InDro Robotics, Rogers make first drone / RPAS flight in Canada using 5G network

InDro Robotics, Rogers make first drone / RPAS flight in Canada using 5G network

InDro Robotics has flown two drone missions utilizing a Rogers 5G network – another important Canadian first. The flights took place at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in April, 2021. 

This milestone demonstrated potential future applications of 5G-enabled autonomous flights in Canada and around the world.

The two UAVs, both manufactured and operated by InDro Robotics, were standard quad models integrated with a 5G transmitter/receiver. The RPAS units used the Rogers 5G network at UBC to perform various tasks during test flights.

InDro flies drone missions over Rogers 5G network

The 5G network was installed by Rogers as part of a three-year, multimillion dollar partnership with UBC. The goal is to build a real-world 5G hub on campus that will be the blueprint for 5G innovation and research in Canada.

Drones generally communicate using standard radio frequencies. These have limited range and data bandwidth. Flying drones over the Rogers 5G network, InDro Robotics can share videos and even dense data with multiple users anywhere on the network at a much faster rate.

Rogers 5G Drone
Rogers 5G Drone

The InDro Robotics mission flying drones over 5G networks

The drone flights, carried out by InDro Robotics over a Rogers 5G network, were highly successful. The drones completed tasks such as picking up and dropping off a box containing first-aid medical supplies from one location to another. 

InDro Robotics President and CEO, Philip Reece, said the ability to fly utilizing a 5G network opens up more opportunities for new uses for UAV technology, such as deployment during natural disasters and critical incidents. The use of 5G allows sharing data with multiple users. More importantly, it enables the operation of UAVs from off-site command centres that could be hundreds or thousands of kilometres away from the mission. 

Two greatly anticipated technologies that have developed over the past years are commercial drones and 5G networks. On their own each have an amazing impact on many industries. Together, they do so much more. We now have drones flying over public and private 5G networks that can collect and send data into the cloud for AI processing and back to offsite command centres with near-zero latency. This enables drones to operate smarter and safer, sharing critical data with those that need it instantly. This helps keep First Responders out of harm’s way, and allows engineers to inspect infrastructure faster and more efficiently. It also helps keep airspace safe, and so much more,” said Reece.

We are proud to be leading the industry in deploying drones over cellular networks in North America.”

InDro Robotics proud to announce partnership with leading robot chassis manufacturer AgileX Robotics

InDro Robotics proud to announce partnership with leading robot chassis manufacturer AgileX Robotics

InDro Robotics has partnered with best-in-class robot manufactures, AgileX Robotics.

Founded in 2016, AgileX Robotics is a leading robot chassis manufacturer and mobile robot system solution provider in China. AgileX Robotics has developed mobile robot chassis products such as unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), indoor small autonomous guided vehicles (AGV) and modified wire-controlled electric robots. These devices can serve in security and industrial inspections, agricultural irrigation, logistics and transportation, detection and exploration, scientific research and education.

InDro Robotics, AgileX partner on ground robots

Together, InDro Robotics and AgileX are  developing and distributing these UGVs in North America.

This partnership is a momentous step for InDro Robotics, as AgileX’s platform is a perfect fit for robotics research. This opens the door to further applications, including integrated sky and ground robotics, indoor/outdoor data acquisition, mapping, path planning, and teleoperation.

AgileX

AgileX ground robots a perfect match for InDro Robotics

“The technology that we have been developing with clients on the drone side has provided us with breakthroughs and industry firsts, many of these clients also have environments that a robust ground robot would be well suited for, be it tele-operated, automated or working in unison with the drone. As such we called upon an established partner of ours — AgileX Robotics — to provide us with a reliable base to build upon, allowing us to rapidly add our technology to theirs and bring to market new solutions,” said Philip Reece, President and CEO of InDro Robotics.

Currently, both companies are continuing to work on advancing Robot Operation Systems (ROS) and creating solutions to simplify the development of complex robot behavior throughout a vase range of robotic platforms

AgileX

InDro Robotics, AgileX offer SCOUT MINI R&D platform

One of these platforms is the R&D KIT, a fully integrated solution for robotics research and development with AgileX Robotics’ SCOUT MINI platform. The R&D Kit includes with a full suite of sensors to support indoor SLAM, navigation and vision based applications, as well as a powerful NVIDIA Jetson Nano computer comes pre-installed with Linux and ROS ubuntu 18.4. 

The SCOUT MINI R&D kit accelerates robotics applications and research by eliminating the need to design, manufacture and integrate a complex robotic system. 

The Ranger Mini is another highly successful platform developed by AgileX Robotics. The Ranger Mini is a new Omni-directional UGV that is based on the new four-wheel and four-turn control theory. The product adopts an independent drive module design with integrated drive and steering. It includes a number of flexible driving modes and combing powerful maneuverability and flexibility that will bring more possibilities for mobile robot platforms for different applications.

“The Ranger Mini is a very new and special technique that we use for mobile robots, and you can never find this type of product in other parts of the world. Through working on this with InDro Robotics, I believe that we can easily see these products in the North American markets,” said Brand Xue, Lead of Global Sales & Marketing at AgileX Robotics.

“InDro Robotics is the bridge that can bring our latest and best technology mobile robots into the North American market.”