Caspian Robotics

Caspian Robotics GmbH was a Berlin-based startup founded in 2015 by Marc Lafeuille and NiMA Asghari. The company aimed to develop technological platforms for the commercial and civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market. It secured an undisclosed amount of angel funding on March 4, 2015, and also received backing from an accelerator/incubator program.

The core of Caspian Robotics' offering was a system for fully automated aerial inspections of industrial infrastructure. The company developed an autonomous drone designed to recognize a structure, independently create a mission plan to inspect it, and then execute the flight. A key feature of its technology was the drone's ability to detect and avoid obstacles in real-time by re-planning its trajectory mid-flight, with the gathered imagery displayed on a tablet dashboard. The product package for customers included the drone, a recharge station, and a carrying case, emphasizing safety, autonomy, and an intuitive user experience.

Caspian Robotics operated in the advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and robotics and drones sectors. Despite its efforts to provide autonomous inspection solutions, the company ultimately ceased operations. It entered into bankruptcy and was liquidated on February 2, 2018.

Keywords: aerial inspection, autonomous drones, UAV technology, industrial infrastructure inspection, obstacle avoidance, mission planning, robotics platform, drone technology, unmanned aerial vehicle, commercial drones, civil UAV, automated inspection, real-time trajectory planning, drone hardware, drone software, Berlin startup