Five startups at the Syracuse Technology Garden are competing for $3 million in prize money in the third round of the Genius NY program. The five companies are developing products and services for the unmanned aircraft systems industry. Here’s a look at each one:
Name: CivDrone
Where started: Israel
Product: Company is developing what it calls an “autonomous land surveyor.” Drones equipped with its system place surveyor stakes in the ground to mark locations at construction sites for such things as utilities, foundations, support posts and poles.
CivDrone co-founder and CEO Tom Yeshurun said the system, by automating land surveying services, will help increase productivity and shorten construction time while lowering costs.
Each stake contains an electronic chip that identifies what is to be built at that precise point in the ground. Construction workers access the information on the chip through an app on their smartphones.
“The information is clear and precise,” he said.
Vermeer founder and CEO Brian Streem said the company’s smartphone app uses 3D data of the whole earth that permits anyone to map out a path for a drone by simply moving their phone around an augmented reality image.
Once the route is mapped out, it is uploaded to a drone, when then executes the task in the real world to capture aerial photos and videos, he said.
“You don’t need to know how to fly a drone,” said Streem. “We take care of that work.”
Vermeer is selling the system directly to media companies and through Apple’s App Store to aerial photo and video enthusiasts. The company also sees potential customers in the real estate industry, marketing agencies and companies that inspect roofs.
Name: EagleHawk
Where started: Buffalo
Product: EagleHawk uses drones equipped with infrared sensors to detect roof leaks not visible to the naked eye.
In the photo above, the bright areas on the roof on the left show where water is leaking into the roof.
EagleHawk Chief Operating Officer Will Schulmeister, left, and CEO Patrick Walsh, right, are pictured above at the Syracuse Technology Garden.
Walsh, an aerospace engineer, said the company’s system works by detecting the different heat signatures given off by a roof that has been penetrated by water. Leaky areas of a roof show up as very bright spots on photos taken with drones equipped with an infrared sensor.
“It allows us to diagnose the condition of the roof quickly and effectively,” he said.
In addition, the company’s software helps analyze the severity of the leaks and creates a maintenance plan that can substantially extend the life of the roof, saving the owner money, he said.
Customers include colleges and universities, shopping malls and just about anybody that owns buildings with big roofs.
Miguel Dupret (pictured above), a shareholder in Sentient Blue Technologies, said the company’s engines will be able to more than double the range of drones from an average of about 30 minutes to more than an hour.
Its power hybrid systems can be attached to most larger drones (more than 20 pounds) on the market, including multi-rotor and fixed wing drones, he said.
The company is currently building prototypes of the motors and anticipates selling its products to military and commercial customers.
Above, ResilienX co-founder and business director Ryan Pleshkach, left, and co-founder and President Andrew Carter, right, at the Syracuse Technology Garden.
Carter said the company’s software will monitor air traffic control systems for drones, alert operators when there is a malfunction and help them correct the problem.
