Autonomous Drones Can Help Cut Down on Costs and Time, Says Percepto Co-Founder

An autonomous drone can save up to $500,000 a year in operation costs without taking into account savings on security, according to Ariel Avitan, co-founder of autonomous drone developer Percepto, incorporated as Vision Cortex Ltd. Avitan spoke Thursday at Calcalist’s third Mind the Tech conference in London.

Percepto develops computer vision and automation software for on-site drone systems. The company’s drone launches from a charging box and operates autonomously, performing a number of security, safety, and inspection tasks essential for large industrial sites. It also collects aerial video and snapshots, transmitting data to personnel on the ground in real-time.

While Percepto gets involved during the construction stage of sites, helping clients collect data in real-time, their real cost-saving abilities have to do with daily management, Avitan said, giving as an example a client with a solar panel field in Chile. The site has around 250,000 solar panels in the middle of nowhere, he said. While checking for broken panels or ones that operate suboptimally takes around four months to do manually, using Percepto’s technology, the drone operator can do it within three days, he said.