WAYGATE TECHNOLOGIES ROBOTICS AG

Their core work

Waygate Technologies Robotics develops advanced robotic platforms — aerial drones, ground crawlers, and hybrid systems — designed for industrial inspection and non-destructive testing (NDT) in hard-to-reach or hazardous environments. Their work spans robotic inspection of ships, pipelines, and industrial infrastructure, integrating AI-based data management with autonomous navigation. As a Swiss private company operating under the Waygate Technologies / Baker Hughes umbrella, they bring industrial-grade inspection expertise into EU research consortia focused on pushing robotic inspection from lab prototypes toward field-ready systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Early projects (2015-2017) focused on fundamental aerial robotic capabilities — collaborative aerial workers (AEROWORKS) and multi-arm aerial manipulation (AEROARMS) — without domain-specific inspection keywords recorded. From 2018 onward, their work became explicitly application-driven: hybrid aerial-ground robots for pipe corrosion inspection (HYFLIERS), ship inspection (ROBINS), and AI-augmented inspection platforms (PILOTING). The trajectory shows a clear shift from general aerial robotics research toward integrated, field-deployable inspection solutions with AI components.

Moving toward complete AI-integrated robotic inspection platforms that combine multiple locomotion modes (flying, rolling, crawling) with intelligent data analysis — expect future work to target autonomous inspection decision-making.

How they like to work

Waygate Technologies Robotics participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as coordinator, which is consistent with a specialized technology contributor role within larger research efforts. With 46 unique partners across 13 countries from just 5 projects, they work in large, diverse consortia — averaging roughly 10 partners per project. This pattern suggests they are a sought-after industrial partner that brings real-world inspection domain knowledge and commercialization potential to academic-led robotics projects.

Broad European network spanning 46 unique partners across 13 countries, built through consistently joining large robotics consortia. Their Swiss base and industrial inspection focus likely connects them strongly to Southern and Western European robotics research hubs.

What sets them apart

They sit at the rare intersection of industrial-grade NDT expertise and advanced robotics research — most robotics labs lack real inspection domain knowledge, and most inspection companies lack robotics R&D capability. Their consistent participation across five major EU robotics-for-inspection projects makes them one of the most experienced industrial partners in this niche across Europe. For consortium builders, they offer a direct path from robotic prototype to industrial inspection deployment.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HYFLIERS
  Largest funded project (EUR 641,788) developing a uniquely hybrid flying-rolling robot with snake-arm for contact-based pipe inspection — combining three locomotion modes in one system.
• PILOTING
  Most recent project (2020-2023) and the first to integrate AI and data management with multi-platform robotic inspection, signaling the company's evolution toward intelligent autonomous systems.
• AEROARMS
  Early large-scale project (2015-2019) on multi-arm aerial manipulation for inspection — foundational work that informed their later hybrid and AI-augmented inspection projects.