There’s a new robot in town: Meet LIMO

There’s a new robot in town: Meet LIMO

Even in the world of robotics, good things often come in small packages. And this is especially true when it comes to Limo, a new AgileX platform perfect for students and those carrying out R&D work. Limo is small but mighty, with the same kind of technology you’ll find in much larger devices (it weighs but 4.2 kg). The robot runs on the open source Robot Operating System (ROS) software, and comes with both the original ROS1 and ROS2 software libraries. This allows users to customize the robot for different tasks.

It ships with an impressive display of hardware and capabilities right out of the box, including:

  • An NVIDIA Jetson Nano, capable of remote teleoperation over 4G
  • An EAI X2L LiDAR unit
  • Stereo camera

This affordable machine is capable of autonomous missions, including mapping new surroundings via Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM). It also comes with multiple modes for locomotion. You’ll see details of this in the left-hand graphic below. It’s also scalable. Want to add other sensors? There are four USB Serial Ports onboard.

This kind of flexibility in a small package is pretty amazing.

LIMO

How Limo came about

 

We were curious to learn more about Limo, so we contacted AgileX’s Brandy Xue. Until recently, Brandy was leading the company’s Global Sales and Marketing department. In March of 2022, she switched to the new AgileX subsidiary, Mammotion Tech – which focuses on consumer outdoor robots like autonomous lawnmowers.

We started with a simple question. Who would be interested in buying Limo? Would it be primarily students? Researchers? Developers?

Her answer was simple: “Limo is for everybody,” she said. She then went on to explain why.

Many students, particularly in Southeast Asia, are now delving into coding, robotics – and even AI – while in high school. It’s been a trend in South Korea, and is being seen more and more in China. In fact, says Xue, the Chinese government has been encouraging hands-on high-tech training in high school to prepare people for the workforce.

“The policies in China supporting robotics education are growing,” she says. “And in South Korea, students are working on AI and Machine Learning in high school.”

 

Not just students

 

So AgileX knew there was an educational market for a product like this. But it also felt that researchers in the R&D world could also benefit from a robot with full-scale capabilities in an affordable, smaller-scale package. Having everything integrated out of the box saves a lot of groundwork. Plus, many smaller companies don’t have the need (or the budget) for a larger machine.

“If they want to build a robot, they have to buy a robot here, a sensor there, then write the code to make it move. It’s too complicated,” she says.

“And most people don’t know what to buy, or don’t know how to write the code at the beginning. So why don’t we do this to make it easier for the developer to build a robot? It’s a really cost-effective solution.”And so they did. It also didn’t hurt that the company’s CEO, JD Wei, ran the impressive Robomaster division at DJI. Annual Robomaster competitions pit robots built by the best and brightest teams of engineers against one another. DJI has also hired a significant number of engineers through the program, which has grown since its inception to become more global in nature.

If you’re unfamiliar with Robomaster, check out the video below. It’s worth watching, as it also gives you a pretty good idea of the background JD Wei came from:

 

Simulation table

 

Because Limo is capable of autonomous movement, it can be purchased with an optional simulation table. That platform approximates a mini-city, complete with buildings, roads, stop signs, traffic lights – even a liftable gate arm, like you’d see at railroad crossings or when exiting a parking lot.

Limo can detect and act on its surroundings and can be programmed to take different actions depending on the environment. It can even use its onboard LiDAR to create a 3D, Virtual SLAM map of what it “sees” around it.

The complete package is covered in this AgileX video, which also highlights its multi-modal locomotion capabilities.

 

Powerful processor and more…

 

Limo comes equipped with enviable brains. It features the NVIDIA Jetson Nano processor for EDGE computing. The Jetson is a powerful tool for AI development, and NVIDIA’s JetPack SDK offers even more options for deep learning, computer vision and more. It’s also 4G-compatible for remote tele-operation.

InDro’s Head of Robotic solutions, Peter King, is impressed with the package – saying it offers students and developers an affordable solution for R&D and prototyping.

“Limo really fills a void in the marketplace, allowing schools, researchers, and even R&D companies with limited budgets access to a truly powerful and expandable platform,” says King.

Limo is also rugged. The body is metal, and the 4.2 kg device is capable of tackling inclines of 25°. You’ll see the rest of the specs here:

AgileX LIMO

Economical

 

Limo, as you can see, can do a lot on its own. And it’s capable of doing much more in the hands of a skilled developer or a motivated student. Given that this SLAM-capable device comes with a LiDAR unit, stereo camera, the NVIDIA Jetson Nano, and an onboard 7″ touchscreen module, you’d rightly expect it to cost a significant amount.

It doesn’t. The Limo is $2900 US in its base, multi-modal form. The simulation table, which offers a head-start for those interested in autonomous operation in a city-like environment, is available for an additional $1,000 US. If you’re interested in seeing Limo, we’re happy to arrange for a remote demonstration. You can reach us here.

 

 

InDro’s Take

 

We’ve always been impressed with the AgileX products. They’re smartly engineered and very well-constructed. Our Sentinel teleoperated inspection robot is built on the AgileX Bunker platform, capable of operating in even the most unforgiving of environments. In a word: AgileX builds great stuff. And the flexible design of its products means many are destined for even greater things.

That doesn’t surprise us, given CEO JD Wei’s background running DJI’s Robomaster program.

“After he left DJI, he founded AgileX Robotics – and he’s always joking to himself,” laughs Xue. “He used to work in a company whose robots fly in the sky. Now he runs a company whose robots run on the road.”

And, with the Limo, in classrooms and R&D labs as well.

Percepto’s autonomous drone-in-a-box

Percepto’s autonomous drone-in-a-box

By Scott Simmie, InDro Robotics

 

If you’re in the drone industry, you’ve likely heard the phrase: “Drone-in-a-box.” If refers to an autonomous system where a drone nests inside an enclosure for charging and safe harbour – and is regularly dispatched for automated missions. Usually, those missions are pre-programmed and involve inspection, surveillance, or change detection. Manual missions can be carried out when necessary, but the real point is automation.

The idea is that missions are carried out repeatedly, with a human simply monitoring from a remote location. Remotely could mean inside a building on an industrial site where the drone is based. But, because these emerging systems operate using LTE to control the drone and communicate with the software, they can be operated from hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away (providing you have permission to operate Beyond Visual Line of Sight and an available LTE network). With missions carried out automatically and on a regular schedule, this makes for vastly more efficient inspections, surveillance, tracking of construction progress, etc.

It beats requiring a pilot on site, and the drone never suffers from fatigue. The advantages for Enterprise clients are immediately apparent: Inspections, surveillance or general monitoring take place like clockwork, with all relevant data stored for easy access and interpretation. But think also of the edge such systems could provide for First Responders: A drone could be automatically dispatched to the location of a 9-1-1 call or critical incident. Video or thermal imagery can be securely live-streamed to decision makers down the line, regardless of where they’re located. The potential of such systems is unlimited.

At InDro Robotics, we’re no strangers to this concept. In fact, we’ve got a few things under the hood in this regard. But we like to acknowledge and celebrate success in this field. And so today’s post will focus on Percepto – the world’s leader in drone-in-a-box solutions. The company has a proven system, currently deployed in more than 100 locations around the globe. We recently had an opportunity to see a demo of the Percepto system, hosted by Canadian distributors RMUS (Rocky Mountain Unmanned Solutions).

Percepto’s autonomous drone system

The Percepto website outlines its offering with this statement: “Changing the way visual data is collected and analyzed, Percepto AIM is the only end-to-end inspection and monitoring software solution that fully automates visual data workflows, from capture to insights.” AIM stands for Autonomous Inspection and Monitoring, and is the software integral to the overall package.

This Percepto video provides a good overview:

It’s one thing to see a company video, quite something else to see that system in person. We were part of a briefing with Percepto’s Ehud Ollech (Head of Business Development) and Shykeh Gordon (VP Global Sales). They demonstrated the AIM software, the Sparrow drone (which comes with a parachute), and much more.

But they started by explaining that this system is purpose-built for major industrial customers, with clients from the mining, solar, oil & gas/petrochemical and utilities sector. And, they said, don’t think of Percepto as a drone company.

“Basically we are a big data analytics company,” said Shykeh, “offering end-to-end inspection and monitoring solutions.” What kind of solutions? This corporate graphic, supplied by Percepto’s marketing department, helps explain:

Percepto Drone

Percepto’s AIM software

During the demonstration, Shykeh and and Ehud walked us through the AIM (Autonomous site Inspection and Monitoring) software. It’s a browser-based system that allows you to program missions, monitor flights in real-time, watch a live stream from the Sparrow drone’s RGB or thermal camera, and take a deep dive into meaningful data. The User Interface is simple, and Percepto says a mission can be planned in as little as three minutes. In fact, they flew a brief mission from indoors with visitors watching from a conference room and visual observers outside. Every aspect of the mission, including a live video feed, was delivered in real-time. We could monitor what the drone was seeing, which is part of the point. And Ehud had the option, if something caught his eye, of stopping for a closer look.

RGB and thermal data is continuously captured during missions, then uploaded to the AWS cloud when the drone comes home to roost. Significantly, the AIM software is capable of change detection – a major feature for many clients. Once a baseline capture of a designated area has been stored in the Cloud, if a subsequent mission detects any changes, anomalies will be flagged. These could include thermal changes, issues with solar panels, oil leaks, a broken window – the list goes on. (The thermal data is radiometric, meaning it provides the actual temperatures measured.) The AI does not always categorize the type of anomaly, but even when it doesn’t it will quickly point out the relevant images for the operator to take a closer look. Percepto can also be integrated with Smart Fences or Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras and dispatched automatically if something seem amiss.

Percepto Autonomous Drone

“The heart of our system is our software,” says Ehud.

AIM can also integrate data from ground-based robots, such as Boston Dynamics’ Spot. Even a smartphone photo or other image can be added to the mix, providing it contains geolocation data. The system can produce 3D digital twins, with all photogrammetry stitching done in the Cloud by AIM. (Some solutions for automated data capture rely on third-party software for photogrammetry.)  As part of the demonstration, Ehud defined an area of a pile of earth; a volumetric calculation was instantly performed. And this was all while the group was comfortable indoors. We were probably 50 metres from the actual system, but we could have just as easily have been across the planet, assuming LTE connection at the drone end.

Seeing the Percepto drone in a box in action

Percepto Autonomous Drone

After the first mission was complete, we went outside to watch the system in person. It began with the clamshell housing – which Percepto says can withstand a Category 5 hurricane, closed. Once the mission was initiated, it opened up quickly and the Sparrow took off. The system is operational in winds up to 40 kph, with a takeoff/landing limit of 27 kph. Winds during the demo were 24 kph; the Sparrow was rock steady.

Percepto Autonomous Drone

The system does not have obstacle avoidance, but uses ground-based radar to avoid conflicts with crewed aircraft. Altitude parameters, obviously, are programmed when setting the mission.

“Everyone’s waiting for aerial radar to get cheaper and lighter,” said Shykeh.

More sensors to come

The company already is working on a gas detection sensor (aka OGI camera), and is looking at potential LiDAR sensors as well. Maximum flight time is 40 minutes under optimal conditions, but generally flights are limited to 30 minutes. The next generation battery will offer a 20-30 per cent increase in time and range, and charging time in the station – from zero to full – is about 40 minutes.

Percepto Drone

InDro’s view

This is a refined and mature system, well-suited for major corporations with the budget for this kind of data acquisition and interpretation. It’s particularly suited for remote sites – especially sites that do not have staff on site but require persistent monitoring for safety, security or other reasons. Percepto has some very high-profile clients on its roster, including FPL, Koch, Verizon and Enel.

We’re strong supporters of drone-in-a-box solutions – and are actively exploring systems that might be helpful to First Responders. Kudos to Percepto…and stay tuned.