By Scott Simmie
We’ve all seen the videos.
Quadrupeds doing parkour. Humanoid robots dancing, throwing punches, or effortlessly picking up boxes.
It’s easy to assume those capabilities come straight out of the box. In reality, almost every successful deployment involves configuration, software development, sensor integration, testing and refinement.
So while all that kicking and dancing may look impressive, it leaves out a very critical part of the equation. Before a robot can do any of those things reliably, it has to be built, programmed, trained and – most importantly – tested in the environment where it’s actually going to work.
That’s the part most of those videos never show: Mud that behaves like glue. Loose gravel that jams up tracked platforms. Dust, rain, extreme temperatures and uneven terrain. Those are the things that determine whether a robot succeeds or fails.
At InDro Robotics, we build for the real world – every step of the way.
Above: Our new Prowler wheeled quadruped inspection robot gets put to the test at Ottawa’s Area X.O. Below: An earlier iteration of our Sentinel is tested in water of varying depths
USE-CASE
At InDro, we don’t simply sell robots. We customise them for each and every customer.
During the initial “discovery” call, our Head of R&D Sales Luke Corbeth learns as much as possible about the client’s needs. Is the robot for indoor use only? Remote asset inspection (where it will undoubtedly be exposed to inclement weather)? Does it need to climb stairs, navigate rough terrain, identify objects?
That first conversation isn’t about choosing a robot; it’s about understanding the problem. Once Corbeth has a good sense of use-case, he can start recommending platforms and parts suitable for the job. If the robot is going to be outdoors, for example, he’ll suggest platforms and components that have a solid Ingress Protection (IP) rating.
The general baseline for outdoor robots is IP65, meaning they’re capable of handling light rain, irrigation sprays, dust etc. But a more demanding environment could easily call for a higher IP rating to ensure it can handle mud, temporary submersion etc. Now we’re into IP67+ territory.
Sensors are integral to every deployment. Depending on the application, a robot might carry anything from a simple RGB camera to LiDAR, depth cameras, thermal imaging, GNSS/INS modules or PTZ systems. These feed data into InDro Cortex, where onboard AI fuses the information, giving the client the complete picture via our InDro Controller user interface.
TESTING, TESTING, 1,2,3
Simulations are an important first step. They let us recreate weather conditions, terrain and mission scenarios. But simulations only go so far. Eventually, every robot has to prove itself in the real world.
We ensure they’re ready by putting them through their paces at Area X.O’s Drone and Advanced Robotics Training and Testing zone, or DARTT. It’s a series of testbeds that include sand, gravel, uneven terrain, water, an adjustable incline ramp and more. All of these have been built to the demanding requirements of the US-based National Institute of Standards and Training (NIST). To the best of our knowledge, it’s the only such facility in Canada.
But we don’t stop there. If the client has particularly demanding terrain or surfaces, we test the robot at their location when possible. And in those cases where we can’t, if there’s an issue we will troubleshoot remotely as a first step. In the rare event where a robot is not operating as planned in the field, we will either address the issue back at our R&D headquarters or dispatch a field engineer to the site.
And yes, despite all that, real-world testing occasionally produces unexpected results. In one deployment, deep mud inside a mine proved too much for a quadruped platform. It simply became stuck. Rather than treating that as failure, we treated it as engineering data – returning to the drawing board to improve the solution.
Below: Testing Sentinel onsite in real-world conditions in Ottawa
INDRO’S TAKE
We take building robots very seriously – and our top priority is ensuring that the robots we build meet the needs of our clients.
“Reliability isn’t something you add at the end,” says Founder and CEO Philip Reece. “It’s built into every stage of development – from that initial discovery call through platform selection and testing through to deployment. That’s one reason why so many of our customers come back when they’re ready for their next robot.”
Anyone can demonstrate a robot for five minutes. The real challenge is making sure it performs every day, in conditions that are rarely ideal. To set up a no-pressure discovery call, contact Luke Corbeth here.