Qii.AI, the provider of digital inspection software for infrastructure, announced today that it is partnering with Skydio, the leading U.S. drone manufacturer and world leader in autonomous flight, to make drone-powered inspection more efficient and effective for customers across North America.
Drones are powerful and cost-effective tools for inspection, and autonomy is the key to deploying these solutions for safe and reliable operation. Skydio’s adaptive scanning software, Skydio 3D Scan™, extends the company’s groundbreaking autonomous flight engine with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) skills that automate photographic data collection and mapping tasks ranging from infrastructure asset inspection to crime and accident scene reconstruction. Through this integration, customers using Skydio 3D Scan™ software will now be able to utilize Qii.AI’s computer-assisted detection and quantification of corrosion-related defects. This integration will make inspection of large, complex structures significantly more efficient, while reducing the time required by inspectors to identify and classify defects.
According to Qii.AI CEO, Michael H. Cohen, “Skydio’s computer vision navigation and autonomous data capture capabilities, combined with the Qii system’s automatic corrosion, crack, and defect detection algorithms, are a leap forward in remote digital inspection possibilities.”
Earlier this year, Qii.AI and Skydio demonstrated the power of this integration, enabling the automatic detection and quantification of corrosion on naval ship hulls for the Canadian Department of National Defense in Halifax, Canada. During the day-long demonstration, Skydio’s drones captured data from two naval ships, using Skydio 3D Scan to capture the data used to create digital twins of both ships before seamlessly importing the models and data through the Skydio Cloud API into the Qii system for auto-detection, classification, and quantification of visible corrosion.
Commenting further on the agreement, Qii.AI’s Cohen, said “Skydio is the clear leader in the small inspection drone market and a natural fit for Qii.AI’s computer vision technology. We’re proud and excited to be collaborating with such a great team and thrilled with the success of our joint-demonstration with the Canadian Department of National Defense.”
