Donecle

Donecle is a Toulouse-based aircraft manufacturer which develops autonomous aircraft inspection UAVs. The company offers single UAVs and UAV swarms to visually inspect airliners with high resolution cameras.

The company works with airlines such as Air France Industries-KLM and is one of the players in the field aeronautical maintenance automation.

Background

In January 2013, the French research and development project Air-Cobot began to develop a collaborative mobile robot capable of inspecting an aircraft during maintenance operations.[1][2] Carried out by the Akka Technologies group, this multi-partner project involves research laboratories and industrial companies, including Airbus. In 2014, in partnership with the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the British airline easyJet became interested in drones to reduce the inspection time of aircraft fuselages.[3][4] Donecle startup is founded in September 2015.

Products

Donecle's autonomous UAV inspecting an aircraft.

The UAVs position themselves relative to the aircraft with laser positioning technology. This allows them to operate in enclosed areas, such as hangars, without the need for geolocation with Global Positioning System (GPS).[5][6] Algorithms compute in real time the position of the UAV relative to the aircraft.[5] Sensors used for autonomous navigation also ensure safe operation by preventing collisions with aircraft, human personnel and equipment.

The navigation plans and the number of UAVs employed depend on the aircraft model to be analyzed. A single UAV is enough for a small airplane while up to six UAVs can be used for an Airbus A380.[6] As the inspection missions are always the same, the routes are preprogrammed in software embedded on a tablet computer. A human operator does not need to pilot the UAV, but only launches the mission and then the UAVs fly autonomously around the aircraft. They normally fly at a distance of one meter from the fuselage.[5]

The high-resolution cameras mounted on the UAVs photograph the surface of the aircraft. Image processing algorithms perform a first step of detecting any region of interest on the fuselage. A second step of classification is then carried out in order to categorize defects (lightning strike, oil leak, scratching, texture irregularity, etc.) and normal elements of the aircraft (screws, rivets, pitot tubes, etc.). The recognition algorithm is based on machine learning from the annotated databases of previous flights.[5]

Diagnostics are provided in real time.[6] Applications include fault detection and quality control of regulatory markings. At the end of the mission, a damage report is sent to a tablet computer with each region of interest and its proposed classification. The algorithm returns a confidence rate on its diagnosis. A qualified inspector reviews at the images and validates or refutes the diagnostics.[5]

Founders

Founders of Donecle, from left to right, Josselin Bequet, Matthieu Claybrough, Alban Deruaz-Pepin et Yann Bruner.

Awards and recognition

The startup and its founders receive the following awards:

See also

References

  1. ↑ (in French) Xavier Martinage (17 June 2015). "Air-Cobot : le robot dont dépendra votre sécurité". lci.tf1.fr. La Chaîne Info. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Jovancevic, Igor; Larnier, Stanislas; Orteu, Jean-José; Sentenac, Thierry (November 2015). "Automated exterior inspection of an aircraft with a pan-tilt-zoom camera mounted on a mobile robot" (pdf). Journal of Electronic Imaging. 24 (6): 061110. Bibcode:2015JEI....24f1110J. doi:10.1117/1.JEI.24.6.061110.
  3. ↑ "Easyjet develops flying robots to inspect aircraft". BBC News Business. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Isabelle Bellin; Sylvain Labbé (2016). Des drones à tout faire ?: Ce qu'ils vont changer dans ma vie au quotidien (in French). Editions Quae. p. 90. ISBN 9782759225293.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 (in French) Arnaud Devillard (20 April 2016). "Des drones pour inspecter des avions". Sciences et Avenir. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 (in French) Olivier James (19 November 2016). "Les drones de Donecle auscultent les avions". L'Usine nouvelle. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  7. ↑ (in French) "Prix Jean-Louis Gerondeau / Zodiac Aerospace". polytechnique.edu. Polytechnique. 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  8. ↑ (in French) "Prix Galaxie 2016". club-galaxie.com. Club Galaxie. 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  9. ↑ (in French) Sophie Arutunian (13 October 2016). "La startup Donecle remporte le Grand Prix Galaxie 2016". La Tribune. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "Matthieu Claybrough". innovatorsunder35.com. Innovators Under 35. 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  11. ↑ (in French) "Lauréats Prix Jeune Ingénieur Créateur 2016". norbert-segard.org. Fondation Norbert Ségard. 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  12. ↑ (in French) "Prix la Tribune Jeune Entrepreneur 2016 : découvrez les lauréats". bpifrance.fr. Bpifrance. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  13. ↑ (in French) "2ème édition start me up by CA31 sur orbite !" (PDF). ca-toulouse31.fr. Crédit agricole. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  14. ↑ (in French) "Les cinq lauréats des trophées Aeromart Toulouse 2016". madeeli.fr. 2016.
  15. ↑ (in French) "Donecle reçoit le trophée de l'innovation Toulouse". toulouse7.com. December 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  16. ↑ (in French) "Lauréats du concours national de robotique extérieure 2017". concours-robotique.fr (in French). Concours national de robotique extérieure. 2017.
  17. ↑ (in French) Maxime Birken (13 March 2017). "La startup toulousaine Donéclé lauréate du 2e concours national de robotique". La Tribune. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
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