Tinamu and Cotecna cooperating on warehouse inspections

Cotecna, a global provider of testing, inspection and certification services based in Geneva, has entered into a partnership with the Zurich-based robotics start-up Tinamu. The collaboration and the use of the technologies developed by both companies will enable them to offer the next generation of intelligent warehouse inspection using drones, further details of which can be found in a press release issued by Cotecna. Their solution for intelligent digital warehouses is primarily intended for use in bulk storage facilities.

The system uses drones as flexible, flying sensors. Founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), the start-up Tinamu does not build drones itself, but rather uses patented software, Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to turn them into fully automated indoor sensors. The drones require around eight to ten minutes to complete a scan. Thereafter, it transfers the data collected for processing, before, finally, the data is represented in 3D, graphical and tabular format via the Cotecna Digital Twin portal.

In a year-long pilot program with selected customers, the process of data collection and volume calculation was automated. According to Cotecna, the pilot phase has demonstrated that turnaround times for warehouse inspection reports have been reduced by a factor of 50 and the accuracy of inventory data has improved by up to 99 percent. “The next strategic milestones are to roll out the system in the Benelux region and to enter into more partnerships to scale our solution globally”, explains Tobias Nägeli, CEO of Tinamu Labs, in a report published on startupticker.ch. mm