First Fully Integrated Drone System for Maritime Operations

Project Information

UPTEKO

Grant agreement ID: 876257

DOI

10.3030/876257

Project closed

EC signature date 7 August 2019

Start date 1 August 2019

End date 30 November 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

UPTEKO APS
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - UPTEKO (First Fully Integrated Drone System for Maritime Operations)

Reporting period: 2019-08-01 to 2019-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

We applied to the SME instrument to develop Upteko, a solution combining the enormous potential of UAVs with high-level data mining for full overview of offshore marine operations. The shipping industry is looking for ways to improve maintenance, security and inspection processes and reduce operational risks.
Upteko is an automated drone that lives on the ship. Its insights will help improve hull inspections, ship docking, reducing accidents and fires and improving search-and-rescue operations. It is the first solution designed specifically for the harsh ocean environment, and its autonomous operation, landing and data processing mean minimal effort from the ship crew is required.
Our team has extensive experience of drone operations in energy, advertising and landscape mapping. We are developing Upteko at the specific request, and in collaboration with the largest players in the marine industry in Denmark (DFDS, Maersk and Uni-Tankers). To clearly define the needs of our solution, we carried out a Feasibility Study 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, to develop our drone, charging station and software, then test the system extensively in-house, and in pilot projects with our customers. For these, we will hire 5 additional staff.
We studied the target market and competitors. The ship inspections market is highly promising, worth over €67.5 bn in 2019. Out total available market is €7.4 bn.
Upteko has full Freedom to Operate. We will lease Upteko to our customers, using our current contacts in the shipping market and partnering with large distributors abroad. We will combine this with a multi-channel dissemination strategy to reach new clients.
The project is highly profitable, with an ROI of 7.5 by 2025 for the €1.7 M required to bring our innovation to market. This will translate into total revenues of almost €20M/yr by 2025, and accumulated profits of over €14M.

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)

Upteko has the potential to become the go-to-tool for ship operations in the marine industry. Owners will save over €400,000 per year per ship. In addition, our innovation will have considerable benefits in reducing the accidents in the shipping industry. This will have positive effects on the global trade, and the cost of shipping will be effectively reduced. Our long-term vision is for Upteko to become a drone platform solution that can be deployed across many different industries such as wind turbines, heating plants or oil rigs.

image1.png