INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Knowing what going on in your warehouses and facilities is of course critical to many industries, but regular inspections take time, money,
Why not use drones Vtrus uses computer vision to let a compact drone not just safely navigate indoor environments but create detailed 3D
maps of them for inspectors and workers to consult, autonomously and in real time.Vtrus showed off its hardware platform — currently a
prototype — and its proprietary SLAM (simultaneous location and mapping) software at TechCrunch Disrupt SF as a Startup Battlefield
Wildcard company.There are already some drone-based services for the likes of security and exterior imaging, but Vtrus CTO Jonathan Lenoff
told me that those are only practical because they operate with a large margin for error
If you&re searching for open doors or intruders beyond the fence, it doesn&t matter if you&re at 25 feet up or 26
But inside a warehouse or production line every inch counts and imaging has to be carried out at a much finer scale.As a result, dangerous
and tedious inspections, such as checking the wiring on lighting or looking for rust under an elevated walkway, have to be done by people
Vtrus wouldn&t put those people out of work, but it might take them out of danger.
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The drone, called the ABI Zero for now, is equipped with a suite of sensors,
from ordinary RGB cameras to 360 ones and a structured-light depth sensor
As soon as it takes off, it begins mapping its environment in great detail: it takes in 300,000 depth points 30 times per second, combining
that with its other cameras to produce a detailed map of its surroundings.It uses this information to get around, of course, but the data is
also streamed over wi-fi in real time to the base station and Vtrus own cloud service, through which operators and inspectors can access
it.The SLAM technique they use was developed in-house; CEO Renato Moreno built and sold a company (to Facebook/Oculus) using some of the
principles, but improvements to imaging and processing power have made it possible to do it faster and in greater detail than before
Not to mention on a drone that flying around an indoor space full of people and valuable inventory.On a full charge, ABI can fly for about
That doesn&t sound very impressive, but the important thing isn&t staying aloft for a long time — few drones can do that to begin with —
but how quickly it can get back up there
That where the special docking and charging mechanism comes in.The Vtrus drone lives on and returns to a little box, which when a tapped-out
craft touches down, sets off a patented high-speed charging process
It contact-based, not wireless, and happens automatically
The drone can then get back in the air perhaps half an hour or so later, meaning the craft can actually be in the air for as much as six
hours a day total.Probably anyone who has had to inspect or maintain any kind of building or space bigger than a studio apartment can see
the value in getting frequent, high-precision updates on everything in that space, from storage shelving to heavy machinery
You&d put in an ABI for every X square feet depending on what you need it to do; they can access each other data and combine it as well.This
frequency and the detail which which the drone can inspect and navigate means maintenance can become proactive rather than reactive — you
see rust on a pipe or a hot spot on a machine during the drone hourly pass rather than days later when the part fails
And if you don&t have an expert on site, the full 3D map and even manual drone control can be handed over to your HVAC guy or union rep.You
can see lots more examples of ABI in action at the Vtrus website
Way too many to embed here.Lenoff, Moreno, and third co-founder Carlos Sanchez, who brings the industrial expertise to the mix, explained
that their secret sauce is really the software — the drone itself is pretty much off the shelf stuff right now, tweaked to their
(The base is an original creation, of course.)But the software is all custom built to handle not just high-resolution 3D mapping in real
time but the means to stream and record it as well
They&ve hired experts to build those systems as well — the 6-person team already sounds like a powerhouse.The whole operation is
self-funded right now, and the team is seeking investment
But that doesn&t mean they&re idle: they&re working with major companies already and operating a &pilotless& program (get it)
The team has been traveling the country visiting facilities, showing how the system works, and collecting feedback and requests
It hard to imagine they won&t have big clients soon.
