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WA] Htt (X) CHloNlClJ'Z - Wednesday, Dnclnbu 1 it!!! - I, (”ZN We?“ _ . . l ;.‘-i' O 0 Waterloo company unvells the Scout, an afiordable robotic drone - By (Tmmrrnt PRONL pARKMIlL ( hruritiIeMu/f . are kroetsi h, president of Aeryon 3: ~ Dubs, WI“ haw sewn minutes today to state his (use \e\‘en ttttntites to I“ ! persuade it wont lull of investor» entrepre ‘ tieurs and e\eciiti\es that the Aeryon \Cllul . is the most lllll()\‘tlll\l’ priidutt in (anadii this war. lhe Mom is it micro iinmiinned Aerial llllt'illgt’lltt' pliittntni ll that means nothing /‘ town. tltinklh'tngrobots, _ . _ . ' ‘\('T\l)ll labs “as named one iii the most 5 ‘ ’ lllllll\dl|\(’ companies of 1009 by tlte (land é » ditin Innmation I \t liiinge, and iii a pitch iii ,,,. loronto today kroetsch WI” vie \\ith 19 "i ‘, other t"t)l]lp{llt|t'\ on the list to earn tlte title . 3 (li ("antidian Innovation leader. . “It‘s really gaining momentumi and this is “up“ - ‘ probably the most exciting time.“ Kroetsch , said. - l'he Scout is the brainchild of Kroetsch ‘ - and his partners Mike l’ezisgood and Steffen Z l.indner. It is, essentially, a reniotewontrol ‘ helicopter that can tra\el up to 400 feet off . the ground and about five kilometres away, . _ t . storing and transmitting data in real time. A such as video, photos or air samples. 7 lhe genius of the Scout? You don't have ‘ . to be a genius to rise it. When the idea germinated iii 2006, fiery- on labs went out and asked potential clients exactly what they needed. ‘ “We started talking to military, the police Dave Kroetsch, president of Aeryon Labs, is vying for the title of Canadian Innovation Leader this week He‘s hoping his robotic helicopter will and land sun‘evors." Kroetsch said. "And we be a more affordable option for the military and police forces than the real thing. asked. if we could liuild you something that y _ _ _ , “my“ “mum“ my” could fly, what would you do with it?" robotics. began developing their unmanned it all go.” Kroetsch said. are about $20 an hour, for batteries. punée want to take photos ofaccidents, aerial vehicle with the mantra that it could Unlike joystick remote-controlled air- Law enforcement agencies and pseudo- “, follow 5&pr fleeing a crime scene, lite be operated by‘one person after just a few craft. you don't have to see it to fly it. That military operations that can't be named are military need to gather information from minutes oftraintng. means it can still be used at night, or on the currently ustng the Scout in pilot proyects. terrain wh ere they don‘t want to send “In order to get one of these in the trunk other side of a mountain range. Unlike the “We're working with them to finalize the humans. Others need to gather air samples of every police car and iii the backpack of Predator Drone, it doesn't require a team of product, so that when we hand this to. say. a from above smokestacks, do inspections on every soldier, whtchkis our visnon for this people to operate and maintain it. _ ' thousand police officers. it's a complete and the outside of a highrise, or look for people product. it had to be Simple." Kroetsch said. it can be controlled in conjunction mth finished product." he said. _ _ - during Search and rescue missions. [be logo on the door at Aeryon Labs the military computers that are already “()ur biggest focus is getting this product "What we noticed was central to each of includes a paper airplane, and for good rear being taken into the field by soldiers, with to market. these problems was a flying platform that son. The Scout is almost that easy to use. the_laptop computers that already exist in “We've got some upcoming orders. and was easy to “Mr And everybody wanted to it's lightweight â€"â€" about two pounds, lt's police cars. or even wtth something as small our focus has shifted from the prototype and strap something slightly different to it." m. rugged â€" if a rotor breaks off. it's as easy as as an iPhone, pilot phase to production." , said. ' snapping on a piece of [ego to replace it. it The purchase price will be about $50,000 It's already been used during an anti-drug gm his famume comment came front a works in all kinds of weather. And if you're to $75,000 per unit. But Kroetsch points out mission in Central America. police service: "We‘re not that bright, we‘ve smart enough to use (ioogle maps. you can that helicopters can cost up to $2.5 million "Seeing this thing used operationally in got fat fingers and we break things," use the Scout.- _ to purchase and With pilots, maintenance, the field applicationstand hearing about The trio, with backgrounds in computer , ‘ “It‘s deceivtngly simple from the outside. fuel and insurance. are expenstve to operate. what’actually happens. it's like an episode of engitieering, mechanical engineering and lhere’s a lot of magic in the box that makes Operating costs for the Aeryon labs flyer 24! kroetsch said, ’ 0 0 i . Starts At The Farmers Market Vendors gm, ' l 0 - ::-., _ . ..,_1 , , t"- '-' 7 . I‘ y“ I ‘ e.Food, Gift ldeas,&, Special Activities! 9 . a St. Jacobs - _. 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