Airborne Artificial Intelligence for more efficient, safer and sustainable inspection and surveying of energy industrial areas

Project Information

MYRIAD

Grant agreement ID: 854360

DOI

10.3030/854360

Project closed

EC signature date 30 January 2019

Start date 1 February 2019

End date 31 May 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

SVARMI EHF
Iceland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MYRIAD (Airborne Artificial Intelligence for more efficient, safer and sustainable inspection and surveying of energy industrial areas)

Reporting period: 2019-02-01 to 2019-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

We applied to the SME instrument to develop MYRIAD, a fully autonomous, AI-enhanced inspection, monitoring, mapping and surveying drone solution. Our customers require no knowledge of drone operations, as the MYRIAD is autonomous. The hardware side is composed of the drone itself, Lorok, the landing and imaging systems, Janus and the ground docking station, Drogue. The software consists of GESTOS, which handles all on-drone computing, and HIVE, the server side of the solution.
We currently have > 90 clients for our customized drone solutions. Discussions with customers as well as analysing the market revealed the need for a new product to scan areas autonomously and transfer the maps and post-processed data directly to end-users at less cost per data set. So, we have carried out a Feasibility Study into MYRIAD split into technical, commercial and financial parts.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Our technical plan is made of 4 Work Packages, aimed at upgrading hardware, software and commercial validation of MYRIAD. For these, we will hire 9 additional staff.
We studied the target market and competitors. Drones will generate €90 bn of revenue in the next 15 years, of which European demand is €10 bn. MYRIAD has full Freedom to Operate. Our strategy will be to sell our subscription to customers in the ports and energy and utilities markets directly. We will use current clients, promotion by local partners, and digital/conventional marketing to reach new clients.
The project is highly profitable, with an ROI of 3.2 by 2024 for the €1.9M required to bring our innovation to market. This will translate into a payback period of 2.2 years and total revenues of almost €17M per year to 2024.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

MYRIAD can become the go-to-tool for industrial area scanning and mapping in many market verticals. It will enable site owners to increase efficiency without expanding the industrial area, manage the effects of climate change and reduce/prevent theft and losses. This will bring in more revenues to clients, while reducing maintenance costs. This will trickle down to the public, as their energy becomes cheaper and transporting goods by water more efficient. The long-term vision is to expand out of industrial areas and provide services in cities such as real time 3D mapping that can be used by self-driving autonomous cars or urban infrastructure management.
As this tool will be developed by a European SME, our continent will continue to lead the way in innovating in the space of drones, robotics, automation, and AI.