The journey of DRB began with a Wi-Fi-based localization system designed for large retailers, focusing on marketing and enhancing personalized shopping experiences. However, the turning point came when we proposed a drone landing pad in a contest organized by PolyUp, the Politecnico di Milano incubator, and won. This led us to shift our focus to drone navigation technologies. After several months of incubation, we engaged with Terna, the Italian transmission system operator, and InnoG, a German wind operator, and realized there was a significant opportunity in automating the inspection of energy assets. Our mission from the outset was to streamline the inspection and reporting process, removing the need for human pilots to enable scalability. Even today, reliance on pilots remains a bottleneck for drone operations. Our solution uniquely combines two technologies: a patented radio beacon-based localization system and proprietary AI software for target recognition, which we currently use in wind farm inspections and high-voltage insulator testing. The beacon system, initially local, has evolved into a geographic navigation system, bolstered by a partnership with Leonardo, where we use LTE or 5G repeaters as beacons to ensure safe navigation in GPS-enabled or GPS-denied environments. This dual system allows us to deliver precise, automated inspections, marking a significant step toward scalability in unmanned asset inspections.
Advanced Data Collection and Versatile Applications in Energy and Beyond
Our drones collect a wide range of data during inspections, such as videos during wind turbine assessments and sensor data for high-voltage insulator testing, where we measure the electrical field along the insulators. This data is stored in a database and processed through an offline AI system, which identifies damages or defects. The results are then compiled into industry-specific reports, like those tailored for wind farms or voltage insulators, offering clients actionable insights. This allows them to make informed decisions, such as repairing a blade or replacing an insulator, before more costly or risky damage occurs. Our technology is highly adaptable across sectors, particularly in the energy transition value chain. We provide automatic asset inspections for energy production sites and electrical transportation networks, and our drone navigation system is also being used in emerging fields like advanced air mobility, in collaboration with Leonardo. Our solutions extend to adjacent industries as well, such as road infrastructure inspections, with tailored AI applications for each market. This versatility makes our technology a key player in various industrial environments, offering scalable, efficient solutions across multiple sectors.
Ensuring Quality, Scalability, and Sustainability Through DRB Drone Technology
When it comes to quality and reliability, our drones offer clear advantages over manual inspections, which are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to human error. In comparison to other automated solutions, our approach stands out for being cost-effective and simple to use, eliminating the need for professional pilots or technically trained staff. This ease of use makes our solution highly scalable, allowing us to rent the drones directly to clients, empowering them to conduct their own inspections without extensive training or concerns about complexity. The combination of our AI and localization technologies ensures that the drones always follow the correct flight path and maintain the proper distance, guaranteeing both safety and precision in every inspection. From an environmental perspective, our technology significantly enhances the efficiency of renewable energy production and energy transmission, reducing operational costs and improving reliability. We've estimated that a typical two-megawatt onshore wind turbine can avoid over 4,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to taking 700 cars off the road. By optimizing maintenance, we aim to increase wind farm productivity by 3%, and by 2030, we expect to help save over 5 million tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of removing around 1 million cars from circulation. This illustrates the substantial impact our technology can have on sustainability and energy efficiency.
A Case Study in Wind Farm Inspections: DRB’s Solution in Action
One of our standout examples is how we've simplified wind farm inspections for our clients. When a client purchases our drone solution, we provide a straightforward training process that prepares their staff for pilot certification. Since our drones are small and operate far from people, the certification process is entirely online, taking just a couple of hours, with no practical exam required due to the minimal risk involved. After the online training, clients learn to use the inspection interface, position the beacons on either side of the turbine, and start the inspection mission with the push of a button. In just 15 minutes, a full inspection is completed using a tablet or PC. Typically, after one day of training, the client is fully capable of conducting their own inspections. We also offer support during the initial hours to ensure smooth operation. The feedback from our clients has been overwhelmingly positive, with many appreciating the autonomy to perform inspections at their convenience. For instance, after a thunderstorm, site managers often worry about potential lightning damage to turbine blades. With our solution, they can quickly inspect the blades themselves, saving both time and money by performing the inspection during low-wind periods when the turbines aren’t producing energy. This freedom to inspect at optimal times leads to significant cost savings, illustrating the real value of our technology. Feedback from clients is crucial, especially as a startup, allowing us to refine our product and ensure it meets the practical needs of the industry.
Overcoming Challenges and Charting the Future of DRB
The biggest challenge we've faced at DRB is the go-to-market process, especially within the energy sector, where our target clients are large corporations with decades of established procedures. Convincing these companies to adopt new methods, like using drones for wind farm inspections, is one hurdle. The bigger challenge is persuading them to take it a step further and conduct these inspections themselves using our technology. Disrupting such long-standing practices requires both time and specialized skills, which startups don’t always have in abundance. Additionally, dealing with these large organizations can be at odds with the agility required in a startup—corporate decision-making processes and cash flow cycles are slow, which is why securing venture capital is critical for startups like ours. Corporations want fully developed products, not MVPs, so we must invest heavily in development before we see revenue. As for the future of DRB, we’re on the cusp of growth. Our technology is nearly at the final stage, and we have strong technical and commercial partnerships. However, to truly scale, we need to secure the right investment, enabling us to expand our team in areas like sales, operations, and R&D. Our future success depends largely on our ability to attract the right investors and funding to fuel that growth.
