CCLD acquires Aibotix X6 and becomes aerial robot distributor

Georgia engineering firm aims skyward in delivering public sector and industrial services.

KASSEL, GERMANY, Mai 02, 2013 Aibotix GmbH, maker of a new generation of vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), today announced that CCLD Technologies, partnered with Traxpertise, both of Atlanta , GA, USA, acquired an Aibotix X6 for its own use and also became the distributor of Aibotix products in the United States. Aibotix X6 features advanced, multi-sensor, intelligent guidance systems that make the X6 the safest and easiest to operate commercial UAV.

CCLD selected the X6 after thorough review of the commercially viable UAVs in the market. “We were impressed by the design of the X6, which is the only UAV we’ve seen that includes rotor and collision protection with the intuitive guidance system needed to do work safely,” says Brett Burke, founder and president of CCLD. “Jobs that currently require climbers, such as cell tower, bridge, and power line inspections and audits, will be vastly simpler and reduce not only the personal risk to our climbers and engineers, but also provide the customer efficient scheduling and production of crystal clear close up images of problem areas of whatever structure needed,” he added. “In fact, we find the images captured with an X6-mounted camera to be superior because we can maneuver the robot into positions giving perspectives outside the structures that our people cannot reach.”

Demonstration flights of the X6 have impressed CCLD customers, who see the potential to reduce project costs by an order of magnitude by reducing the need for climbing teams and eliminating the hassle of scheduling expensive, piloted helicopter flights when project scope dictates. “We can save organizations thousands of dollars per project while delivering superior data collection and imagery in live or captured formats,” says Burke.

CCLD is gaining experience and moving forward with this X6 agreement now, remaining in strict compliance with FAA regulations for UAV use in the United States, to capture the progressive initial use by governments for law enforcement, transportation, public safety, and disaster assessment. CCLD management is gearing the company up to be a day-one provider for those applications. Commercial usage will follow as soon as permissible.

“As a minority company, distributing Aibotix UAVs in to government entities makes perfect business sense for CCLD,” Burke said. “Building on our existing know-how, we will quickly gain experience in using the X6 for challenging customer applications. Helping others to see its benefits and training them on how to get the most from it are logical extensions of our core competencies.”

“We are delighted to establish this relationship with CCLD in the US,” says Joerg Lamprecht, managing director of Aibotix. He adds, “Aibotix needs experts in field engineering and aerial inspection to show the way on how public and industrial needs can be served with UAVs. CCLD has the reputation for excellence that matches up perfectly with Aibotix products, and we expect them to be a superior provider of sales, service and training.”