The company, founded in May 2015, has patented the concept and is at the R&D stage, with the aim of delivering its first operational demonstrator in 2018. A mock-up showcasing the concept was on display at the latest Innorobo trade show. Asma Bouaouaja, co-founder of the company, explains: "The fact that the drone is connected by a power cord means it can fly for unlimited periods. It's a very large drone which, despite weighing 90 kg, will be able to provide great precision at the end of its robotic arms. This flying platform will be able to perform complex tasks in hard-to-reach places, at a much lower cost than setting up scaffolding, for example. The robot will be able to do welding, laser surface cleaning, or any other maintenance or routine work." Engineers and technicians will be able to work remotely, in complete safety, with control of the robot arm via video feed and sensory force feedback, while the drone will be able to hover in near-autonomous mode. From the outset of the project, the company established a partnership with Kuka, a manufacturer of industrial robots offering 7-axis robotic arms with force feedback. As with all industrial robots, from a fixed base position, the robot arm can derive the exact position based on data provided by sensors placed at the joints managing the tool. Force feedback is generally based on torque sensors, which are also used by the joint motors. However, sub-centimeter precision at the tool tip when the robot base is aboard a mobile drone is much less obvious.
