2023-05-05 11:50:00
On each trip, the serrated bucket of the excavator takes on tons of rubble which it dumps a few tens of meters further. We are on an earthworks site comparable to all the others, somewhere in Normandy. Except that at the controls of this 25-ton machine, we do not see the shadow of a human being. The crawler-mounted machine does its job on its own with metronome-like regularity and pinpoint precision.
At the origin of this beautiful tour de force, a public works engineer: Jean-Charles Le Floch, founder of the Rouen startup Heraclès Robotics labeled Deeptech. For four years, this technophile quadra, helped by a consortium of Norman research laboratories, has been developing an intelligent interface capable of plugs (connect) to any earth-moving machine that it makes autonomous.
High-tech robotics
Under the hood, a very sophisticated digital architecture which contains a positioning GPS, several inertial units to control the controls, a Lidar and a calculation server. All coupled with an artificial intelligence algorithm adapted to the constraints of practical work. To achieve this, the roboticists associated with the project have accomplished feats, insists the inventor.
« Unlike an autonomous car, the machine not only navigates its environment but also has to deform it, which presents enormous difficulties that we have solved”.
On arrival, the demonstration is quite impressive. Guided by a 3D model, the excavator – which can be mobilized 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – carries out the site from start to finish without human intervention.
A response to labor and decarbonization issues
Jean-Charles Le Floch explains that he designed his solution in response to the rampant labor shortage encountered by the public works sector. This has become particularly glaring in summer when earthworks are in full swing, he recalls.
« The problem did not arise a few years ago. Today, it is better for machine operators to devote themselves to more complex work, in town for example, than to these repetitive tasks with low added value. ».
But this is not the only promise of Heracles Robotics. In addition to a 30% reduction in the cost of construction sites, the first equipped prototypes show that the interface “educated” in eco-driving allows an improvement in lead times and an 18% reduction in fuel consumption: a rate which should be optimized as the system learns through AI. Not exactly a point of detail when you know that a fleet of ten machines devours between 3,000 and 5,000 liters of GNR (non-road diesel) daily.
“Evangelize the market”
The first cases of use having proved conclusive, the company (6 employees and 5 future recruitments) is now positioned as a public works operator. Its objective: to convince the subcontractors of Vinci, Eiffage and others to take the plunge. ” The idea is to evangelize this very traditional market in which tech is struggling to emerge and where it is difficult to take bets “, underlines his boss. The actual commercialization of the system should be launched in 2025 or 2026 “ at the cost of a conventional guide module “says its designer.
In its line of sight in particular, the machine parks of concrete plants and landfill sites. A full-scale test is already underway on a site operated by Veolia.
As for the competition, it comes mainly from the United States where three Californian startups are working on autonomous earthmoving. Not enough to discourage Jean-Charles Le Floch. “French robotics has nothing to be ashamed of in comparison with the Americans, we have the means to take the lead with our 100% blue, white, red solution “, he assures. To defeat the rivals in short.
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