The drone-based inventory solution, designed and patented by Hardis Group and co-developed with Squadrone System since 2015, will now be marketed, developed, and operated by Darwin Drones, a new company based in Grenoble. The entity will build on this local innovation success story and work to accelerate take-up of the solution in France and worldwide.
Grenoble, March 30, 2022 – Hardis Group, a consulting firm, digital services company and software editor of the Reflex logistics execution software suite, and its partner Squadrone System, a designer and manufacturer of professional drones, announce the creation of a new company, Darwin Drones, to take the Eyesee inventory drone solution forward. The startup has ambitious plans and will use a forthcoming injection of capital from investors in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region to scale up production of the solution and accelerate its growth in France and worldwide.
Eric Pierrel, a digital technology entrepreneur and the former head of the French Tech in the Alps-Grenoble alliance, has been appointed as the CEO of Darwin Drones. Going forward, the startup will be responsible for all aspects of the Eyesee business: software and hardware R&D, marketing, deployment, and after-sales care. It will also support existing Eyesee systems in use at the logistics warehouses of major firms such as L’Oréal, Log’S, Ikea, and Schneider Electric.
“We’re delighted to be taking over this incredible piece of technology, which won awards at CES Las Vegas and CES Asia in 2018,” said Pierrel. “We look forward to accelerating its growth in France and worldwide.”
Nicolas Odet, President of Hardis Group, will continue to support the project as a member of the Darwin Drones Advisory Board. Squadrone System, which manufactures the drone, remains onboard as hardware partner and will continue providing its expertise in the design of professional drones.
“Creating a dedicated startup to take the solution forward will accelerate Eyesee’s growth while providing continuity for existing users,” said Nicolas Odet. “We’ll also continue promoting Eyesee to our clients and prospects in Europe.”
Eyesee is now ready for full-scale production and marketing after receiving its CE marking a few months ago.
“We remain onboard to support any future changes to the drone’s design,” said Antoine Level, CEO of Squadrone System.
In 2022, Darwin Drones plans to build a network of retailers and integrators in Europe. The longer-term plan is to market the solution in the United States. In order to accelerate its growth, the startup intends to raise funds from investors in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Darwin Drones is a Grenoble-based company founded in 2021 to develop and market industrial logistics automation systems, including drone-based applications, and to deliver an associated line of services. The company was set up specifically to market, support, and develop software for Eyesee, an inventory drone solution for the logistics sector.
Are you considering optimizing your supply chain? Are you in the market for a real-time resource management application? Are you looking for a reliable, agile WMS that’s packed with features? Then pay us a visit at stand D77. We look forward to seeing you!
If you’re looking for an innovative inventory improvement and automation solution, come and talk to the Eyesee team at stand N97 in the drones and warehouse of the future area. And don’t miss our presentation at 1:10 pm on Tuesday, September 14, which will focus on feedback from Ludovic Doudard, Supply Chain Director at Renault.
This year’s SITL will focus on innovation, with over 550 exhibitors showcasing solutions that have the potential to change—perhaps even revolutionize—your business and the way you work. As well as discovering existing solutions, you’ll also get a chance to see transport and logistics operators demonstrating the technologies of the future. Over the course of the three-day event, you’ll learn about the latest industry news and trends, get a chance to meet new suppliers and partners, and attend sessions and workshops delivered by recognized subject-matter experts.
Dates and times
From 23 to 26 June 2020, a 100% digital version of the SITL 2020 was held. In the sanitary context of this first half of 2020, the SITL could not take place in its usual conditions. In order to preserve a moment of meetings and exchanges between the stakeholders of transport and logistics, a 100% online version was organised giving rise to meetings, virtual tours and webinars.
More than 5,100 people took part in this digital edition, with 77 speakers and nearly 500 business meetings.
Managing people, increasing productivity and agility in a context disturbed by the Covid19 pandemic, so many challenges taken up by technological innovations.
In this video:
After being awarded at the CES in Las Vegas, the autonomous inventory drone Eyesee obtains a new Innovation Award Honoree at the CES Asia. The solution will be showcased at the exhibition, to be held from June 13-15 in Shanghai.
Hardis Group announces that its solution Eyesee for carrying out inventories in logistics warehouses with the help of an autonomous drone, has just received an “Innovation Award Honoree“, in the drone category, for the third edition of CES Asia. The company will exhibit at the show with about twenty other companies, led by the French Tech Mission as well as Business France in Shanghai, on booth 4251, Hall 4N.
The main objectives of Hardis Group’s presence at CES Asia are to meet Chinese companies from the manufacturing, CPG, retail and logistics industries likely to be interested in deploying Eyesee and to recruit potential Asian distributors.
All the innovations awarded for CES Asia: http://www.cesasia.cn/events-conference/innovation-awards-listing-en/
Learn more about Eyesee: https://eyesee-drone.com/
Aware of the logistics-related opportunities offered by the physical and technical characteristics of drones, Hardis Group filed a patent in 2015 for an inventory-taking drone to automate inventories and simplify and optimize inventory management in warehouses.
The drone is equipped with sensors, enabling it to move around the warehouse autonomously, controlled by an operator. Its on-board camera identifies and captures inventory data which can be transmitted to any WMS on the market. The aim is to save time and increase productivity and safety in inventory and stock control operations.
Hardis Group recently signed an agreement with FM Logistic to test the solution at its logistics sites to check the system’s ability to meet the sector’s requirements. Innovation, which drives productivity, performance and flexibility, is a key value for FM Logistic, which has a committee of international experts dedicated to it. The aim is to imagine, design and deploy innovative solutions to improve working conditions for its employees and quality of service to its customers. So it was no surprise that the company agreed to get involved with the inventory-taking drone project.
FM Logistic opened up its warehouse in Satolas (France) to Hardis Group teams to conduct tests relating to flight conditions (site mapping, geolocation, lighting configurations, surfaces encountered by the drone, etc.) and the collection of information required for inventory-taking (label reading for example). In September, FM Logistic business teams will start testing the drone and the collection and processing of information by their tools.
Testing with FM Logistic will continue until the end of 2016.
Since its creation in 1967, FM Logistic has become an international leader in warehousing, transport and packaging. The independent family-run group is recognized as an expert in FMCG, distribution, perfume/beauty, industry and health markets.
Present in Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Western Europe and Latin America with over 20,000 employees, FM Logistic has a turnover of over a billion euros.
In addition to its international expansion, FM Logistic’s development is focused on a strong policy of innovation, while respecting the environment. The group has pioneered ‘pooling’ (shared management of transport and logistics resources), for which it has received numerous professional awards.
Environmentally responsible by design, FM Logistic is a member of the Green Freight Europe program, an initiative aimed at improving the environmental performance of freight transport in Europe.
In 2015, the company developed CityLogin, an environmentally friendly solution to address logistics requirements for the final part of the journey in European cities.
The Squadrone System team, created in 2013, launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Hexo+ project, a fully autonomous drone that follows and films the user, raising over 1.3 million dollars. In a year, the company has transitioned from concept to reality and now has over 3000 users throughout the world. Based in Grenoble, France, and San Francisco, California, Squadrone System is conquering the industrial market with its autonomous indoor and outdoor flight technologies.
Hardis Group receives the Special Jury Award of the 15th Innovation Awards at SITL (International Week of Transport and Logistics).
The jury of the SITL Innovation Awards made up of logistics and transport professionals examines about fifty entries each year.
The results were announced on Thursday, 2 April, during the last day of the exhibition: Hardis Group won the Special Jury Award for Eyesee, its inventory-taking drone.
