Let InDro Robotics pilot your next inspection mission – remotely

Let InDro Robotics pilot your next inspection mission – remotely

Picture this: You run a solar farm. And it’s time for a routine inspection to detect faulty or damaged solar cells.

Traditionally, you’ve inspected using a handheld thermal sensor – hoping to identify any anomalies on your solar panels. It does the job, but it’s time-consuming. You’re aware that drones are capable of carrying out this task much more rapidly, but that’s not a simple solution either. The time and expense of training an in-house pilot to meet the regulatory bar, along with the cost of a drone with a thermal sensor, add up.

What options do you have? Well, you could hire someone from outside on a contract basis. That gets pricey as well, since the fee generally includes travel time and other expenses for the operator. Like most solar farms, your facility is located in a rural area far from the nearest major city.

InDro Robotics is pleased to offer a solution: We ship you a fully-charged drone with thermal sensor, and we fly the mission remotely.

And how does that work? Well, just like this:

Inspections without the hassle

 

Let’s back up a bit.

InDro created this solution in response to a need. Solar and other industries told us they understood the value proposition of drone inspections but couldn’t justify the cost of purchasing a drone with the appropriate sensor for their needs. Many also said they didn’t need a drone pilot on staff.

And so we started thinking of options that would work within the current regulatory framework. In Canada, as long as the pilot is in contact with a visual observer monitoring the flight, these missions can be carried out without additional permissions beyond notifying NAVCAN of the flight.

“It’s a straightforward solution for solar farms or other clients requiring any form of aerial inspection,” explains Peter King, InDro’s Head of Robotic Solutions. “A qualified pilot instructs the client how to turn on the drone and monitor airspace. A pilot from InDro Robotics takes care of the rest, capturing and delivering meaningful data to the client – and at a significantly lower price point than having a contractor travel to the client’s location.”

And when the drone lands? The client simply powers it off, puts it back in the box, and ships it to the nearest InDro Robotics location (there are five in Canada).

 

Wait – there’s more!

Remotely Operated Drones

Secure, remotely operated flights

 

If you follow our news, you’ll be aware we have created our own, proprietary platform for low-latency operations with high data bandwidth. We call the system InDro Pilot, and you can take a deeper dive here.

This system, which includes a special hardware module we’ve developed, is capable of exceedingly low-latency over 5G connections. It can also be operated over 4G as well. So regardless of where you need an inspection, we can carry it out as long as there’s a cellular connection. If that connection is 5G, we have the capability to upload your data in real-time to the cloud for processing – meaning you’ll receive meaningful and actionable data as soon as possible following the flight.

What’s more, the InDro Pilot system also informs traditional aircraft in the vicinity that a drone operation is underway at your location. This “Hear and be Heard” function, using a Software Defined Radio, reduces the likelihood of any conflict with low-flying aircraft.

If you check out the photo below, the black module on our WayFinder contains an Edge processor, high-speed modem, the Software Defined Radio – and much more. This is an integral ingredient in the secret sauce of InDro Pilot.

Canada Drones

InDro’s Take

 

Not surprisingly, we’re keen on this solution.

But that’s not just because we created it. We truly believe this fills a niche in the marketplace, offering value to those who require top quality data collection and analysis but infrequent flights. For companies requiring up to four annual inspections, missions carried out remotely by InDro Robotics specialists are a cost-effective solution. We simply ship you the drone, ready to fly out of the box. All you have to do is watch the sky and keep in touch with our pilot during the flight – and the data will be your way in no time. And, by the way, InDro Robotics was the first company in North America to carry out a remote inspection in this way.

We are currently offering this solution in Canada. US operations are slightly more complex due to the FAA’s differing regulations, but not impossible.

To learn more of receive a quote for remote data acquisition, contact us here.

Some innovative Canadian tech companies to watch

Some innovative Canadian tech companies to watch

At InDro Robotics, we live and breathe innovation.

Not only do we like creating new products and solutions, we enjoy celebrating when other companies – particularly Canadian companies – build cool things.

InDro Robotics recently took part in a Trade Mission sponsored by NRC-IRAP – the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program. The program involved some 20 companies heading to Portugal for meetings with leading Portuguese innovation companies and agencies, as well as attending the Global Innovation Summit focussed on a sustainable future.

It was a busy, whirlwind week. But one of the highlights was meeting some of the other Canadian companies in the innovation space and learning more about that they do. So we thought we’d take a moment and highlight a few of them.

 

Oneka Technologies

 

See that buoy floating below? It’s pretty special.

Oneka Technologies
The buoy is built by Quebec’s Oneka Technologies. And it can turn sea water into drinking water, using wave power.

The Oneka system consists of buoys tethered just offshore from an area in need of fresh drinking water. The movement of the waves provides the energy to force the seawater through reverse osmosis filters. The result? Fresh water in places that need it most.

As the system performs its extraction, it also produces a brine containing roughly 30 per cent more salinity than the surrounding seawater. That brine is returned to the ocean, but quickly diluted.

Each buoy requires about 10 square metres of space on the ocean, so multiple buoys can be placed within close proximity. Use-case scenarios include communities with limited access to drinking water, natural disasters where the drinking water has been disrupted – and even seaside resorts in need of desalination.

$5.5M funding round

Last year, Oneka announced it had completed a $5.5M funding round led by Canadian investor Innovacorp and American investor Baruch Future Ventures.

“The world is running out of clean water and Oneka has a solution. It works, it’s affordable, it’s better for the environment, and it can be scaled from local disaster relief and regional demand all the way to meeting utility needs,” said Jonathan Saari, investment manager at Innovacorp in an Oneka news release. “It’s exciting to watch the team build and test their world-changing technology…”

The release says the company is working its first two commercial deploments in the US and Chile. Oneka’s solution produces zero CO2 emissions, and a single device can produce up to 10,000 litres of fresh water per week, enough for 450 people.

Earlier this year, Oneka won the US Department of Energy’s Waves to Water challenge, a competition designed to accelerate the development of small, modular, wave-energy-powered desalination systems. The three-year-long challenge netted the company $500,000 US.

Open Ocean Robotics

And here’s another Canadian company doing innovative things on the water.

Open Ocean Robotics is a Victoria-based company that really grabbed our attention during the Trade Mission trip.

Its solar-powered vehicle (with a patented self-righting system), can travel the ocean for months at a time, sending back critical data in real-time. The model seen here is called the Data Xplorer, and the company also has a model that utilizes rigid sails.

Oneka Technologies

Long-term missions, zero emissions

 

The Open Ocean robotics USV is suitable for long-range missions lasting months, with the vehicle capabale of either autonomous or remotely operated missions (pending how remote those missions are). Here’s what Open Ocean says about the device:

“Powered by the sun, it can travel on the ocean for months at a time collecting ocean and environmental data using its suite of sensors.  It sends this information back in real-time through secure communication systems and clients can control the USV from anywhere in the world using our user portal. Capable of travelling in both coastal and open-ocean waters, and with a customizable platform for multiple sensor integration, it offers the ability to understand our oceans in a whole new way.  Data Xplorer is designed to endure all sea states and is self righting.”

Here’s a look at Data Xplorer in action:

This appears to be a thoughtfully engineered system that can be teleoperated where there’s a cellular signal. In more remote areas, missions can be uploaded via satellite. We’re particularly impressed by the unique self-righting system. It relies on buoyancy in that circular structure at the stern, rather than adding weight to the keel (which would reduce efficiency).

And yes, these USVs can capture a *lot* of useful data: This graphic comes from the Open Ocean Robotics website.

Oneka Technologies
The company has carried out multiple successful missions to date; you can find case studies here. In December of 2021, Open Ocean Robotics wrapped a $4M seed funding round.

Perhaps even more impressive? CEO Julie Angus, in addition to holding multiple degrees (including a Masters of Science in molecular biology), was the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean, from mainland to mainland.

 

ACEL Power

 

The Vancouver-based firm focuses on what’s likely to be a booming market in the years to come: Electric outboard motors. The company says its motors deliver 30 per cent more torque than a comparable horsepower internal combustion engine, plus offer a lifespan five times that of a conventional outboard.

All that, with zero emissions.

The company is about to commence manufacturing, and is now taking pre-orders on 50, 60, 75, 100 and 150-horsepower motors. Motors come with the complete ACEL Power system, including:

  • Engine
  • Battery
  • Inverter
  • Throttle
  • Onboard Computer Screen
  • Keyless start Fob

Here’s a look at a prototype engine in action:

And while ACEL Power’s motors are not inexpensive, the company says they will outperform and outlast conventional motors. ACEL also has its eye on potentially producing a Uncrewed Surface Vehicle using its outboards down the road.

You can find more info – and even pre-order a motor – right here.

 

And finally…

 

A brief look at one more company from the trip (though we wish we had room to highlight them all).

Ashored is not in the robotics space, but it has a very intriguing product that will help prevent sea mammal entanglements and hopefully make life easier for people in the fishery industry who use traps for lobsters, crabs etc.

Normally, those traps are dropped to the bottom and attached by lines to small buoys on the surface. Those lines can often entangle whales and other sea creatures. In fact, if whales are spotted in areas where there are active traps, fishers can be instructed to remove traps until the whales move out of the area.

The Ashored system offers a clever solution. Its MOBI (Modular Ocean Based Instrument) keeps the line on the ocean floor until the fisher returns to collect the gear. The rope and small buoy are contained in a cage that is attached to the other traps. Using an acoustic signal (or timer), a magnetic lock is released and the buoy floats to the surface.

You can check out the system in this excellent video:

InDro’s Take

 

The companies on that recent trip, without exception, had impressive innovations and/or solutions. A lot of them were in the maritime space, where we’re seeing an increased use in robotics both on and beneath the surface.

There’s also a growing emphasis on sustainability, in conjunction with net-zero carbon emissions. There can be no doubt there are good use-cases for wave-powered desalination systems, solar-powered Uncrewed Surface Vehicles, electric outboard motors – and more. We look forward to seeing more from these Canadian companies, as well as the others who were on the trip.

In closing, a quick shoutout to Andrew Bauder, Léonie Hyppolite and Scott McLean from NRC-IRAP for organizing and excellent and productive Trade Mission. Thank you.

#CANSEC2022 – a wrap on the biggest security and defence show in Canada

#CANSEC2022 – a wrap on the biggest security and defence show in Canada

By Scott Simmie, InDro Robotics

 

The biggest annual security and defence conference in Canada – CANSEC – is a wrap. Put on by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, the trade show is like a Who’s Who of the vast supply chain necessary to keep Canada’s armed forces equipped.

That means everything from the pointy end of the stick (weaponry) through to advanced SCUBA gear, survival suits, radar units, flight simulators and more. Major companies like Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, QINETIQ, Google, Microsoft and others were among the 306 defence and security exhibitors that filled some 150,000 square feet on the trade floor.

It was clear (if it wasn’t before) that digital technologies play a huge role on the modern battlefield. Plus, there was a lot of hardware like this:

 

 CANSEC

There was also this guy, who spent his time in icy-cold water intended to show off the capabilities of the company’s survival suit. See that glove on the right? People attending the show were invited to plunge their hands in that frigid water with and without the glove on.

Trust us on this, it’s more comfortable with the glove.

CANSEC

Weaponized drone

 

On the drone front, there was a significant development. Norwegian drone maker GRIFF Aviation, known for its heavy-lift Enterprise drones, was displaying a variant of one of its models. In conjunction with Norwegian munitions manufacturer and defence firm Nammo, the two companies have outfitted the GRIFF 135 (payload capacity 30kg) to fire anti-tank rockets. This was the first time this machine has been publicly displayed.

CANSEC

And here’s a look at the business end of things:

CANSEC

Ukraine influence?

 

There has been a huge demand for drones since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But that conflict played no role in the development of this machine.

“This is not something we came up with because of Ukraine,” says Geir Furø, GRIFF Aviation’s VP of Sales and Business Development.

“It’s been in the planning for the last four or five years. Only in the last year has it been coming together. So this will have a live-fire test later this fall. We hope to be manufacturing by early next year.”

 While InDro Robotics does not weaponize its drones or robots, we can certainly see the business case for GRIFF Aviation. What we found most interesting about this development is that drone manufacturers have typically followed either an Enterprise/Consumer track, or else a military one. In general, companies that are defence contractors (such as Aerovironment) don’t produce Enterprise/Consumer drones, and vice-versa. 

Furø said there had been a lot of interest in the product. It will be interesting to see whether this crossover leads other Enterprise manufacturers to consider adapting their products for a combat setting.

Submersibles

A couple of other displays caught our eye, as well. In the case we’re about to explore, Canadian companies that build submersible devices. These are tethered systems that, in general, send back high-quality real-time video and other data to the surface (they can be equipped with multiple sensors). Use-case scenarios include hull inspection, sediment sampling, and even retrieval of objects on the ocean bed. First Responders also use these devices when attempting to locate human remains following drownings, boat sinkings etc., keeping divers out of harm’s way.

Two different Canadian companies had displays at the CANSEC show, both offering submersible solutions.

MarineNav

 

Established in 2005, the company is based in Prince Edward Island – which has some obvious advantages when it comes to R&D and testing its products. It builds underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs), marine-grade computers, displays etc. Its Oceanus series has been deployed in use-cases ranging from border security and environmental assessment through to scientific research. MarineNav ROVs are built on-site, using rugged plastics and marine-grade anodized aluminum.

Its three models use thrust vectoring for positioning and can carry out unlimited mission times, since power is supplied via tether.

OceanUS

Range

 

The Oceanus Pro, seen above, has a depth rating of 305m (1000′). It’s controlled from the surface using a joystick and touch-sensitive topside monitor. That monitor has 1600 nits of brightness, meaning it’s easy to view even in bright daylight. The company’s Oceanus Ultimate has the same depth rating, but with an optional upgrade can descend to 500m (1640′).

We had the opportunity to chat with MarineNav staff and were impressed with both their commitment to quality, as well as the fact their line is manufactured from the ground-up, in-house.

 

Deep Trekker

 

The other company that caught our attention was Deep Trekker, based in Kitchener, Ontario. Deep Trekker has been around for a decade, and produces not only submersibles but also waterproof crawlers, designed for pipe inspections – even a vacuum robot that can clean sediment and sludge from the bottoms of reservoirs and tanks.

When we were recently at the AUVSI conference, we had an opportunity to operate its DTG3, a highly maneuverable and affordable ROV rated for up to 200m. Impressive, and just one of many machines for specific use-case scenarios.

Deep Trekker

In fact, Deep Trekker offers not only a broad range of products, but – not unlike drones – the option for additional sensors suitable to tasks such as Side Scan Sonar, water sampling, and even Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) tools.

 

InDro on the floor

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that InDro Robotics also had a presence at the show. That’s our own Peter King on the right, taking part in a demonstration with partners Microsoft Canada.

Peter was remotely operating our Sentinel robot, equipped with the InDro Commander system, over a 5G network. This was on day two of the conference (you’ll see Sentinel below). The previous day, we piloted a drone from the CANSEC show, with the drone many kilometres away at our Area X.O R&D hub.

InDro is a leader in teleoperating drones and robots over 4G and 5G networks, allowing for remote operations from around the block or across the country.

The operator monitors the mission via a web-based browser, seeing data in real-time as the mission unfolds.

Peter is a pro at this, as well as understanding the many use-cases that can benefit from such technology. For example, InDro Robotics can remotely inspect a solar farm to see if there are any malfunctioning panels. Having a human inspect those panels can literally take days, while generally a single drone flight of less than 30 minutes can usually detect any anomalies.

Interested? You can always reach Peter here.

CANSEC
CANSEC

InDro’s Take

 

Conferences are a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of a particular sector, as well as a chance to see what other companies are up to in that space.

We had conversations with many companies at CANSEC and were particularly impressed with several Canadian SMEs. Deep Trekker and MarineNav have both developed very impressive products, and – as a fellow R&D company – we applaud Canadian success stories that push the boundaries of engineering. Well done.

Voliro brings a new solution to an old inspection problem with aerial Non-Destructive Testing

Voliro brings a new solution to an old inspection problem with aerial Non-Destructive Testing

By Scott Simmie, InDro Robotics

Imagine, for a second, you’re an engineer responsible for the integrity of an aging water tower. The steel structure is elevated about 10 metres off the ground and is spherical in shape.

From your vantage point on the ground, it appears to be okay. There’s no visible rust, but you’re concerned there could be corrosion beneath the paint.

What are your options? Well, you could send someone up to inspect it visually. Or, better yet, have them take a specialized tool that can precisely measure the thickness of that metal or even the paint or coating on the surface – simply by touching it.

This is known as Non-Destructive Testing, or NDT. In the photo you’re about to see, there’s a ladder leading to a lower-level catwalk. This provides some access for an inspector – but only allows them to examine a fraction of the entire structure.

In order to make a complete inspection you’ll need to look at other options. Will you build scaffolding beneath and surrounding the structure so the worker has a safe platform from which to carry out the measurements? Will you rig them with a safety harness and ropes and lower them from the top of the tank? Might you have them attach the sensor to a super-long stick?

None of these choices are optimal, and the first two involve varying degrees of risk (falls from height are one of the leading causes of death or disability in the workplace). You’ll also have to ensure you’re fully compliant with a host of worker safety regulations – all of which exist for very good reasons. Plus, scaffolding is an expensive proposition and will require about a week for a contractor to put up and then disassemble. And sticks or poles? Well, the longer the reach the more cumbersome and awkward the task.

Take a really good look at the image below. How would you solve the problem? How would you deploy resources in order to get measurements from anywhere on the water tower’s surface? And what about that black semi-sphere at the bottom? Tricky.

Of course, you’d face the same issue if you wanted to spray-paint or apply some other coating to the surface. In fact, it’s the latter issue that the engineers who developed this product initially set out to solve.

(Photo by TheTechnician27, via Wikimedia Commons)

Voliro

A Swiss solution

Back in 2016, engineering students Timo Müller and Mina Kamel set out to design a drone that could do that kind of work – spraying paint or coatings. They were at Switzerland’s Zürich ETH, a research university that has been a catalyst for a number of successful technology startups.

Working in the ETH Lab, they started from scratch on the project. But as it evolved, they realized there was an even greater need for a drone that could carry out Non-Destructive Testing, which requires that the sensor attached to the flying robot physically touch the surface of the asset being inspected. That asset might be the hull of a ship, the interior of a tall steel tank – even the massive pylons that support high-power transmission lines.

They knew that a standard quadcopter would not be up to the task. Turbulence was one issue. But they also wanted to design a product that could point its sensor anywhere in space – and then make precise contact with pressure.

Picture a drone inside a sphere, with a sensor pointing forward. The Voliro T is capable of directing that sensor anywhere within that sphere, then holding it against the surface with a force of up to three kilograms.

You’ll get a better idea of what we mean in this video. What this drone can do would be impossible for a standard quadcopter. (And yes, it can still paint!)

Multiple advantages…

At first glance, you might think of this as a tricopter. But it’s really very different. First of all, the motors are in a T-5 configuration – with twin rotors on each forward arm and a single rotor for stability in the rear. Traditional tricopters use a Y configuration, with a servo tilting that rear motor for yaw authority. This rear motor is fixed, but the forward motors can be tilted and rotated forward or aft for precise thrust vectoring.

This unusual design means the Voliro T can be stable when pointed in literally any direction in space. Think back to that water tank. This drone could take measurements from the bottom-up, the top-down, and everywhere in between. The design intrigued us enough that we got in touch with Voliro.

“We exist because we want to remove working at height,” explains Chris Udell, Voliro’s Business Development Lead, adding that the Voliro T “is one of the first drones to be designed from the very start to push against a surface.”

That’s not something you can do with a quadcopter, at least not reliably.

“We’ve seen a lot of cowboys where they’ve strapped an NDT sensor to a multirotor,” he says. “Standard multirotors are amazing tools…but what they cannot do is touch a surface reliably and hold position.” That’s because turbulence close to structures can really mess with a stable position hold.

“So multirotors are really the wrong tool for the job. The other advantage is that you can push between two and three kilograms of force on the surface.” That pressure is needed for some of the sensors to get accurate readings – and another reason why long poles are a challenging option. The greater the height, the more difficult it is to apply pressure from below.

Universal payload interface

One of Voliro’s value propositions is the ability to quickly swap sensors, depending on the task.

The Voliro T interfaces with three different NDT sensors, each of which is designed to capture specific kinds of data.

They are:

 

Ultrasonic Flaw Detector
Measures the thickness of materials, including metals, composites and plastics
Electro-Magnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) Thickness Gauge
This one measures the thickness of conductive materials, such as iron or mild steel
ElektroPhysik MiniTest
Measures the thickness of dry films, such as paint or coatings or wraps – even metallic plating (chrome, zinc, nickel)
Voliro
“Because we’ve got different sensors,” explains Udell, “we have pylon inspections, offshore and onshore storage tanks, wind turbines, commercial ships (and more).”

Years in development

 

We know, from experience, that developing new products is challenging, exhilarating, and time-consuming. Though Voliro is now in the hands of some major early adopter clients, it wasn’t an overnight slam-dunk. The Voliro team, starting with Mina Kamel and Timo Müller – who’s also a former professional Skicross athlete (think motocross on skis) – have been at this now for six years.

That’s some tough slogging. But throughout the evolution of this product, there were regular technological milestones – as well as recognition and funding – that continuously validated the vision. Voliro provided a timeline of the company’s history; it’s impressive.

Voliro

Saves time, money

Of course, none of this effort would have been worthwhile if the final product didn’t offer a clear value proposition. Voliro says its field work has proven, repeatedly, that this system is faster and more cost-effective than traditional methods. In one of its case studies, using the Voliro T saved the installation and tear-down of some 615 cubic meters of scaffolding – which would have required 400 person-hours of labour. Working on a single asset, a pilot and inspector working in tandem can capture about 200 measurements per hour.

In another example, Voliro carried out ultrasonic flaw detection inside a total of five steel tanks – measuring the walls and roofs of the assets. Scaffolding would have been impossible inside this tank, and rope access (dangling an inspector with a handheld sensor) wasn’t feasible. And the old stick method? That’s limited to a height of 12 metres, meaning in this case only limited coverage would have been possible.

The Voliro T completed inspection of all five tanks in just 1.5 days, taking a total of 700 measurement points. Each of those points was geo-referenced and also captured in 4K video. In fact, the Voliro T has two 4K cameras onboard, plus a lot more, as detailed in this company handout:

 

Voliro

Robot as a service model

As we’re starting to see with a number of specialized drone companies, Voliro is going with a subscription model. Rather than purchase a Voliro T, you lease one. And that, says Udell, comes with a number of benefits.

“It really helps users get their return on the investment quicker. It splits down the initial outlay, so it’s a subscription charge every year.”

And what does a client get for their money?

“We give training, and also offer upgrades. The drone industry is moving very fast…so this idea of using a robot as a service and upgrading the platform as it goes along” means the customer never gets stuck with outdated equipment, nor faces the outlay of an outright purchase.

Companies like Shell and Chevron are part of Voliro’s early adopter program. And, says Udell, “There’s worldwide interest in the device.”

 

InDro’s take

As a research and development company, we have a lot of experience identifying technology gaps and building solutions that previously didn’t exist. We appreciate new approaches, as well as fresh engineering innovations. That’s why companies like Voliro and Canadian NDT drone manufacturer Skyguage catch our attention. They’re also important leaders as the drone market evolves from a sea of standard quadcopters into more specialized, task-specific drones.

“Voliro and Skyguage have taken a fresh look at an old problem,” says InDro CEO Philip Reece. “In doing so, both firms have really pushed the technology in new directions. The end result? More efficient and economical inspections of often complex assets while reducing risk for people.

“These are exciting times in the world of aerial and ground robots. We’ll be seeing a lot more specialized solutions in the future, including more from InDro.”

Stay tuned.

(Image/graphics courtesy of Voliro Airborne Robotics)

Throughout 2022, our friends at Osprey Integrity will be operating the only commercial Voliro unit in Canada. You can find out more about their work on their website.

The InDro Robotics “InDro Commander” for ground robots

The InDro Robotics “InDro Commander” for ground robots

By Scott Simmie, InDro Robotics

 

Today, building basic robots isn’t hugely challenging for engineers – though, of course, some robots are a lot more complex than others.

The really tough part is making those robots be useful.  Tasks like navigating, capturing thermal imagery and other data – even identifying and manipulating objects – all require much more than wheels and sensors and end effectors (the robotic equivalent of hands). Regardless of whether the robot is simple or complex, it needs brains.

Those brains consist of both hardware and software, with specific bundles of code that can help with specific tasks. And that’s where the Robot Operating System, or ROS, comes into play. ROS.org is a repository of software packages, purpose-built for specific robotic applications by a global network of collaborators.

 

via ROS.org

As the organization’s website explains it, ROS “is a collection of tools, libraries, and conventions that aim to simplify the task of creating complex and robust robot behavior across a wide variety of robotic platforms.

“Why? Because creating truly robust, general-purpose robot software is hard. From the robot’s perspective, problems that seem trivial to humans often vary wildly between instances of tasks and environments. Dealing with these variations is so hard that no single individual, laboratory, or institution can hope to do it on their own.”

And so ROS could be thought of as a super helpful toolkit, where collaborators upload and share code they’ve developed – and also download and integrate (or even modify) code others have written in order to make their robot carry out required tasks, including specific ways of communicating with an operator or base station.

 

ROS is cool, but could it be even cooler?

 

Some time back, we started to ponder this question. Specifically, what if you could pack some of that software in a box – along with the hardware required to run it? And what if that box could easily be integrated to a ground-based robot (most already use ROS drivers) to get it up and running as seamlessly as possible?

That’s the concept of a new InDro Robotics product called InDro Commander, developed by Engineering Manager Arron Griffiths in conjunction with the InDro Robotics Area X.O team.

Arron had been working with ROS for about five years, so he already had a great understanding of the available software tools. Arron has worked in robotics for more than a decade now (he was also the Senior Application Engineer at Clearpath Robotics prior to joining InDro Robotics). And Unmanned Ground Vehicles, or UGVs, is an area that has really picked up for InDro since we partnered with Chinese robotics leader AgileX. The picture below is of “Scout” – one the company’s UGVs.

 

AgileX Scout

With a solid understanding of the software and the hardware required to run it, Arron realized there could be tremendous potential for an “all-in-one, bolt-on” solution. Such a device could get an ROS-compatible robot up and running much more quickly, with zero hassle. In a nutshell, that’s the concept behind InDro Commander. Here’s Arron:

“We’ve created a hardware product around the concept of a simple ROS module, which can be utilized on multiple different robot types. We’re also trying to make it platform-agnostic. We actually don’t want to make a robotic platform, we want to make a box that has robotic systems in it, to make other robotic platforms smarter.”

We’ve been using our InDro Commander on the AgileX Scout Mini, a great R&D platform. And, well, it works like a charm. InDro Commander is also compatible with all the AgileX platforms and any other ROS-ready robot platform.

In fact, we’re so proud of this InDro Robotics innovation that we produced this video for the recent ROS World 2021 Virtual Conference. (At that time, we were calling it ROS-IN-A-BOX):

 

InDro Commander integrates easily

 

That’s a key piece here. The box contains everything a developer or end-user would need. EDGE computing is done onboard by the NVIDIA Jetson processor, reducing latency and unlocking potential for AI-related tasks like object recognition or change detection. Connectivity is via 4G/5G, and the box can utilize the CAN (Controller Area Network) protocol, Serial or Ethernet. The ruggedized box has its own cooling system and power regulator, and has an Ingress Protection factor of IP55. It’s literally a solution you can bolt onto pretty much any ground-based robot and begin remote teleoperations over 4G or 5G.

And yes, InDro Commander vastly simplifies things.

“It’s just two wires (battery power and communications) people plug in,” says Arron. “The box already has cameras, communications, power regulators – all inside the box. So you’re not fiddling with all of these various peripherals. It’s truly a self-contained ecosystem. Suppliers, OEMs, they don’t have to think – they just have to bolt this box on.”

ROS-IN-A-BOX

InDro Robotics has long been known for its R&D in the drone space, and has garnered multiple industry “firsts” as a result. Now, with the company’s expansion into ground robotics, InDro Commander is a significant breakthrough – not only for InDro, but for others who will immediately see the benefit of this solution.

“We work closely with academia and collaborate with industry partners and end users,” explains InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece.

“The common question is: ‘How can we integrate this sensor or piece of tech with this robot or system?’ Now we have a simple working answer to this question, as InDro Commander is designed as a Plug and Play all-in-one module and is platform agnostic.” (Providing the platform either has a ROS driver already, or working example (Python/C++) code which Indro can use to develop a custom ROS driver.)

ROS-IN-A-BOX

Reece says the creation of this product is a very different solution, which he anticipates will help many in the Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) space.

“There are many UGV companies, and more start up every day. Ninety-five per cent of them only make custom solutions for their own. hardware. InDro is doing things differently,” he says.

“InDro Commander is an important addition to our technology development, as we are supplying the industry with a number of different ground robots, and they are interacting in many different ways. InDro Commander will build on the benefits of a common operating system such as ROS, by bringing a standard suite of sensors and systems (camera, GPS, IMU, Computers Power distribution, communications, 4/5G) that can all be simply but powerfully integrated onto any flavour of UGV.”

InDro partners with ROCOS

We’re already quite proud of the InDro Commander solution. But we’ve taken things a step further, partnering with ROCOS. The company’s Robot Operations Platform allows an operator to connect, monitor and control robots – whether it’s a single unit or an entire fleet. But that’s not all.

ROCOS was recently acquired by DroneDeploy, one of the world leaders in drone data acquisition, interpretation and photogrammetry. And what does that mean? Well, imagine having data acquired by a ground robot seamlessly integrated with what is captured by air and presented as meaningful data for the end-user. Further picture a desktop, browser-based console where you can program aerial or ground-based missions and monitor a feed as they unfold in real-time.

Force multiplier

Whether the use-case is industrial, agricultural, security – and much more – having eyes in the air, combined with robotic boots on the ground, can only be a force multiplier.

We’ve already seen what InDro Commander can do in our own testing; we can’t wait to see what others do with this solution.

For more information on InDro Commander, contact us here.