Israeli based Airobotics recently announced a comprehensive commercial drone hardware and software solution to meet a number of industrial needs. The solution was specifically developed for industrial applications. Features include:
- a drone (the Optimus) can be flown autonomously
- can swap out payloads and batteries automatically for continuous operation
- is constructed of corrosion resistant and waterproof materials
- software that can be accessed anywhere and anytime for a) programming, controlling and managing missions in one click, and b) processing aerial data and producing reports
The solution can be tailored for mining, industrial facilities, and oil and gas operations. The drone can autonomously perform inspections (detect gas leaks,monitor equipment), provide surveillance (emergency response, intruder alerts) and incident investigation.
One compelling feature of the solution is the drone port that enables swapping of batteries (which alllow for ~30 mins of flight) and exchange of payloads.
The firm also announced raising $28.5 million in a combined Series A & B rounds of funding. The A round was led by BlueRun Ventures and the B by CRV. Israel Chief Scientists, UpWest Labs, Waze CEO Noam Bardin, and Google ATAP COO Richard Wooldridge also contributed. So far the company, founded by Ran Krauss (now CEO) and Meir Kliner (VP of R&D), has 70 employees.
