Voltair: Self Charging Drones

Self Charging Drones

Voltair builds drones that charge on transmission lines. For the first time, this allows for drones with infinite range. Removing battery swaps is the last step to deploy UAVs autonomously at scale. Power utilities are the perfect first customer. Extreme weather creates catastrophic wildfire liability, bankrupting utilities and making them uninsurable. Voltair's drone inspections identify critical maintenance concerns before they spark fires. Autonomous drones can deliver over 20x the inspection coverage for the same cost. Following extreme weather, Voltair's forward deployed drones can rapidly patrol neighborhoods for electrical hazards. Since June, we’ve validated our core charging tech on a power line, built 5x flying prototypes, and inspected ~2000 poles. With 50 miles of range, we can service 90% of the U.S. land area. After power companies, we will service rail, road, telecom, real estate, and other inspection markets. At scale we are a new infrastructure layer for data on the physical world.

Active Founders

Hayden Gosch

Founder

Hayden is the co-founder and CTO of Voltair. He studied electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington, where he focused on power electronics. He spent two years doing system protection engineering at Seattle City Light and later worked in R&D at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL).

Hayden Gosch

Founder

Hayden is the co-founder and CTO of Voltair. He studied electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington, where he focused on power electronics. He spent two years doing system protection engineering at Seattle City Light and later worked in R&D at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL).

Avi Gotskind

Founder

Avi is the co-founder and CGO of Voltair. He worked as a consultant on GTM and government affairs strategy across aerospace and space companies, including ExoAnalytic Solutions, Virgin Galactic, and briefly Amazon Kuiper. Formerly a member of the National Youth Orchestra.

Avi Gotskind

Founder

Avi is the co-founder and CGO of Voltair. He worked as a consultant on GTM and government affairs strategy across aerospace and space companies, including ExoAnalytic Solutions, Virgin Galactic, and briefly Amazon Kuiper. Formerly a member of the National Youth Orchestra.

Ronan Nopp

Founder

Ronan is the co-founder and CEO of Voltair. An obsession with designing remote control airplanes was his gateway to engineering. While studying Electrical and Computer Engineering he independently designed and tuned the controls system for a manned eVTOL aircraft. This technical depth is backed by a conviction in the value of critical industry.

Ronan Nopp

Founder

Ronan is the co-founder and CEO of Voltair. An obsession with designing remote control airplanes was his gateway to engineering. While studying Electrical and Computer Engineering he independently designed and tuned the controls system for a manned eVTOL aircraft. This technical depth is backed by a conviction in the value of critical industry.

Warren Weissbluth

Founder

Warren is the co-founder & COO of Voltair. He studied Operations Research engineering at Rice University. Warren has previously worked for 2x NSF funded startups, where he helped raise a $1M SBIR. He interned for Boeing (structures engineering) during his freshman summer.

Warren Weissbluth

Founder

Warren is the co-founder & COO of Voltair. He studied Operations Research engineering at Rice University. Warren has previously worked for 2x NSF funded startups, where he helped raise a $1M SBIR. He interned for Boeing (structures engineering) during his freshman summer.

Company Launches

Voltair: Drones that Charge on Power Lines

See original launch post

https://youtu.be/ZSnkcbXWf7Q

Tl;dr - We build drones that charge directly on transmission lines. Our drones can remain deployed indefinitely, positioned where utility companies need them most, and ready to inspect power lines at a moment’s notice.

Background

The American power grid faces unprecedented challenges. Extreme weather is more frequent, more destructive, and less predictable. From 2000 to 2023, 80% of all major outages were caused by extreme weather events. At the same time, power utilities are expected to deliver higher reliability, faster restoration, and stronger wildfire and safety outcomes. Utility investments in distribution grid hardening nearly tripled from 2003 to 2023.

Utilities cannot manage what they cannot see. Today, critical information on the physical grid arrives at the speed of a person reaching the problem. Linemen need high fidelity information faster to prioritize and act decisively.

Public Utilities

Our immediate focus is providing utilities with rapid infrastructure assessments across large areas following storms, power outages, and fires.

At scale, our technology enables a step change in how utilities operate. A linemen or engineer can request imagery of a specific line span or structure and receive it immediately. A downed pole in a high-risk residential area can be located and assessed quickly. Voltair can support routine, day-to-day operational visibility as well as urgent, high-consequence events.

See more here https://voltairlabs.com/

If you’re interested in piloting our service, reach out to avi@voltairlabs.com

YC Photos