Flyability

Flyability is a Swiss robotics manufacturer founded in 2014 by Patrick Thevoz and Adrien Briod, headquartered in Paudex near Lausanne with offices in Denver, Shanghai and Singapore and over 120 full-time employees. It builds collision-tolerant drones for confined-space inspection, so boilers, pressure vessels, storage tanks, sewers, mine shafts and cargo holds can be surveyed without scaffolding, rope access or entry permits.

The Elios 3 platform combines a protective cage, LiDAR-based indoor navigation and interchangeable payloads including ultrasonic thickness, radiation, surveying and gas-sensing modules. Captured video and point clouds are processed in the Inspector software for defect tagging, measurement and 3D models, alongside an Autonomy module, a training simulator, WinCan integration and Flyability Cloud for data sharing. The company reports 2,750+ Elios drones deployed in 50+ countries and 1,450+ customers, served through a distributor network.

1. Collision-tolerant airframe: a protective cage lets the drone bump surfaces and keep flying inside confined assets.

2. Elios 3 payloads: ultrasonic thickness, radiation, surveying and gas-sensor modules swap onto the same platform.

3. Indoor navigation: LiDAR-based flight and mapping work in GPS-denied spaces such as tanks and shafts.

4. Inspector software: point clouds and video are turned into measurements, defect tags and 3D models.

5. Autonomy and simulator: assisted flight modes plus a training simulator for pilot certification.

6. Installed base: 2,750+ Elios drones deployed in 50+ countries for 1,450+ customers.