Donecle
UAVs |
Donecle is a
Autonomous navigation of the UAVs is based on laser positioning technology. UAVs take pictures of the aircraft with
The company works with
History
Background
Aircraft manufacturers, such as
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. Carried out by the Akka Technologies group, this multi-partner project involved research laboratories and companies, including Airbus.[5][6] In 2014, in partnership with the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the British airline easyJet became interested in drones guided by technicians to reduce the inspection time of aircraft fuselages.[7][1]
Foundation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Donecle_Founders.jpg/220px-Donecle_Founders.jpg)
After thirteen years in the design offices of the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus on the
Two other partners joined them in the project. The first was Josselin Bequet, a graduate of the
Product
Although regulations and weather make it difficult to use UAVs in airspace near airports, Donecle developed a product that works both indoors and outdoors, using a laser positioning system for its UAVs.[9][18] During the autonomous flight, cameras mounted on the UAVs photograph the exterior surface of the aircraft. Algorithms analyse the images and provide a diagnostic report about the aircraft surface. A human operator chooses a flight plan for the required inspection and a qualified inspector then validates the reports.[9][18]
Compared to human inspections that require scaffolding, inspection of the outer surface of a typical airliner with drones takes about twenty minutes versus six to ten hours and requires one person versus ten to twenty.[1][19][20] The cost of taking an aircraft out of service can run at approximately $10,000 per hour, which makes UAV inspection cost effective.[11][20] Donecle has filed patents for this process.[15][21][22][23]
Development
Inspections use a set of mobile
In 2016, the company announced a partnership with the French-Dutch aeronautical maintenance group
At the end of 2016, DDrone Invest, an investment company controlled by the French company Delta Drone, invested one million euros in Donecle. With this capital injection, the company became a shareholder, alongside the founders.[15][30] At the Paris Air Show in 2017, the company announced that it was starting to sign its first contracts with air carriers and planned commercial deployment by the end of the year.[31] During the year, the startup was planning to increase its workforce and to attract international clients.[32]
In 2018, at the ADS Show, a trade show for aerospace and defense maintenance, Donecle conducted a drone inspection of a Dassault Rafale, the French multirole combat aircraft.[33][34] In the future, the company intends to offer other types of inspections, such as quality control of exterior paint and the evaluation of corrosion. Planning is also underway for applications outside aviation, such as rail transport, shipbuilding and wind farms.[11][15]
Technologies
The Donecle UAV is a coaxial push-pull octocopter.
The navigation plans and the number of UAVs employed in each case 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.[36] As the inspection missions are always the same, the routes are pre-programmed in the software installed on a tablet computer. A human operator does not need to pilot the UAVs, but only launches the mission and then the UAVs fly autonomously around the aircraft.[9][18] They normally fly at a distance of one meter from the fuselage.[9]
Visual inspection
The high-resolution cameras mounted on the UAVs photograph the surface of the aircraft.
The effectiveness of
Diagnostics are provided in real time.[36] 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. An inspector reviews at the images and validates or refutes the diagnostics.[9][38]
Operational testing
The company's drone were employed in operational tests by Austrian Airlines in September 2019.[41]
Awards and recognition
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/2016.04.13_Matthieu_Claybrough_MIT_Technology_Review.jpg/220px-2016.04.13_Matthieu_Claybrough_MIT_Technology_Review.jpg)
The startup and its founders have received the following awards:
- 2016 Jean-Louis Gerondeau - Zodiac Aerospace award given by the foundation of the école polytechnique[42]
- 2016 Galaxie Grand Prize by Galaxie club[43][44]
- 2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Innovators under 35 France, organized by MIT Technology Review[45][46]
- 2016 Young Engineer award - Technology and Aerospace by Norbert Ségard Foundation[47]
- 2016 La Tribune BNP Paribas Young Entrepreneur award in the "start category"[48][49]
- 2016 Start me up first Innovation contest, organized by the Crédit Agricole Toulouse 31[50][51]
- 2016 Trophy of Innovation of the Aeromart business convention[52][53]
- 2017 Special Jury Award of French national competition for outdoor robotics[54][55]
- 2017 Disruptive Strategy Award in the startup category for the Grand-Sud region[56][57]
- 2018 Grand Prize of the 37th Inn'Ovations regional competition in the Midinnov show[58][59]
- 2020 maintenance, repair and overhaul category[60]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9782759225293.
- ^ U.F. Goranson; J.T. Rogers (1983). "Elements of Damage Tolerance Verification". Twelfth ICAF Symposium, International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue.
- ^ Henry Canaday (28 August 2015). "UAVs And Robotics Move Into MRO: Technological innovations are changing inspections, parts stocking and repairs". Inside MRO. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ Graham Warwick (25 September 2015). "More Airlines Turn To UAVs For Aircraft Inspection". Inside MRO. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- S2CID 29167101.
- ISBN 9782072657917.
- ^ "Easyjet develops flying robots to inspect aircraft". BBC News Business. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ a b c "About us". donecle.com. Donecle. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Arnaud Devillard (20 April 2016). "Des drones pour inspecter des avions". Sciences et Avenir (in French). Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ a b c Florine Galéron (28 August 2015). "Aéronautique : la startup Donéclé invente le drone anti-foudre". La Tribune (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ Capital(in French). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ YouTube uploaded by MIT Technology Review, 26 April 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2017
- ^ Sylvain Rolland; Gael Cérez (14 April 2016). "Matthieu Claybrough, cofondateur de Donecle, récompensé par la MIT Technology Review". La Tribune (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ a b BFM Business, ed. (21 June 2017). "La première édition du Paris Air Lab au salon du Bourget 2017 - 21/06". bfmbusiness.bfmtv.com (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
{{cite web}}
:|editor=
has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d e f g Marina Angel (6 December 2016). "2017, l'année de l'envol des essaims de drones du toulousain Donecle". Usine Digitale (in French). Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Valérie Froger (18 July 2016). "Quatre start-up françaises qui révolutionnent leur marché". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ YouTubeuploaded by Donecle, 13 April 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g Léo Barnier (20 July 2017). "Donecle sets its drone to work for maintenance with AFI KLM E&M". Le Journal de l'Aviation. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Claire Raynaud (8 April 2016). "Des milliards d'économies pour les compagnies aériennes". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ a b Jean-Baptiste Heguy (8 April 2016). "Donecle : des micro-drones pour inspecter les avions de ligne touchés par la foudre". Air et Cosmos (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ Julie Rimbert (21 December 2016). "Des drones pour inspecter les avions". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ WO application 2016203151 Matthieu Claybrough, System and method for automatically inspecting surfaces
- ^ WO application 2017121936 Alban Deruaz-Pepin, Method and system for determining the position of a moving aircraft
- ^ Jeanne Dussueil (29 June 2016). "Donecle, à l'assaut des compagnies aériennes avec ses drones de maintenance des avions". frenchweb.fr (in French). Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Marina Angel (3 February 2016). "IoT Valley : Connected Camp saison 1, c'est parti avec 8 start-up". Usine Digitale (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- YouTube (in French) uploaded by Toulouse Métropole, 10 October 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2017
- YouTube(in French) uploaded by IoT Valley, 30 March 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017
- ^ a b JDE Edition (24 October 2016). "Toulouse. Donecle Delta Drone investit un million d'euros dans Donecle". Le Journal des entreprises (in French). Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Magali Rebeaud (16 June 2017). "Donecle inspecte les avions de ligne avec ses drones". Aerobuzz (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- Capital(in French). Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Gabrielle Carpel (11 October 2016). "Les drones du Bourget". Drones Actu (in French). Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Midinvest, ed. (24 February 2017). "Sélection Midinvest 2017 : Donecle, le drone automatique inspecteur d'avion". midinvest.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ (in French) @HenrydFrecinet (26 September 2018). "Présentation dynamique d'inspection de #Rafale par le drone de @Donecle sur l' @ADSShow2018 avec @AppsDrones @AiretCosmos" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Emmanuel Huberdeau (5 October 2018). "Des drones pour aider à la maintenance". Air et Cosmos (in French) (2611): 15.
- S2CID 210693599.
- ^ a b c Olivier James (19 November 2016). "Les drones de Donecle auscultent les avions". L'Usine Nouvelle (in French). Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ Emma Bao (4 August 2016). Entreprises Occitanie (ed.). "DRONES : Donecle opère y compris en indoor, des drones pour inspecter les impacts foudre sur un avion". entreprises-occitanie.com (in French). Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ a b (in French) Miranda, Julien; Larnier, Stanislas; Claybrought, Matthieu (2018). "Caractérisation d'objets sur des images acquises par drone recherchant des défauts pour la maintenance aéronautique" (PDF). Actes de la conférence Reconnaissance de Formes et Intelligence Artificielle. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-23. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
- ^ (in French) Deliencourt, Bryan; Giraud, Mathieu; Miranda, Julien; Larnier, Stanislas; Herbulot, Ariane; Devy, Michel (2019). "Génération photo-réaliste de défauts sur des images de surfaces extérieures d'avions acquises parun drone autonome". ORASIS, Journées Francophones des Jeunes Chercheurs en Vision Par Ordinateur.
- S2CID 197660022.
- ^ O'Connor, Kate (10 September 2019). "Airline Testing Aircraft Inspection Drones". AVweb. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- Polytechnique. 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "Prix Galaxie 2016". club-galaxie.com (in French). Club Galaxie. 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ Sophie Arutunian (13 October 2016). "La startup Donecle remporte le Grand Prix Galaxie 2016". La Tribune (in French). Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "Matthieu Claybrough". innovatorsunder35.com. Innovators Under 35. 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- Les Échos(in French).
- ^ "Lauréats Prix Jeune Ingénieur Créateur 2016". norbert-segard.org (in French). Fondation Norbert Ségard. 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "Prix la Tribune Jeune Entrepreneur 2016 : découvrez les lauréats". bpifrance.fr (in French). Bpifrance. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "PLTJE 2016 : des entrepreneurs ambitieux pour représenter Toulouse et sa région". La Tribune (in French). 11 November 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ "2ème édition start me up by CA31 sur orbite !" (PDF). ca-toulouse31.fr (in French). Crédit agricole. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "Donecle récompensée par le Crédit Agricole Toulouse 31". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 24 October 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ "Les cinq lauréats des trophées Aeromart Toulouse 2016". madeeli.fr (in French). 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ "Donecle reçoit le trophée de l'innovation Toulouse". toulouse7.com (in French). December 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "Lauréats du concours national de robotique extérieure 2017". concours-robotique.fr (in French). Concours national de robotique extérieure. 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ Maxime Birken (13 March 2017). "La startup toulousaine Donéclé lauréate du 2e concours national de robotique". La Tribune (in French). Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "Prix de l'Entrepreneur de l'Année : les lauréats pour la région Grand Sud". L'Express (in French). 4 October 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ "Sébastien Matty reçoit le "Prix de l'Entrepreneur de l'Année 2017"". La Dépêche (in French). 26 September 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ "Bilan de Midinnov et des trophées du 37e concours Les Inn'Ovations..." La Tribune (in French). 5 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ Martin Venzal (1 February 2018). "MidInnov et Inn'Ovations : comment l'innovation reste un moteur de l'économie régionale". ToulEco (in French). Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ Warwick, Graham; Anselmo, Joe (10 January 2020). "Aviation Week's 2020 Laureate Winners". aviationweek.com. Aviation Week Network. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)