Detects and classifies warm objects up to ~200 yards in complete darkness, glare and adverse weather.

## Latest updates

- **2024-11** — Owl AI featured in Vision Systems Design Magazine highlighting its size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) advantages.
- **2024-05** — CEO Chuck Gershman spoke at AutoSens Detroit on 'Unlocking Pedestrian Safety with Automotive Night Vision.'
- **2024-01** — Partnered with NVIDIA at CES 2024 to demo thermal CNNs on the Orin processor for nighttime driving.
- **2023-05** — Raised a $7.5M Series B tranche, bringing total funding to roughly $33M.
- **2023-01** — Launched the Monocular 3D Thermal Ranger and evaluation kit at CES 2023.

## Links

- Website: https://owlai.us
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/owlai
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/owlai
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPuXFR_a-YA
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/OwlAutonomousImaging/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/owl-autonomous-imaging
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-11