Voliro :: Aerial Robotics Designed for Contact-Based Inspection, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) & Maintenance Work At Height

Voliro is a Swiss robotics company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Zurich. Spun out of the Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zurich, Voliro specializes in advanced aerial robotics designed for contact-based inspection, non-destructive testing (NDT), and maintenance work at height. The company’s mission is to make industrial inspections faster, safer, more cost-effective, and accessible by replacing traditional methods such as scaffolding, rope access, and cherry pickers with intelligent flying robots. With roots in five years of intensive research, Voliro has achieved commercial success across 17 countries, performing approximately 100 inspections per month for global leaders in oil & gas, power generation, chemical processing, cement, mining, infrastructure, and renewables. Its technology eliminates the need for costly downtime, reduces safety risks to human inspectors, and delivers high-quality data that can feed directly into digital twin and asset management systems.

The flagship robot-based product is the Voliro T, a unique omnidirectional aerial robotic platform that can apply stable force and torque to surfaces while flying. Unlike conventional drones that must maintain a level orientation, the Voliro T features tiltable rotors and a distinctive rear rotor design that enables true 360° mobility and the ability to tilt and press against structures from any angle. This allows the drone to exert up to 30 N of stable contact force and several Nm of torque, making it ideal for pressing sensors firmly against curved, vertical, or overhead surfaces such as storage tanks, chimneys, boilers, wind turbine towers, transmission structures, and pipelines. The platform is engineered for both outdoor RTK-GPS navigation and GPS-denied indoor or complex industrial environments through lidar, optical flow sensors, and assisted autonomy features.

Voliro offers a growing suite of swappable NDT sensor payloads that transform the Voliro T into a versatile flying inspection tool. These include Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) for thickness measurement on corroded or dirty surfaces, standard and high-temperature Ultrasonic Transducers (UT) capable of operating up to 260 °C with live A-Scan display, Dry Film Thickness (DFT) gauges for coating inspection, Lightning Protection System (LPS) testers that maintain constant 30 N force on receptors, and Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) sensors for insulated assets with lift-off up to 100 mm. All payloads are factory-calibrated, deliver real-time data to the ground station, and support automated flight modes that simplify operation even for pilots with limited experience. The drone is equipped with dual 4K FPV cameras (one for piloting and one optimized for inspection), illuminated prop guards, and an open platform architecture that allows future payload expansion.

The complete Voliro solution extends beyond hardware to an integrated end-to-end digital workflow. Operators calibrate instruments before takeoff, perform contact measurements in real time, view live data on the ground station, upload results to the cloud, generate customizable reports, and export data into customer asset management or digital twin software. This streamlined process can reduce overall inspection time by a factor of 2.5× compared with conventional methods that require extensive planning, equipment mobilization, scaffolding erection, and manual data processing. Case studies highlight dramatic efficiency gains: inspecting flare stacks and chimneys without shutdowns, performing full lightning protection system checks on wind turbines, and conducting internal tank inspections. Customers such as Holcim, Acuren, Osprey Integrity, MISTRAS, and TEAM Industrial Services praise the system for reaching previously inaccessible points, improving data quality, enhancing worker safety, and cutting costs dramatically.

Voliro maintains a strong innovation pipeline under the technical leadership of its co-founders and ETH Zurich alumni. The company continues to advance autonomy, sensor fusion, and AI-assisted flight while expanding its commercial footprint and customer success organization. By combining mechanical engineering excellence with state-of-the-art robotics and industrial application know-how, Voliro is redefining how asset owners and inspection service providers manage critical infrastructure at height. Its flying robots not only perform today’s NDT tasks more efficiently but also lay the foundation for future aerial maintenance, repair, and robotic interaction in challenging industrial environments.